300 



(^Leanings in b^e ctiLTtiiii:. 



At'ti. 



books and journals give pictures of feeders 

 that permit the hens to put in their heads, 

 but not to stand in the feed with their feet. 

 Most of these feeders, however, will soon be 

 used for a roosting-place, until they get to 

 be so unsightly I long to burn the whole 

 thing up, that I may forget it ever existed. 

 Some people throw the leavings of the table 

 on the ground, and let the chickens help 

 themselves. I do not suppose that the 

 poultry care very much, but I care. In 

 Chapter XIV. I showed you a picture of 

 our poultry-house and the feeders inside the 

 house. These do very well for different 

 kinds of grain ; but a few days ago I wanted 

 to feed some cracked bones and oyster- 

 shells, and I could not think of tin-owing 

 them on the ground, amid the hlth. One 

 feeder was full of oats and corn, and the 

 other contained wheat. In looking for 

 something that would just suit me to feed 

 the shells and bone meal in, I struck upon a 

 feeder that pleased me so much that I want 

 to tell you about it. If we don't look out, 

 our poultry-house will be cluttered up. 

 Utensils for water and feed should be out of 

 the way as much as possible ; and it is still 

 more important that they be so constructed 

 and placed that fowls may not stand upon 

 top of them, and disfigure them with drop- 

 pings. They should be made so they can be 

 easily brushed off; in fact, the whole in- 

 terior of the poultry-house and all its uten- 

 sils should be so arranged that the aforesaid 

 broom, or a little brush-broom, may be 

 used all over the interior. I wanted for my 

 purpose something made of metal, so it 

 could be washed or wiped off with a cloth. 

 At first I thought of a tin pan with a hole 

 cut in the bottom, for the fowls to put their 

 heads in, to be hung up against the wall. 

 Finally my eye caught on a new retinned 

 wash-basin, large size. These cost 15 cents 

 apiece. I took one of them up to the tin- 

 shop, and directed the tinner to put a cover 

 over the top. This cover was made out of a 

 circular piece of tin, aild locked over the 

 rim. But before putting it on he cut away 

 one side so as to leave an opening for filling 

 the feeder, just below the ring attached to 

 the wash-basin to hang it up by. Then with 

 a large punch he cut a hole in the lower 

 side of the bottom, large enough for even 

 the Brahma rooster to get his head in. You 

 will notice, however, that if this feeder be 

 filled with wheat or corn, and hung up 

 against the wall, a great part of the grain 

 would run right out on the ground. To pre- 

 vent this, a piece of tin just about like a 



common tunnel cut in halves is soldered just 

 over the opening for the fowls' heads. It 

 is put on broad end down. This allow^s the 

 grain or feed tokeep just under the opening ; 

 but none of it can run out. The feeder 

 works to perfection. Here is a cut of it. 



OUR WASH-BASIN roULTKV-FEEDER. 



The same arrangement works beautifully 

 for boiled beans, scraps left from the table, 

 or any thing else you wish to give them, and 

 not have it get out in the dirt, causing them 

 to get it filthy in order to get out every scrap 

 of food. Now, the same utensil will make 

 the prettiest and cheapest water-fountain 

 you ever saw^ by telling the tinner to let the 

 back cover the basin entirely, and then have 

 it soldered on air and water tight. In the 

 latter case, the lialf-tunnel must stand about 

 a quarter of an inch below the lowest part 

 of the opening where they put in their heads. 

 To fill it with water, Jay it down and pour 

 the w^ater in through the hole, or immerse it 

 in a tub or trough of water, and hang it on 

 a nail and then they can drink as long as 

 a drop of water is left ; but no chicken is 

 smart enough to scratch dirt and rubbish into 

 it. Below our artist has tried to show you 

 how the fowls take to such an arrangement. 



THE WASII-r.ASlN FEP^DER IN ACTUAL USE. 



