Laying House 



in the poultry yard as in the well regulated household. "Throw physic to the 

 dogs." But "clean up" regularly, systematically, effectually, and do it over and 

 over incessantly and persistently, always at it, picking up, sweeping up, raking 

 up, hoeing up, washing up, whitewashing and spraying, and using betimes hot, 

 water and old-fashioned kitchen soap. The habit of cleanliness goes a long way 

 on the road to success. 



Is this advice superfluous? The average beginner says: "Of course, I know 

 enough about poultry to know that everything must be kept clean," yet things 

 that look clean may not be clean to the eye armed with a microscope, or to the 

 man trained in the science of bacteriology. In the modern world disease is studied 

 with a microscope, and it is the microscopic dirt that the poultry man must keep 

 out. How many would not scruple to toss a bit of moldy bread to his fowls, give 

 them scraps of meat that "only smell bad," or provide moldy straw for litter in 

 the scratching shed? "Good enough for the chickens," it is thought, if thought 

 of at all,, yet out of such practices come diseases diarrhoea akin to ptomaine 

 poisoning, mycotic enteritus, a disease, Dr. Morse says, of the intestinal tract, 

 and mycotic pneumonia, an affection of the bronchial tubes produced by moldy 

 straw or chaff. 



The poultry man cannot equip himself with all the knowledge of a bacteri- 

 ologist, but he must be quick to appreciate the value of such knowledge and apply 

 it. Complete sanitation everywhere about poultry houses and grounds is abso- 

 lutely essential. The first thing in this business is the health of the fowls, and 

 here cleanliness is a first law. Failure often comes from dirt. 



Chick Feeding and Care 



The first lessons in cleanliness will be in the nursery. Before buying, or 

 hatching 500 or i ,000 chicks, the alphabet of feeding, warmth and cleanliness, 

 should be mastered. The hover is the sleeping quarters of the chicks and rest 



16 



