146 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 



them, in yards where droppings are piled so thick 

 and high that the hens can by no possibility touch 

 clean ground with bill or toes is to invite disaster. 



Spading up the soil of the runs and scattering lime 

 over them is one way of purifying the soil, but the 

 best way is to plant green stuff. In this way the 

 manure which cannot be raked up is utilized in grow- 

 ing poultry feed, and the soil, if it is left vacant till 

 the green crop is grown, is thoroughly purified. 



Rape is one of the best greens for this purpose. 

 Fowls like it and it makes a rapid growth. Oats, 

 barley or any other grain may be planted and will 

 grow in a few weeks to a height suitable for feeding. 

 Where a system of double runs is maintained a new 

 crop can be planted once a month in the alternate 

 pens. Corn is an excellent crop for runs which can 

 be spared for several months. 



When runs and yards must be used for a year 

 without growing a green crop, they should be raked 

 and spaded as often as they seem to need it. Sandy 

 soil can be kept clean in this way much longer than 

 adobe or heavy loams. It is a good plan sometimes 

 to plant oats or barley in occupied runs, covering 

 them so deep that the fowls will not dig them out be- 

 fore they sprout. If the ground is kept moist three 

 or four days and then turned up with a spade, the 

 succulent sprouts furnish both green feed and an in- 

 centive to scratch. 



Shade 



In all those localities where the sun is liable to 

 be hot almost any day in the year, shade is more im- 

 portant than some poultry keepers seem to think. 

 Chickens cannot change their clothing to suit the 

 weather and they suffer much more, I am sure, than 



