THE POULTRY YARD.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 952, 7 May 1879, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE POULTRY YARD.

TAPEWORM IN FOWLS. The natural history of the entozoa affecting our domestic animals (says the i'ield) is so recent a subject of study, that the general ignorance respecting these internal parasites is not a matter to be wondered at. Nevertheless, a fair amount of knowledge regarding them might be expected from a medical adviser." In a recent number of the Lancet a correspondent of that journal inquires as follows :—" Can a lien be allccted with tapeworms; and, if so, can tapeworms be conveyed to the human stomach by eating the eggs of a hen I I have a retriever bitch,"which yesterday I discovered was affected with tapeworms, and oil mentioning the circumstance to my medical adviser he told me that I must destroy all the fowls in my barnyard, lest they may have picked up some of the excrement passed by the bitch, as even the very eggs of the liens would 'convoy the tapeworm genns to the human stomach." The reply of the editor of the Lancet to this note is so much to tiie purpose, that we cannot do better than insert it :—Hens are apt to be infested by two species of tapeworms, but neither of these worms correspond with any of the nine distinct species of tapeworms which reside in the intestines of the dog. The tapeworms of the hen cannot be c >:i'vy.-tl t... t i,.-. unman stomach by thn eating of the i-ggs of the hen. There is no necessity to destroy any of the fowls. The tapeworm eggs contained in the excrement of the bitch could not possibly infect the hen, and therefore the eiigs of the bird would also remain unaffected.' 1 As far a3 is known, no species of internal parasite is common to man and any group of birds ; and no more danger can result from eating a bird infested with tapeworms than from eating fish, which are rarelv, if ever, free from entozoa ; in spite of which, they constitute one of the most valuable and wholesome supplies of animal food.

HOW TO FATTEN POULTRY QUICKLY.

The following system is recommended in an English agricultural journal, for get tins; fowls ready for market. in a short ,i,„ c Their dietshoiild be Indian, oat, or barley-meal, scalded in milk or water—the former is the best, as it will expedite the fattening process. _ Tiicy should be fed early in the At noun, and also in the evening just before going to roost, and uivoii a plentiful supply of pure fresh water, nienty of gravel, sliced cabbau>*, or turnip tops. If the fowls are required to be very fat, some trimmings of fresh mutton suet may be chopped up and scalded with their other fond, or they may be boiled in milk alone, and over the meal. This renders tho fl-ish firmer than it otherwise would be. When tit to kill, feeding should be stopped for twelve or n[t*ro» s«i tlint tue iuttstiucs niuy becouiu comparatively empty, THE FLAVOR OF EGGS. " Every housekeeper" (says the Poultry Journal) " knows that there is a vast difference in the flavor of eggs. Hens fed 1011 clear, sound groin, and kept on & clean

grass run, give much finer flavored eggs than hens that have access to stables and manure heaps, and eat all kinds of filthy food. Hens feeding on fish and onions flavor their eggs accordingly, the same as cows eating onions or cabbage, or drinking offensive water imparts a bad taste to the. milk or butter. The richer the food the higher the colot- of the eggs. Wheat and corn give eggs the best color, while feeding on buckwheat makes them colorless, rendering them useless for some confectionery purposes." ♦ HINTS FOR BEGINNERS. The best layers and most thrifty chickens can always be obtained by;i cross between two distinct bre-.-d-s. the best by large wiUi smaller. <:f course this is for quick-grow-iniT chickens for the table and e.irly-laying pullets, but the breeding should end right here, as rhe progeny will soon run to poor nioiigr is and fade out. One c--ck is ample for a yard of yO heor-:, and is f:ir better than liior The win ■■nit, fail [ii'odnce chicken.--, '' iiiio tie ■ vi!i I-:In !i■ -:t- r 1:■ -:\itl■ :md -•lnin-ig'. if v• >'■ -ps beoui:; nfecied it'i insects, the best way is to remove the fowls d :V-tin-e :: til-.: :< sts 'will have I riVrho fir.*.-!s and talcen p-jssesshin, of the •• t 1 s #, :ee other coop tor a days. This removal will alone do much good, but to make rure, fumigate with sulniiur, then whitewasli, put, kerosene oil on end of roosts, and in cracks near, where insects may lodi;e in midsummer. The nests should also have a sprinkling of sulphur. A pur.i bred cannot be depended on if one hen of other blood runs in the yard, no matter if she does not lay, or if the c!/gs can be culled out. This is positive, and owing to the fact that impregnation is carried mixed by the male from one lien to the other. The fall of the year is the best time for beginners to commence the business of fowl-raising, for the reason that they can at no other time in the year find matured young stock to operate with, and because the pullets that are now coming toward seven or eight months of age will shortly begin to lay.