Sunflower seed is rich in oil, having the same proportion as flaxseed; otherwise it rates in value the same as grain.  A little, not too much, fed whole is well relished by fowls and is said to give luster to the plumage in fitting birds for shows.  Sunflower is greatly overrated for poultry purposes.  It is an ungainly plant of no use for forage and its seed is so well liked by the sparrows that the only way to keep them till ripe is to cover the heads with netting.

Clipping Hens for Cleanliness.

My hens foul all the feathers below the vent; they appear healthy, but do not look nice.  What can I do?

Take a pair of scissors and clip the fluff away from that part of the abdomen, give a teaspoonful of olive oil, and notice of they have any discharge that is of an offensive color or odor.  Sometimes it is nothing but pure laziness with hens of the large breeds that causes this matting together of the fluff below the vent.  We rarely see hens of the small breeds so affected.  Whenever a hen soils her feathers clip her at once, and, in fact, it is a good custom to follow in any case.  When hens are very heavily fluffed it interferes with the fertility of the eggs.  In such cases there is not anything for it but the scissors.

Bowel Trouble in Chicks.

What is the cause of bowel trouble in young chicks, and what to do for it?

Bowel trouble in very young chicks is usually caused by a chill.  It is very hard for us here to believe chicks get chilled because, not feeling the cold ourselves, we forget that chicks have really undergone a violent change from incubator to the outside atmosphere.  In the Eastern States, great care is exercised in moving chicks from incubator to brooder oven, and also in seeing that the brooder itself is warm and fit to receive the chicks.  But we are, as a rule, very careless in these little matters and the chicks feel the change and suffer from bowel trouble.  Sometimes, of course, the trouble may be traced to the food, but more often it comes from a chill.  The best way to cure it is to remove the chicks to new ground at once, or if in a brooder, clean it out well and spray with some disinfectant.  Boil all the water that is given to the chicks and feed boiled rice once or twice a day in which a little cinnamon is mixed.  Do not put in too much or they will not eat it, keep all meat away and just feed dry chick feed and boiled rice.  No oatmeal or any other cereal but the rice; if chicks won’t eat it, feed dry chick feed and boiled water and a little lettuce.

Quick Roosters and Laying Hens.

How can I get the young roosters off quick and the hens to lay in winter?

These two happy results come from correct methods of poultry keeping from the ground up.  To get the cockerels off quick, they must be hatched from strong-germed eggs, incubated properly and kept growing from the first jump out of the shell.  To get eggs in winter the pullets must come from the same conditions.  Very few hens will lay in the early winter under any conditions.  The pullets must be depended upon for that season and the hens kept properly will drop in some time in January.