GENERAL INFORMATION 



a difficult or irksome task to sweep off the drop- 

 pings every morning or every other morning. 



When a hen is compelled to sleep above the 

 accumulated droppings of many nights, breathing 

 foul, impure air, laden with the rank ammoniacal 

 gases arising from the droppings, her breathing 

 apparatus is bound to get out of order and her 

 constitutional strength undermined and weakened. 

 In the wild state fowls perch on trees, fences or 

 other high objects, far above the lodging place of 

 the droppings, and sleep in air that is always pure 

 and fresh. 



How often the scratching litter should be re- 

 moved from the floor and replaced with fresh 

 depends very largely upon the number of fowls, 

 the season of the year and the kind of weather. 

 Once a week is often enough in all ordinary 

 cases, -and sometimes the same litter may be used 

 continuously for two or three weeks. A good 

 rule to go by is to remove the old material as soon 

 as the birds have it scratched and picked pretty well 

 to pieces, and as soon as it begins to get dusty and 

 broken in such small pieces that it settles together 

 and is hard for the hens to scratch apart, or it 

 becomes filthy from the droppings or soiled by the 

 fowls running over it with muddy, unclean feet. 

 Loose litter will allow the grains to become buried 

 deeper and better than heavy stuff, the hens prefer 

 it to work in, and it is more desirable in every way. 



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