240 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



themselves clean. An excellent dust bath is made by drawing a load 

 of "chip-dirt" and dumping it in the yard where the little fellows may 

 have ready access to it. For winter use a box partly filled with fine 

 sand, road-dust, land plaster or coal or wood ashes answers very well. 

 A mixture of sand and land plaster seems to please them more than 

 either one alone. Some use wood ashes alone, but a mixture of wood 

 ashes and road dust, or fine sand, makes a heavier bath and therefore 

 more effective in cleaning the lice out of the feathers. 



If the fowls or chicks are badly infested, do not depend entirely on 

 a dust bath to rid them of the parasites. Examine them carefully in 

 the day time and if small parasites are found on their bodies, give them 

 a thorough dusting, or if small red or white mites are found about the 

 cracks and crevices of the house and perches, thoroughly treat as 

 described above. Simply because a house has not been used for a long 

 time is no assurance that it is clean. It may be full of vermin even 

 after years of idleness. Keep a constant lookout for vermin, and treat 

 thoroughly when found. 



HANDLING YOUNG STOCK. 



As soon as the chicks weigh a pound or a pound and a half, the 

 mother should be taken away if she has not already deserted her 

 brood and commenced laying. This is a critical time in the young 

 chick's life, as the youngsters are likely to run from coop to coop just 

 at dusk searching for the warmth of the mother hen. Some prefer to 

 move them to larger coops than those in which they have been raised, 

 thus far, but usually it will be found more satisfactory to leave them 

 in the "chick coops" until they are Avell weaned from the mother hens. 

 Re careful to keep them from crowding together in a few coops. This 

 crowding is often the cause of weak and almost worthless chickens. If 

 the chicks have not been examined after they are all settled for the 

 night, go from coop to coop and make a careful examination to be sure 

 that there are not too many in one house. If a house is found with 

 a large number in it, run your hand in among them and note the high 

 temperature. You will then understand why this crowding is so dan- 

 gerous. Also notice the tendenc}' for the chicks to crowd together in 

 the coops that are fed first in the morning. To prevent this, change 

 the order of feeding so- they cannot tell which will be the first to be 

 fed at the beginning of each day. 



lie careful also that they do not sleep on the ground as this will 

 cause them to sweat. The ground is moist and cool, while their bodies 

 are warm, this causes the feathers to become saturated with moisture. 

 Then when they go out in the early morning they are readily chilled, 

 thus making them unhealthy. The moist, damp atmosphere is also 

 unhealthy for them to breathe during the night. 



Perliaps by this time the young males are beginning to annoy the 

 l)ullets. At the first sign oC this approach to maturity the pullets 

 should be removed to other quarters. If a portable house with a good 



