TETHERING HENS WITH CHICKENS.

New Zealand Times, Volume LVII, Issue 2543, 22 June 1895, Page 2 (Supplement)

TETHERING HENS WITH CHICKENS.

An advantageous plan of securing hens with their brood, far superior to the method usually adopted of cooping them (says an English authority), is largely followed by gamekeepers in rearing pheasants, but, strange to say, is very seldom used in the case cf heus with chickens. It is that of tethering the hen near a box or open coop under which she can have shelter at night, or in the case of severe storms, whilst she is allowed sufficient range by the l«ngih of her tether to scratch for her young brood, and can always shelter them on sweet, fresh ground, which may be shifted daily, or even several times a day. A tethered hen, with her box for shelter, may be placed on an unoccupied bed in the garden, and shifted from one part to another, so as to be always exercising herself in scratching and finding small worms and insects for her young brood. Then, again, she has the capability of moving about freely, so that she is much less likely to trample and tread upon her chickens. The space of ground over which she can range is large, and does

not become soiled and unhealthy, and the whole shelter, hens and chickens, can be moved from place to place with much greater facility than where the hen is cooped and has to bo pushed along over the ground. The most advantageous way of tethering a hen is by means of what a falconer, who tethers his hawks, would call a jess, for if the hen has a piece of string tied round her leg it is apt to pull tight and injure tho limb, and is difficult to undo at times, and becomes loose at others. But with a proper jess these inconveniences are entirely avoided, as it is impossible that the hen can get it off, and it is so formed that it can do no injury to tho bird. To make a jess a thin fl xible piece of leather should be taken, ab-mt Biu. or Din. long and a little less than lin. broad. Three slits should be cut in it as shown in the diagram, which is about one-third of the proper size. To use

A B C Jess for tethering hens and chickens, this jess the part between A and B should bo placed round the leg of the hen, the slit A being brought over the slit B, and then the end 0 should be passed through both the slits, only it must go first through A and then through B. Now when this is pulled tight it will be found to make a loop round the leg of the hen which she cannot tighten or make loose by any pulling, nor can it possibly be undone by the bird, although readily removed by the owner, all that is necessary being to pass the end C back through the two slits. The piece of string the required length, which should not bo too stout, is tied to C, and this is fastened to a peg which is driven into the ground. The string may be of any length that is thought desirable, and the stake or peg to which the other end is attached may be shifted at any time without the alighest trouble or difficulty. The formation of this joss is readily learned by the slightest practice round a penholder or a piece of stick the same size as the leg of the bon. In case a piece of leather is not available, it may by made out of a piece of braid, or even s'cut tape. In placing the coop or box of shelter for the hen care should be taken not to put it so neat the peg that the hen can walk round to the back of the box, because if she does so she may twist the string round the coop and bo unable to extricate herself. The coop should be so placed that the hen can go into it but not round behind it. In many gardens where this plan is adopted, the whole of the unoccupied ground may be seen covered with hens secured in this manner. Tee little chickens ere running about the ground, coming at the call of the mother, scratching and searching fur themselves, and getting an amount of freedom and exercise that conduces in a remarkable manner to their progress and welfare. The hens may be put down on ground which has been newly dug or newly planted with potatoes, artichokes, and other crops of the kind, and will do no damage. The amount of insects eaten by these little birds is very large, and in this way they do a groat deal of good. I have never known persona who have carefully tried the plan of tethering hens who have adopted the system of cooping afterwards ; the results are so very far superior. The food that is given to them can always bo thrown on fresh ground, and they never eat any contaminated by their own excrement, which is the most fertile cause of disease in crowded poultry yards. I know of many country gardens whore this plan is adopted, and no prettier sight can be seen than the hens, thus at half liberty, looking after their young charges. It may bo thought that the plan is painful to the hens, but it is not so. If a hen is tethered for the first time, and pegged down, she will at first pull against the string, but in five minutes, or even less, she finds that pulling is unavailable, and she sets to work scratching for her young chickens without any reference to her partial imprisonment, to which she becomes perfectly reconciled.