8 THE PEOPLE'S PRACTICAL POULTRY BOOK. 



nary, or what we may call the natural condition, is a very slow one. Grain 

 by grain is the meal taken, and with the aggregate no small amount of sand, 

 pebbles, and the like, all of which, passing into the crop, assist digestion 

 greatly. But in the "hen-wife's" mode of feeding poultry, a great heap is 

 thrown down, and the birds are allowed to " peg away " at such a rate that 

 their crop is filled too rapidly, and the process of assimilation is slow, painful 

 and incomplete. No wonder that so many cases of choked craw are met with 

 under this treatment. Many other diseases which affect chickens might be 

 prevented by breeders, were a little precaution taken in the simple matter of 

 feeding. 



TO PRODUCE EGGS. 



More eggs can perhaps be obtained from hens by mixing breeds than by 

 any other mode ; and it is generally conceded that crossing also promotes 

 the health of fowls far more than the vile practice, as some are pleased to 

 term it, of in-and-in breeding. Little trouble need be apprehended from 

 roup, gapes, cholera, and other diseases in poultry, if that care is observed in 

 breeding and crossing that is so essential to all well regulated poultry yards. 



POSITION OF THE HENNERY AND RUNWAYS. 



As we said before, the hennery should be placed in a warm, dry location 

 (not in a damp, out-of-the-way place) with runways ample to allow of plenty 

 of exercise. Above all, care should be taken that vermin do not get a foot- 

 hold in the hennery; for if they once make their appearance, it is difficult to 

 exterminate them, and before the breeder is aware of it, his flock is over-run 

 with them. Let the hennery be thoroughly cleansed with lime, (whitewash 

 put on hot,) as often as once a month. If any of the fowls show symptoms 

 of disease which is frequently the case when in confinement see that 

 they are removed at once from the flock. Give good, wholesome food, with 

 plenty of clean water ; have the laying boxes cleaned and renewed frequently 

 with straw, hay or shavings, and, with the help of the good housewife and 

 children, there need be no fear of failure to profitably raise poultry. If one 

 does not succeed in the first undertaking, he should not become disheartened, 

 but persist in his endeavors to find out the cause of failure, and obviate it in 

 the future. 



In this connection we give the reply of Mr. WARREN LELAND, Rye, N. 

 Y., an experienced and extensive breeder of fowls, to inquiries from a gentle- 

 man who desired to engage in the poultry business in his old age. Mr. LE- 

 LAND says : " I have found that for every hundred fowls you must give up at 

 least an acre. But rough land is as good as any. Hens naturally love the 

 bush, and I lop young trees, but leave a shred by which they live a year or 

 more. These form hiding places and retreats for them. In such places they 

 prefer to lay. I have great success, and it depends on three or four rules, by 

 observing which I believe a good living can be made by hens and turkeys. I 



