222 LIME FOR FOWLS. 



the premises, and every thing should be kept purified with lime, 

 ashes, &c., that would be liable to become infested with vermin. 

 A hospital should be provided, to which diseased fowls 

 should be promptly removed, on the first symptoms of disease 

 becoming apparent. With such management, or somewhat 

 similar to it, I believe that large numbers of fowls may be kept 

 to advantage. 



NUMBER OF EGGS LAID BY A HEN IN A YEAR. 



Our common breeds usually lay from eighty to one hundred 

 eggs in a year, as an average of what a flock of twenty to fifty 

 will produce. We often see notices in the papers of instances 

 where much larger numbers are laid, but such cases are exceptions 

 to the general rule, so far as our native varieties are concerned. 

 Some of the Asiatic breeds have been known to lay two hun- 

 dred or more eggs, in a year, and it is a settled point, that some 

 of our imported fowls do much exceed, in the number of eggs 

 laid, any of our native tribes. 



Some people take pains to force their fowls, by artificial heat, 

 to lay in the winter season, at the expense of barrenness in the 

 spring, to a certain extent. I am inclined to believe that 

 we had better let nature take her course, and be satisfied with 

 what eggs our hens will lay, without artificial heat ; but I 

 recommend warm winter quarters, however, but not to be 

 heated above the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere in 

 well protected buildings, such as are partially under ground, or 

 have double walls in cold climates, or are filled in between the 

 studding with sawdust or tan-bark, if not plastered. 



L IME FOR FOWLS. 



Lime is quite necessary for fowls, as most people are aware. 

 The following selections are of interest : 



All domestic fowls, as well as other animals, require more or less 

 lime. It is the chief constituent of their bones, and probably useful 

 in many cases, in small quantities, as a condiment. In addition to 

 these purposes, fowls which Lay eggs require lime for the formation 

 of the egg-shells. Ordinarily, fowls which have their liberty can 

 procure sufficient lime to satisfy their wants. It is contained in the 

 grain on which they feed, and in the stones and earth which they 

 swallow. 



But in winter, when fowls have less access to the ground, or when 

 they are confined in small enclosures, they have less opportunity to 



