Dipping Fowls.

How do you dip hens to kill lice?

To dip fowls you must have a very warm day, or a warm room where you can turn them in to dry.  I have know people to use tobacco stems, but it requires good judgment as to the right strength to use.  The dips usually sold already prepared are safer, in my opinion, because they give directions as to quantity.  Get a can of “zenoleum” or “creolium” — either is good — and have the water a little over blood-heat to commence; be very careful that the liquid does not get in the fowl’s throat.  If there are no directions with the cans, put enough in to make the water quite milky and strong smelling.  It is best to make the hen sit down and with a sponge wet the back and head thoroughly, then under the wings and breast; if there are nits, don’t be in a hurry to take the hen out, but let the dip get to the nits and skin on the abdomen.  If the water is too warm it will be dangerous, as some fowls have weak hearts; that is the only danger, providing you dry them quickly.

Cure for Feather-Eating.

What is the cure for feather-eating?

Feather eating is the result of idleness or a shortage of green feed.  The best way to cure it is to furnish the fowls with exercise.  Boil some oats until soft, and when cooked stir in salt enough to taste and about a quart of good beef scrap; feed this for breakfast several mornings together.  Make them scratch for the rest of their food in deep litter and give them sour milk to drink if you have it.  If sour milk is not available, put a tablespoonful of flowers of sulphur in the boiled oats.  The object is to cool the blood and furnish exercise.  See that the fowls are supplied with mineral matter, such ash shells, bone meal and some, sand if it can be had.  It is surprising the amount of sand that chickens will eat when carried to them in yards, so there must be a necessity for it, and if they cannot get to it, it pays to carry a good box full once in a while.

Cannibal Chicks.

What can I do to cure my chicks of eating each other?

Some kind of animal food is necessary when the chicks begin to pick toes, wings and vents.  But the meat must always be cooked, the least bit of raw meat drives them wild as does the blood they can bring on each other.  For that reason a strict watch must be kept to detect any case before blood is brought.  Remove all weak chicks as they always go for the weakest, and as soon as one chick is picked on for a victim, remove it at once.  Some people paint the toes with tar or liquid lice paint, but I have had the best success with bitter aloes mixed with water.  A nickel’s worth covers a lot of toes.  It is best to buy a powder, then dissolve in a little water and paint wings, vent and toes.  They won’t take many pecks at them when they find they are so bitter.

Sunflower Seeds for Poultry.

What is the food value of sunflower seed as a ration for fowls, mostly laying hens?  Should it be fed whole or crushed?