98 THE HOME POULTRY BOOK 
is made of wire netting and filled with cracked corn. 
None of this corn escapes, but the hens see it and 
peck at it. The slight blow is enough to turn the 
bar a trifle and down comes a shower of corn, 
which is scattered by a deflector in a wide, even 
circle. If there is a little litter on the floor, the 
hens will scratch in lively fashion for a few min- 
utes, after which another peck at the bait bar will 
result in another deluge of grain. In this way, the 
fowls are kept active and there is no waste of feed. 
All that falls out is eaten and neither mice nor birds 
can extract any from the feeder. When the hens 
tire a bit of this exercise or of the food which it 
brings them, they turn to the hoppers of mash. 
These hoppers may be large enough so that they will 
not require filling oftener than once a fortnight and 
the grain feeder will contain enough for from two 
to three days to a week or more, depending upon 
the size and the number of hens using it. 
The water fountain is attached to a butter tub, 
which is the reservoir, one filling of which will 
suffice for several days. The tub is covered, so 
that the water is kept clean, and the fountain is so 
constructed that the water is always several degrees 
cooler than the atmosphere. This is, of course, a 
