A SELF-SUPPORTING HOME 



creatures are lurking in the coops and houses ; 

 take it as an established fact, for it is one of 

 those cases where prevention is better than 

 cure. The common louse, which is insep- 

 arable from fowls, is far less harmful than 

 the minute night wanderer, for the simple 

 reason that everybody who keeps poultry 

 wages ceaseless war on lice with insects, 

 powders, dust baths, etc. 



MOULTING 



The season at which hens moult has such 

 a direct influence on the production of winter 

 eggs that poultrymen have devoted much 

 study to the subject. Unless a bird moults 

 early in the fall, it is impossible to get it into 

 condition before the really cold weather, for 

 the growth of new feathers requires so much 

 oil there is none left to provide animal heat; 

 so the food which should be converted into 

 eggs has to furnish the warmth necessary to 

 keep the bird alive. 



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