232 



POULTRY 



FIG. 



142. Homemade drinking 

 fountain. 



to free them from lice. The floor of the shed should be 

 covered with chopped straw or chaff. The grain may 

 be thrown in this to give the poultry proper exercise in 

 scratching and picking it out. 



Feeding As much care should be exercised in feed- 

 ing chickens as in feeding a dairy cow. The balanced 



ration will give the best results. 

 If the chickens are allowed to 

 range over the farm, they will 

 usually supply themselves with 

 food that has the proper pro- 

 portion of egg-forming and of 

 fat-forming material. They 

 will pick up grain, seeds, in- 

 sects, and green blades of grass. When they are kept in 

 a yard, these varieties of food should be supplied in proper 

 proportions. 



Chickens need plenty of pure water. This should be 

 supplied in dishes that are cleaned regularly. A lard 

 pail or other can may be filled with water and turned over 

 suddenly in a shallow pan or in a flower-pot saucer. A 

 little niche or hole near the edge of the pail or can will 

 allow the water to flow into the pan or saucer as it is 

 needed. 



Poultry should have some green food, vegetables or 

 cut grass, grain of. some kind, preferably corn, and meat. 

 It is necessary that meat be fed to the hens in the winter 

 time, if they are expected to lay. The meat furnishes the 

 albumen for the eggs. Beets or cabbage heads may be 

 hung just out of reach of the poultry, so they must jump 

 up to peck at them. This will furnish the green food 



