82 WYANDOTTES. 



object, less fencing would be needed, as small flocks of one breed 

 could run together at large, if the crops stand no danger of being 

 injured by their having liberty. This and other points must be con- 

 sidered by the breeder, and his own good sense will suggest what 

 is best to do. 



We prefer fresh earth and road dust for floors and baths, in 

 preference to wooden floors. The fowls will like it better and it is 

 more natural and healthful. It should always be loose, and once or 

 twice a week a close rake drawn through will gather the droppings, 

 and the constant scratching will cover the fresh droppings and 

 prevent the liberation of ammonia to a certain extent. The baths 

 should be of dry road dust and placed where the sun shines on 

 them. The perches for Wyandottes should not exceed three feet 

 high, and they should be about three or four inches wide, beveled, 

 or, in other words, rounding in the middle, with edges taken off so 

 that the form will fit to the hollow of the feet when the claws have 

 grasped the perch; two by four scantling, rounded off, make a solid 

 perch. 



A good plan when putting up perches is to have them rest on 

 half cups of cast iron, in which kerosene may every few weeks be put, 

 to permeate through the pores of the wood, to keep lice and parasites 

 away, and they should be on a level and far enough apart to prevent 

 the fowls from pecking at each other from the perches. A feeding 

 box for each small flock is a great saving, besides keeping the food 

 clean and away from rats and mice. Oyster shells, ground bone, 

 old mortar and slacked lime, charcoal or charred corn, sharp gravel 

 and a water fountain, are indispensable in every house whether you 

 are breeding high class or market fowls. 



