Profitable poultry

by W. B. Tegetmeier

Inflammation of the digestive stomach (which is situated between the crop and the gizzard), caused by the use of peas, beans, hemp seed, or by the endeavour to force fowls forward for exhibition, or to make them up for the sale room, is a most frequent result. Apoplexy from over-feeding, especially in laying hens, and paralysis from the same cause, are frequent. Inflammation of the egg passage is a common, and unless timely treated, another fatal complaint, generally taking its rise in over-stimulating food; and leg weakness, from the weight increasing faster than the strength, is common in Cochins.

Water.—A daily supply of fresh clean water is indispensable to the health of fowls. Many diseases are caused by their drinking from stagnant ditches and the impure and filthy drainings of manure heaps, &c. A cheap fountain, the best that I have ever seen, inasmuch as it is capable of being cleansed internally, may be made out of any wide-mouth earthenware jar and common glazed flower-pot saucer; by boring a small hole in the jar, an inch or an inch and a half from the edge, then filling it with water, putting the saucer on the top, bottom upwards, and quickly turning them both together upside down, when the water will be found to flow into the saucer to the height of the hole in the jar.

BREEDING.

Much variety of opinion prevails respecting the best mode of constructing the nests for laying and sitting hens. In this, as in all other cases, the nearer we can imitate nature the better; I object to the rows of pigeon-holes so frequently employed, as the close crowding of the fowls harbours vermin, and renders it difficult to thoroughly clean the nests after the eggs are hatched, and believe it will be found more conducive to health and comfort if the nests are quite distinct from each other, and are so formed that they can be entirely removed after the chicken are hatched. The plan that I have found to answer best is to use shallow baskets or boxes, which can be partially filled with sifted coal ashes, road drift, sand, or any similar material; on this a little short straw is placed, and the hen hollows out a slight concavity, which prevents the eggs rolling from under her, and in this way a very good imitation of a natural nest is obtained. The ashes do not harbour vermin, and I have found that eggs hatch much better than in those nests made solely of straw. Care should be taken so nearly to fill the basket or box that the hen can leave without having to spring up from the eggs, and can return without jumping down upon them, otherwise there is great risk of their being broken. Should the hen be particularly fearful, a board placed in a slanting position over the basket with the upper end leaning against the wall, will afford all the privacy required.

It is desirable that hens should be allowed to sit where they have been previously laying, as there is usually much trouble, except in the case of Cochins, in inducing a hen to sit steadily in a new nest. Hens evince a strong desire to lay where there are other eggs, hence nest eggs are usually employed; they are frequently made of chalk, but from the hardness of the material they are apt to break the new laid egg; soft white wood, turned into the required shape, makes the best that I have seen, as it does not break the eggs or lose its shape, and is capable of being easily washed, if soiled. Natural eggs are not desirable for nest eggs, as they are very apt to break when they become stale, and so render the nest exceedingly foul.

When a hen becomes broody, which is shewn by her remaining on the nest a longer time than usual, and by the peculiar clucking noise she makes, it is desirable to give her three or four nest eggs to sit on, to test her steadiness for a day or two, and if she is found to sit well the eggs for hatching may be placed in the nest, either when she leaves it to feed, or by lifting her off in the evening; if a broody hen is removed from the nest during the day she usually flies back, at the great risk of breaking the eggs, whereas, if lifted off after dark, she generally remains quietly on the ground and allows the requisite number of eggs to be put into the nest, when she may be lifted back again.

The fresher the eggs that are used for hatching the better. If practicable, it is desirable that they should not have been laid more than a fortnight; although they will hatch after a much longer time, if carefully protected from the drying influence of the air and light, and from too high or too low a temperature, in bran or some similar material.

Eggs intended for hatching, should be kept with the large end upwards, otherwise they should be moved occasionally to prevent the yolk adhering to the upper side; the lid of the box containing them should be closed, in order to protect them from the light, and from the rapid changes of temperature, and the whole should, especially in summer, be kept in a cool place. When sittings of eggs are forwarded by railway or other public conveyance, it is customary to pack them tightly in bran, with considerable spaces between them, others recommend oats to be used; my own experience is most decidedly in favour of hay, or soft straw, which, by its elasticity prevents all shaking, and enables the eggs to be forwarded any distance without injury.

This season, I forwarded two sittings of eggs to the far north of England, one packed most carefully in bran, the other in hay; of the first not one egg hatched, whilst every one of the second produced a chick; and a sitting that I received this season, which was similarly packed, every egg was fertile, although the basket had travelled from the north by coach, rail, and carrier.