274 POULTRY DISEASES AND REMEDIES 



sium permanganate is an excellent disinfectant and can be 

 given to the birds to drink with the result that many 

 other cases will be warded off. When given in drinking 

 water, only enough should be placed in the water to give 

 it a claret color. The birds can be given water thus 

 treated for three or four days at a time. No other water 

 should be placed where they can get it, otherwise they 

 will prefer the untreated water to that containing the 

 drug. 



The greatest advantage that I see in raising chickens 

 artificially is that the chicks can be kept free from lice 

 from the moment they are hatched until they are full 

 grown, provided the poultry raiser will exercise cleanly 

 methods of management. By this means, the loss of 

 chicks from lice can be reduced to nothing and the fowls 

 will be stronger and healthier than when their blood is 

 pumped out by parasites. The ordinary nest in which 

 chickens are hatched under hens is usually so foul with 

 parasites that chicks have small chance to live. 



In order to facilitate cleanliness in the poultry house 

 and to greatly reduce the amount of filth, dropping boards 

 should, by all means, be used. By using a little precau- 

 tion in placing the dropping boards so as not to obstruct 

 the light the entire floor space beneath can be utilized 

 for a scratching floor. At least six inches should be 

 allowed between the dropping boards and the roosts, the 

 distance depending entirely upon the arrangement of the 

 roosts. If the platform is made in sections it can be 

 handled much more easily, as it is frequently found de- 

 sirable to remove them in cleaning. Smooth boards are 

 the most desirable to use. 



Poultry is subject to the same general laws of health 

 as human beings are, and we should not overlook this 

 fact in caring for them. Pure air, pure water and pure 

 food, as well as thorough cleanliness, are all essential. 

 The fowl's power to resist disease is due to these. 



