CHICKENS 



231 



successfully where electricity or gas is not to be had. With 

 electricity a dimming arrangement should be installed to allow 

 the birds a chance to get back on the roosts. A sixty watt lamp 

 is about right for a one hundred hen unit (see diagram for an 

 alarm clock wiring system). 



To Mam Ltne 



60 iVoit Lamp 

 'OiYatt Lamp 



Fig. 136. — Automatic lighting switch. 



SANITATION 



Cleanliness makes for comfort and prevents the spread of 

 disease. Dead birds should be buried deeply or burned. They 

 should not be put on the manure pile to be drawn out on the 

 farm Avhere a colony of chicks may later contract the same 

 trouble that caused the death of the first birds. In Avinter a 

 barrel may be used in which to keep the dead birds. Keep the 

 bodies covered with ashes or earth until spring permits burial. 



At least one thorough house cleaning should be made in Sep- 

 tember. All nests, dropping boards, and other equipment should 

 be removed from the house, disinfected and allowed to sun. The 

 rest of the house should be scrubbed with a broom and be 

 sprayed with a good disinfectant. 



A good home-made disinfectant is recommended by the Maine 

 Station. This is made from "Commercial Cresol" and may be 

 ordered from a drug store. 



''Use care in handling the Commercial Cresol as it is very 

 strong and burns severely. This is the formula : Measure out 

 three and one-fifth quarts of raw linseed oil in a four or five 

 gallon crock; then weigh out in a dish 1 pound six ounces of 

 commercial lye or Babbitt's potash. Dissolve this lye in as little 

 water as will completely dissolve it. Start with half pint of 

 water, and if this will not dissolve all the lye, add more water 

 slowly. 



