236 



AN EGG FARM. 



respondence columns of the poultry papers over and 

 over again, it hardly occurs in case of chicks running at 

 large in one instance in a. 

 thousand, we might say. 

 It is wrongly attributed to 

 looseness of the bowels, 

 while its real cause is weak- 

 ness of the muscles around 

 the vent. These muscles 

 are weak because all the 

 other muscles of the body 

 are weak. When the mus- 

 cular system is toned up by 

 the exercise on a free range 

 while constantly hunting, 

 literally, for "grub," one 

 set of muscles concerned in 

 evacuation throws back, or 

 separates, the feathers 

 around the vent with force, 

 while with equal force an- 

 other set of muscles expels 

 the droppings. Much of 



the so-called diarrhoea is 



FIG. 125. FEED TROUGH APPARATUS. 



not diarrhoea at all. The chicks are weak for lack of 

 exercise, the whole system is enfeebled, but the bowels 



