226 STATE BOAKD OF AGRICULTURE. 



tory, and circulatory, — subject to organic laws. "When these laws are violated 

 disease will inevitably follow. We hear of catarrh in chickens, chicken cholera, 

 diphtheria, dysentery, fowls eating their feathers, gapes, gout, pip, rheumatism, 

 roup, vertigo, and last, but not least, vermin. I know but little of these ail- 

 ments from experience or observation. I am a firm believer in the adage that 

 "prevention is better than cure." By far the greater proportion of jjoultry 

 diseases arise either from cold, wet, neglect of proper food and clean water, or of 

 persevering cleanliness. As health is the first condition of success witli poultr}-, 

 this fact presents the key to the whole matter of their profitable management. 

 It is reasonable to sujopose, and it is admitted by experienced keejiers, that a 

 large number of fowls, with proper managemeut, will i)rove proportionately as 

 profitable as a small number; that want of success with a large number of 

 birds is most frequently caused by neglect of cleanliness, resulting in disease. 

 Vermin is the greatest annoyance of fowls, but the bird being a clean and active 

 animal, it will keep itself free from this, or mostly so, if sufliciently furnished 

 with dusting boxes. Give them an abundance of ashes and they will faithfully 

 use them. Warren Lelaud practiced fumigation to exterminate hen vermin. 

 Another fumigates with roll sulphur ; others use whitewash to which is added 

 a little carbolic acid, sprinkling the nests and perches with carbolic acid diluted 

 twenty parts water to one of acid. 



In regard to a poultry house there are as many fancies as there are poultry 

 keepers. The march of improvement in the building of chicken houses seems 

 as apparent as in most other things. Warmth, dryness, and pure air are indis- 

 pensable in a poultry house. The best soil on which to build for fowls is a sandy 

 one, resting upon gravel loam, since this variety of soil retains the least mois- 

 ture, stagnant moisture being a fruitful source of disease. Its size should be 

 adapted to the number of fowls to be enclosed. "A room from eight to ten 

 feet square is large enough for a roosting and laying place for twenty-five 

 fowls," says one; another that "its size should allow about six square feet for 

 each fowl." The great danger is from over-crowding, allowing the birds too 

 little range. 



The roof, sides, and fioor are all the better if constructed double. If the 

 walls are plastered the protection against vermin and cold will be greater than 

 when otherwise. It should be lighted by the morning sun, be kept thoroughly 

 ventilated, and in winter artificially warmed. The sunny side, except of the 

 nest room, should be glazed the entire length. The perches should never be 

 more than four feet high and arranged on a level, checking the birds' ambition 

 to get the highest place. Ladder-like perches, rising from floor to ceiling, are 

 highly objectionable. Heavy fowls will walk up to their night's rest, but will 

 take the shortest way down in the morning. The roosts must be easy of access. 

 The nests should be kept dark that the hens may reach them unperceived. 

 Movable boxes are best for their nests. Chopped straw is a good material with 

 Avhich to fill the nest boxes, and should be clean. The feed-boxes and water- 

 troughs should be so protected as to keep their contents clean, and yet allow the 

 fowls easy access at all times. Boxes of dry ashes or earth, gravel and lime, 

 form an indispensable part of their room's furnishing. My iwultry house is 

 thirty-two feet by sixteen, with four equal compartments. The partitions are 

 of slats, so that the birds are all in sight of each other, preventing any estrange- 

 ment when kept separate, as they may be by means of a door to each room. 

 Standing at either end of the house one may see the occupants of all the rooms 

 at a glance. On the north side is a hall four feet wide for the storage of feed, 



