APRIL 18, 1907,
17.
THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT
PRACTICAL UTILITY . POULTRY NOTES
BY A. D. BURHANS.
A
SeUinpr Hen Correctly.
One chicken man declares that there
is a science in setting hens. Any way-
it is more or less work to set a hen
uronerlv and take care of her in a man
ner that will help her to perform her
duty in good shape. No hen will set
well if she is forced to incubate her
eggs in a noisy place where she may be
disturbed by any other fowls or tarm
animals. Some years ago there was an
invention put on the market which
claimed to be a natural hen incubator.
It was nothing more nor less than a
series of small nest boxes attached one
to the other and in front of each nest
box was a small yard. This was to be
Bet under a tree on a well ..drained
piece of ground and the nest was easily
gotten at and the hens could be taken
out and put in at will. There was a
sliding door in front of the nest which
could be closed during the last day or
two of the hatching when the hen
would need to be kept on the uest Jo
keep the chicks warm and to keep her
from getting off when but a few of
them wero hatched. This was a good
plan but we found it to be too expen
sive to buy lumber for such a device,
so instead we used the small brood
"coops and place,d a hen in each one of
them and set the brood coop in a shady
place and provided each hen with wa
ter and feed and a couple of handfuls
of fine gravel for grit. We secured for
each nest' box, a duplicate box exactly
the same size which could be inverted
and placed over the hen on her nest
during the last day or two of hatching.
This was just as effective and as good
a scheme as the other and had the ad
vantage of allowing the hens to be
placed each in a separate location, thus
reducing the danger of having a hen
worry over the noise and disturbance
of another. A hen must set peaceably
in order to do her work well. If she is
covered with lice and mites, for which
the nest boxes are good breeding places,
she will not perform her duty in a sat
isfactory manner. When she com
mences to set, give her a thorough
dusting with a good tobacco" dust lice
powder and then in a few days repeat
the operation. Two or three days be
fore hatching repeat the dusting again
and she will be thoroughly rid of all
lice and vermin. Do not make the nests
for hatching in too dark a location but
give them plenty of light and above all
see that they are quiet and unmolested.
Health in the Flock.
A poultry man said to me the other
day that he had just been to visit a
pouUry plant where the fowls were
found to be exceedingly healthy. lie
said that they looked so much different
from his that he noticed it immediately
on going " into the poultry house and
yards of the party he referred to.
About three or four wfteks previous ihe
writer Imd also been through the s;me
flock and house and yards and had no
ticed that the fowls were exceedingly
healthy. There was no secret about
this good health of the inmates of the
yards and houses declared the -owner
of them to the writer. He worked u
keep his fowls in fresh air and the
houses dry the year round. Firstly, I
noted that his chicks were started on
the right plan. Each hen with a brood
of chicks had a small brood coop to
herself, this brood coop having a tight
floor and being so arranged that it was
easily cleaned. It was kept clean and
in front of it was a small attached
yard covered with netting to keep the
chicks in during the first week or two
when they wore too small to run out
and search for bugs and worms for
thornselves. Each one of these individ
ual coops and yards was set under a
tree in the orchard which sloped south
and east. This is an ideal slope of
ground for poultry keeping. It was the
first ground on this farm that was
warm In the spring. The slope and its
perfect drainage are to be tnken into
account for this when wo search for
ho cause. After the chicks were
weaned from the hens these coops wore
left In th sar.io location and thi
youngsters knew just where to iro at
night ami they hardly lulled the
mother hen at all when sho was taken
invt'5', From twelve to fifteen chick
m m in each coop and they wcto mt
crowded, find i;r.w almost tn maturity
In thrnt. Th I'ilctM wre ! fi.ive. of
(oiir"i', !u? tht on kereU were taken
out anil eent to market from Uiif to j
time as they l.ei ami plump fiough.
Th" front of them coop were open n!
the tin". From the. coop the pnH M
w;e put In their w Inter ipiartei t. ami
tl. win lov ! mid wri 'f iho winter
quarter.. i u re ep n from mi ye.ir' end
to (HHilher xceotlng when ftow, n trxl
ami le-t Mew Into the hue badly
thnt I; ih ntltii to cio them for
day ir two. r.ven at ihH tlm tr-'-r
wan an ti'n fp.c tf four to tlx tm he
left at'the top .of the windows so that
the temperature of the house could
nearly adjust itself with that outside
thus preventing frost from forming on
the walls. Breeding from good healthy
stock each year had more to do with
the general health of the flock than
could be estimated by the casual ob
server. Healthy, husky fowls are. the
basis of successful utility poultry keep
ing or even fancy poultry breeding.
Good health and a predisposition to it
are half the battle.
Early v. Medium Hatching.
It has been demonstrated by prac
tical poultrymen time and again that
chicks hatched too early in the spring
do not thrive as readily nor grow so
well as those hatched when nature is
more mild and kindly towards them.
If the breeding pens of birds are mated
up in the. latter part of December or
January and fertile eggs are secured,
nothing but the very best of artificial
means of bringing about the conditions
that effect good fertility In the spring,
will avail of results. The average
poultry keeper tries to hatch too early
in the season and to secure fertile
eggs too near the. dead of winter.
Chicks hatched in April and May wid
attain as much size as those hatched
in March unless the very best of con
ditions exist in the caring fdr the
earlier hatched birds. The average
poultry grower can set a few hens in
March and take off -'chicks the fore
part of April and if they have good
dry quarters the April showers will not
bother them considerably. If the egg?
are set April 1, however, the chicks
will come out in time to take advant
age of a season that is more favorable
for their growing. Leghorns hatched
in April will lay in October if they
come from a. good strain of blood and
are well cared for, Those hatched in
February will scarcely commence lay
ing before the first of October and it
costs in time and money twice as much
to care for them the first two mon'.hs
than it does the later hatched chicks.
A good deal depends on the pou) try
man or poultry woman as a feeder. I
know of several poultry growers who
raise as large Wyandottes and Ply
mouth Rocks from their ' April anil'
May hatched broods as do others who
breed the same varieties, from broods
hatched in February and March. Suc
cessful poultry growing depends more
on the man of woman behind the work
than it does on the breed that in
selected. The biggest half of the work
is in the feeding and care. This ap
plied intelligently to. a good breed will
double cr trfole the receipts usuadv
earned by keeping ordinary barn-yard
fowls.
A Farm Woman's Poultry Snece.
It is always interesting to learn of
the success of a woman who has made
a go of pure-bred poultry brecaing.
Mrs. Emm J. Herzog of Nebraska is
one of the type of women who has
taken up the breeding of poultry, com
mencing in a small way and pushing
the work along until her business has
grown to be of considerable import
ance. Seven years ago Mrs. Herzog pur
chased her first setting of pure-bred
eggs from a breeder of Single Comb
Huff Orpingtons back in Pennsylvania.
The price she paid was indeed largo
for her, inasmuch as it was the first
time that she had ever purchased
pure-bred stock of any kind. She paid
$3 in gold for the first fifteen eggs of
pure-bred Single Comb Buff Orping
tons that wore brought into her yard?
but the results are that now she has
a flock of something over on hundred
and fifty chickens which she is very
proud of and which many poultry
breviers and 'enthusiasts go to visit.
Mrs. Herzog has been very fortunate
in the selection of a variety of poultry
on whic h to spend h r time and efforts.
The Orpingtons arc now almost as well
known as the Plymouth Rocks
throughout tho cart and their pop
ularity i. etcudlly extending westward
ear by yeer. Th Orpington fowls
are t.irt in voi th males welthlnn
from nln to twelve pounds each and
th female from eevtn to nine pounds.
They am excelUnt layers, ar vrv
iia'ay, grow I rue oukkly nnd feitherlng
out niei'Ium fast and a a table fowl
th have never been excelled. Then
fowls originated in Kngland fa the
y.ird.s of u certain poultry breeder, Mr.
W in, C.Hik by mime, some twi tv or
fiftien jc;ir Hi'o. Ti t y are a romhlnn
td n .f th I'.urr t'oet Inn, DorkMcs and
H imliury!. Thy m the laying
tJUJllthx of the Hamburg, k'.n 41 to
quihtl's of th- iVrkliKf and tl.
ceHen i3se, rotor mm vhror of In
liuT ferritin, Vhn thy wr: first
Irttiodueed into this eoun.'ry their
I o tif.irlt pr-1 I swtftly for th h sul
Ing poul'rj br'-ed.iY ,f the t'rite-1
State!! !ntrtd?iee4 them Into th-tr
yards. Mrs. Herzog saw that the
great popularity of the Buff Orping
tons was not going to wane within a
long term of years so she pinned her
faith to them and has' made a great
success as a breeder of 'Orpingtons In
the? western county, fh" declares that
there is as much difference between
the Orpingtons and the ordinary
fowls as there is between a finely
bred and gentle ; driving horse and
one that is vicious and unsafe, bt;lng
always on a bad behavior. She makes
this assertion in -view of a comment
which was made concerning the
domesticity of this most excellent
breed. -
The first poultry houses that Mrs.
Horiog built on her place were very'
small and inexpensive. From year to
year the numbers of the fowls in her
pens have increased until now she han
three good houses. The first is ten by
sixteen feet floor plan, the second ten
by thirty fet floor plan and the third
ten by twenty feet. All have good
shingle roofs and are tigh floored
They are in good locations, never be
ing damp of floor, or otherwise un
sanitary for the fowls housed in them.
The yards from these houses extend
southward a sufficient distance for th
number of birds kept in each breeding
and laying pen.. To the north of the
houses !s another series of yards which
might be called small postures be
cause of their size and the excellent
forage provided for the fowls In them.
Attached to each house is a scratching
shed thirty feet long and eight feet
wide, where during cold, blustery
weather and rainy days the fowls can
scratch in the deep clean litter for
their grain, thus providing them
selves with good, exercise and at the
same time being under cover. All
houses and scratching pens have
southern exposures and are .amply
lighted by large, windows which ad
mit the sunlight to the floors of each
pen. There is goodly shade in the
yards and cveiy convenience that can
be secured, which will aid in the sys
tematic and facile care and work of
handling the birds In their pens.
It was with considerable temerity
that Mrs. Herzog first exhibited her
birds in a poultry show. It is no more
than natural that the first time out
with poultry at a poultry show where
the competition is very keen and the
best breeders in the land have their
fowls on exhibition, that the amateur
or novice should be somewhaf timid
and frightened when bringing birds in
to an exhibition, but Mrs. Herzog
learned that the one secret of selling
pure-bred poultry was the test - for
quality 'm' the 'keenest competition and
also the little interest which poultry
people knew of what she had in tho
way of good stock.
' At the Nebraska state poultry show
In 1906 she had eome of her birds at
the exhibition here. .They were great
ly Admired and commented upon.
Again in 1907, the third week in Jan
i ....im . ii jij f-rr.,-,-, I
HEW PERFECB8W
Wick Blue Flame Oil Cook-Stove
IU heat la highly conctntraud. Does not overheat the kitchen.
Oil always tt & maintained Itrtl Three lea, FuUy warranted.
It not at your dealer's, write oar nearest agency fur fiescrlpti?
circular.
JIJJ
T Yf
rotinil hotwhoUl t v. ?UJ
of brass throughout end beautifully L.'cktlJ. cr
fectly eonitrccted ; arolutty aate; tinexm'ed ii
iijht-gtrir.u power; an orr.jn.eut to an? rocra.
Every Urap warranted. If cot at your deader 'a,
write to our nearest agency.
ST AN J AIH1 OIL COMPANY
uary, at the large auditorium in Iio
coin, she exhibited some of her birds
and also made a large display of fresh
Orpington eggs. Every year at the
Nebraska state poultry show there is
a big display of fresn o-"gs numbering
from one to two thowand. Nearly
thirty breeders, all competing for the
cash specials and silver loving cup
which Js offered for the largest and
best display of fresh eggs, are repre
sented In this contest. Mrs. Herzog
was fortunate enough to win tho silver
loving cun this year, for the best, fresh
eggs on exhibition. These were laid
by her- Orpingtons and were judged
by experts, being scored by tho score
en rd methrd of placing awards on
utility poultry and eggs, The scoro
card which Is vised for egg scoring,
allots so many points of the total hun
dred (which stands for perfection) to
color, shape, rlze, weight, freshness
nd cleanliness, and It was under such
a card that Mrs. Herzog's Puff Orp
ington eggs carried off the $20 cup.
Mr. Herzog has built up by judi
cious advertising, a trade which takes
all of the rggs for hatching that she
can spare at $2.50 per setting, and if
she can in addition raise a large num.
br of fowls each year, these are read
ily taken up by purchasers and Inter
ested people at good prices. She ob
tains for good Orpington cockerels
from 12 to $7 and $8 each, and for
good pullets and hens feonV $2 to "
each, and for breeding pens of ona
male nnd four female b she secures or
dinarily from $18 upward, according
to the quality that the buyer Is de
manding and willing to pay for. Her
fowls increase the revenue of the farm
several hundred dollars annually.
Mrs. Herzog breeds Orpingtons for
utility as well as the beauty demand
ed in a show room. Poultry exhibi
tions not only demand beauty of form
and feathers, but they also require
size, color of skin and legs nnd weight,
all of which are of market utility.
From tho 1st of January, 1907, to the
19th of March this year, Mrs. Herzog's
flock of about 140 hens laid 2,410 eggs
and she informs the writer that four
dozen of these pullets were not then
laying nnd that about twenty of them
ore not laying at yet. They had been
hatched too late In 1906 to commencfe
their early laying this winter.
The work that Mrs. Herzog has ac
complished Is nothing more than that
which may be done by any other wo
men on the farm who has the Inclinf -tlon
to devote her spare time to the
breeding of good fowls.
Tabloid of the Fraca. .
Leesvillo (Col.) Light: Do you know
why lhat show at the opera house,
didn't have any crowd to speak 'of?
Well, the? Juggler got full yesterday
afternoon and went around telling peo
ple he was going to juggle five cans
of dynamite at the evening perform
ance. St
Entirely different
from all others. Em
bodies, new ideas,
new principles.
Easily managed.
Reduces fuel ex
pense. Ready for
business at moment
of lighting. For
your summer cook
ing get a
I
ri'O I' the rest
I
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