63 



General Care. 



Poultry houses must be kept clean if the best 



Cleanliness and results are to be obtained. The dropping 



Care of board beneath the roost seems desirable both 



Droppings. because it facilitates keeping the house clean 



and because the droppings, which constitute a 

 valuable fertilizer, can be better saved than in its absence. The 

 droppings should be frequently removed. In summer daily removal 

 or at the very least semi-weekly removal is important. In winter 

 when fermentation and heating are not likely to follow, the droppings 

 may safely be allowed to accumulate for a week.* In order that the 

 droppings may not deteriorate in fertilizer value, they should be 

 kept under cover and loss is most effectively prevented if with each 

 addition of new material it be sprinkled with a chemical preservative 

 such as kainit or acid phosphate. It is the writer's preference to 

 cover the dropping boards when cleaned with dry dust-like earth. 

 This being mixed with the droppings when they are removed helps 

 to prevent loss of valuable elements and to maintain a desirable 

 physical condition. The Maine Experiment Station reports good 

 results from the use of dry sawdust in connection with a chemical 

 preservative. 



The floor of the poultry house whenever the 

 The Litter. fowls are kept in close confinement should be 



kept covered with dry litter some seven or eight 

 inches in depth. For this purpose bright well cured straw either of 

 oats or the Japanese Barnyard millet will be found particularly satis- 

 factory, although other kinds of straw may be used. Such straw 

 should be cut into six to eight inch lengths. As the hens live on the 

 straw and scratch it over, it is of course soiled and gradually broken 

 up. About once a week the portion which is still coarse and clean 

 should be moved to one side and the finer portion underneath 

 removed. At the same time fresh straw should be added to make 

 good the loss. 



Of great value in enabling the fowls to rid 

 The Dust Bath. themselves of vermin is a suitable dust bath. 



To hold the material required for such a bath a 

 shallow box or a depression in the floor so placed that the sun will 



* This advice is intended for open front houses. For closed houses the droppings 

 should be removed daily in order to avoid foul air. 



