Voiiltni KiepiiKj. 36U 



oceasionally practised. Pol laid, bran and oatmeal are very suitable 

 for soft food, and they should always be mixed with warm water or 

 skim milk dining the cold months. The addition of a little salt in 

 the soft food is beneficial. Meat or gieen-cut bone can also be 

 recommended. Meat should be given in a cooked form. The better 

 plan is to boil it for three or four hours, and then shred the meat fine. 

 The broth will furnish an excellent liquid for mixing the pollard, 

 bran, or other meal. Green food should- also be used regularly, and 

 the refuse from vegetables used for table can be boiled up and mixed 

 with the soft food. Luceine hay cut up fine and boiled or steamed 

 will make an excellent substitute for green food. A V-shaped tr(Migh 

 should l)e used for either feeding with soft food or grain, and failing 

 that, a broad board maj^ be utilised to keep the food clean. Water is 

 also a very necessary adjunct to the general health and condition of 

 poultry, and the supply given should be cool, fresh and pure. Iron 

 ves.sels are to be recommended, and the rust will furnifsh the water 

 with properties which are beneficial to poultry. 



Housing must receive special attention. The buildings used must 

 be warm and commodious to ensure egg production in the winter 

 months, and although a certain cpiantity of ventilation is required, 

 care should be taken to exclude draughts of any sort. A suitable 

 building may be made with walls about G feet high, and 10 feet by 

 G feet in area. The front should be towards the east, and the roof 

 may be either single or V-shaped. If the former, the slope should be 

 towards the back, and in any case spouting shoidd be affixed so as to 

 utilise the water, and also t)revent damp or soakage. The house can 

 be made of weatherboard, palings, or hardwood, with an iron roof 

 The front ma}' be either wholly or partially closed as required, and a 

 door afiixed so that the stock niay be confined or released at will. 

 Perches should be made all on one level, and they maj' either be 

 fastened on a frame hung from the roof, or placed on a post at each 

 corner. The perches should not touch the outer walls, and a space of 

 15 or IS inches should be left right iouikI the frame. Warm housing 

 will tend to earlier and also increased ^g^^ production, and it will also 

 reduce the quantity of food neces.sary to keep fowls in proper con- 

 dition. Poultry should not be allowed out of their house too early, 

 when frost or cold and wet weather occurs. Houses should be 

 constructed of iron in tick-infested districts. 



Poultry Runs. 



The runs for poultry will, of course, have to be arranged according 

 to the area available. Colonies or flocks of fowls should not exceed 

 100, and if only 50, so much the bettei". A run about 30 feet by 

 100 feet will be suflBcient for 25 or 30 fowls, and the size of the run 

 should be increased in proportion to the number of birds kept. 

 Shelter should be provided by the planting of shrubs, trees, hedges, 

 etc. Tree lucerne can be recommended for this purpose. It is hardy 

 and of quick growth, and the leaves are very suitable for poultry. 

 By cutting the tree back on the top, an undergrowth is encouraged, 



