Mrs. Lance Rawson

“ It is a good way of giving your fowls green food and employment at the same time. If you cannot feed early in the morning, a few handfuls of grain should be scattered over night, so that they will have something to eat the first thing. Meat must be given to fowls if possible every day. The refuse from the soup if the family indulges in soup, or any refuse meat boiled down to rags. Many fanciers, I believe, advocate raw meat for the poultry, and particularly for ducks. ”

“ For instance, for twelve hens and a rooster in a wire cage you will have to give a first feed, say at six o'clock in the morning, of soft food—pollard and sweet potatoes is very good, or kitchen scraps consisting of potato peels, meat, waste bread, &c., all boiled together and mixed with enough pollard or meal of some kind to make it into a stiff dough, and allow for each bird a lump about the size of a cricket ball. Instead of scattering the soft food it should be put into a long narrow trough, so that all can get at it easily. ”

“ When eggs are only 6d. or 8d. per dozen it is best to save and preserve them till they are a better price. There are dozens of recipes for preserving eggs, many of them excellent in their way, but best of all I have found lime water, without salt or anything else. Some people say that they can notice a distinct flavour of lime in eggs so preserved, others say that the eggs become too salty. On the other hand, I have sold eggs which have been in lime seven weeks, and have been complimented upon their freshness and new laid flavour. ”

“ Another pill easily mixed up with a little bread or dough is of cayenne pepper 1 gr., sulphate of copper 1⁄2 gr., copaiba 4 drops. Give one night and morning in cases of roup or severe cold. Give nourishing food, and see that the water the birds have access to is pure. To find out whether a bird is suffering from cold, look under the wing where he keeps his head at night, you will find the feathers all stuck together and hard if he has a cold. ”

“ Never overfeed your laying hens.
Brahmas, Plymouth Rocks, Wyandottes, all require good feeding when laying.
Let the hens have access to the manure heap, they will get good food for eggs there.
Corn (maize) is not a good food continuously, it is too heating and fattening. Wheat, oats, millet, all are very good.
Boil the kitchen scraps for them. Give wheat when they are moulting.
Oats should always be soaked in a little warm water, for half an hour or more before giving to the fowls. ”

“ If you supply a large number regularly to any one family or hotel, it is wise to only supply half the number at one time, for instance, if twelve dozen, only take six dozen out of the lime at once, and the other six dozen in two or three days, because preserved eggs get stale very soon once they are lifted, but when first taken out of lime they are fit for boiling, frying, or anything, but unless they are put in perfectly fresh from the nest they will not come out fresh, and in dropping them in care must be taken that they are not cracked or broken. ”

“ With young game roosters this is a favorite way to train them to stand up properly and hold their heads up. A piece of raw liver or a cabbage is hung in their cage for them to peck at, and through the constant reaching up they get into the habit of carrying their heads high and haughtily. ”

“ Fowls suffering from roup should be isolated at once to some warm dry place out of all draughts. Wash the offensive matter from the nostrils two or three times a day with warm water and vinegar, or weak alum and water. Give a teaspoonful of castor oil directly you notice the disease, and some hours after a pill of sulphate of iron 1 gr., camphor 1 gr., cayenne 3 grs., liquid extract of aloes 1 gr., extract of aconite 1/6 of a gr. Repeat night and morning till better. For a chicken only give half a pill for a dose. ”

“ Fowls kept in confinement and with no grass run will require a great deal more food than those who have a big run and an open paddock, also their diet must be made up to represent as nearly as possible the food they would pick up themselves if free. ”

“ For instance, a very fresh egg will lie on the bottom, one a few days old will not quite touch it, and so on till a very stale or bad egg will float on the top. An experienced cook can generally tell by the feel of an egg whether it is fresh or stale. ”

“ Afterwards I took to boiling my meat to rags, and when I next killed a duck there were no worms or spots, and decidedly the flavour is just as good. I have since been told that it is a well known fact that the ducks running about the slaughter yards are full of worms. ”

“ I do not consider it either good for the birds themselves, or for those who finally eat them. Some seasons ago I tried the experiment of feeding uncooked meat to ducks, the result was they got beautifully fat and grew wonderfully. ”

“ This is very often the result of giving the same food always. Hens require a variety of food as much as human beings do, and unless they get it they will not repay keeping. Hens kept in small yards will sometimes eat their eggs. ”

“ It is a very good plan to get a dozen or so of these pills made up and always keep them handy, as in severe cold they are excellent, and one can often save a valuable hen a long illness by giving one of these in time. ”