Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-12-20
CROP CAPACITY
NEEDED FOR EGGS
Show Room Offers Benefits,
Whether You Exhibit
or Not.
TO RID PREMISES OF RATS
Avoid Complicated Poultry House
Fixtures That Hinder
Efficiency.
TO RID PREMISES OF RATS
By H. Armstrong Roberts.

season. Many of the autumn shows,
those held in conjunction with county
fairs. have taken place. But there are
MANY big exhibitions yet to come, and
poultry raisers, large and small, are adj
vised 10 get in touch with them, if not
as exhibitors, then as patrons IN some other
capacity, to help the good work along.
Poultry shows keep alive the enthu-
siasm for better fowls. Without these
annual displays interest in poultry mat
tiers would be dwarfed Therefore 1T Is
10 the advantage of every breeder, whether
he makes speciality OF exhibition stock
or not. To boost the showroom. BE sure
10 attend You will find lots of interest
and value apart from the cages of ribbon
winners You are sure to obtain closer
friendship with your fellow breeders.
This can't help but give you broader
outlook You may obtain new points
on craftsmanship, breeding, feeding and
housing. At least, you will get the other
fellows points of view, which count
nightly.
Following are some suggestions for the
amateur who is not familiar with the ropes
Of the showroom: Do not imagine that
Won must have birds which are 100 per-
cent perfection. Absolutely perfect specl-
mems are seldom found. Fowls that will
score ninety points are well worth enter
inc. II YOU are not familiar with standard
requirements for the various breeds, secure
= coDy of the American Standard of Per-
fectIon. which book Is the authority on
poultrv from the fanciers standpoint
INIT are given all the specifications for the
recognized varieties. DiSquaificatons are
also enumerated Exhibitions are Judged
according 70 this standard.
MAKE EXHIBIT UNIFORM AS POSSIBLE.
In showing a string Of birds, always
try to have the birds resemble each other
IN color, shape, weight and other points.
This quality is insisted upon by eXperlenc-
ed fanclers, and too often neglected by
amateurs. Uniformity is absolutely es-
sential in matching up pen, which con-
sists of four females and one male.
To insure identification every .speci-
men should be leg-banded, and the
number or distinguishing feature should
he plaInlv marked on the entry blank
and shipping crate Use suitable crates,
large enough to permit the birds to stand
erect and turn about without damage
to their plumage.
Ideal showbirds are docile. They have
4 proud air about them. They ike
- display their points of superiority
They strut about and pose, court adj
miration. as il were They should re-
main quiet when stroked by the judges
stick or handled by him because IN no
other WAY can fair Judgment be made.
As q rule, however, few fowls are born
with these qualities. La most cases
showroom conduct Is the result OF careful
training. The exhibitor should get on
friendly terms with the fowls. Pet
then. pick them up frequently, feed them
out of YOUR hand. make them have conf
dence in YOU and your kind. Finally
# the birds are solfed they must be wash
"a and groomed.
rAT HENS ARE POOR LAYERS.
Fxer,ise Is essential to the laying hen.
There is no substitute for It. II hens fail
70 exercise sufficiently they take on lat
and tat hens seldom lay enough 10 pay
Tor their feed In winter time, when
there Is no inducement to go outdoors
and scratch the only practical means to
insure sufficient exercise Is TO scatter iced
10 hitter OF straw. hay. shavlngs or similar
material on the poultry house floor.
Keep the litter about eight inches deep.
From time to time rake this litter toward
the front Of the house otherwise It IS GER
tain TO pile up against the rear wall
Avoid fussy, complicated interior Tx
t,,res in the henhouse. They hinder eff
cient cleaning, accumulate dust and
dirt and are likely TO get out OF order
Keep the floor of the house as unlncumber-
ed as possible Floor space Is valuable
in that IL limits the size of the flock.
Wherever, practicable install fixtures
against the walls or suspend them from
the ceiling. Don't obstruct the main
passagewavs 1t Is tlresOme to have 70
walk around this or that object and it
increases the labor enormously.
NESTS FROM BOXES AND CRATES
Portable nests, those that can be re-
moved at will are much better than
hullt-in nests. inasmuch as the former
are easily taken outdoors. dumped, clean
ed SPRAYED. drIed and replaced. An
assortment OF boxes and crates nailed
hard and fast 10 the walls usually stands
for vermin-infested manure-caked nests.
II 10 impossible to clean them thoroughly
where thev are and 10 remove them IS
difficult
Yet boxes and crates make good nests
and they are cheap Here Is way 70
use them Build skeleton shelves against
the wall shlngle lath Will do nicely, and
rest The boxes on theso shelves Don
nal them fast II Is unnecessary To
clean these nests simply take the boxes
down. as YOU would portable nests, sweep
of the shelves. dump the boxes, renew
the nesting material and the job IS done.
Perehes should be kept about twelve
inches above the dropping boards. 50
that the birds can walk under them with
out difficulty and TO enable convenient
cleaning The first perch should be kept
about twelve inches away from the rear
wall. and the remainder placed fifteen
inches apart Allow about eight inches
Of roost per bird. Keep the perches on
the same level, or the fowls will fight for
the highest Toost.
[ - fairly heavy material for perches.
Poles % small diameter make poor roCsts.
The toes OF the fowls are necessarily
clasped round such poles, therefore, those
portions of the toes which extend to the
under side are without the protection Of
the body feathers. and in cold weather are
likely 10 be frosted. Frozen toes in
rariablv result from slender perches
No sound is more agreeable 70 the
faultrvman than contented cackling,
i ndieatcs laying or al least the promise
% iavlng Unduly noisy cackling pitched
RI an excitable tone IS another matter
Freuzlcd cackling usually means that the !
tlrd- havc been disturbed or frightened |
Investigate the cause.
hlpDING PREMISES or RATS.
Maybe an animal has broken into the /
hou,f.. r,erhars rats abound Thase nests /