208 



specimen may appear to have fully recovered. Do not inbreed your 

 birds at the cost of constitutional vigor. Mistreatment, neglect, im- 

 pure water, bad feed, lack of exercise, poorly ventilated houses, etc., 

 all tend to cause birds even of strong, sound constitutions to break 

 down. The use of immature and inferior breeding stock often gives 

 opportunity for disease to gain a foothold in the flock. All of these 

 things can be prevented, and ordinarily if birds become seriously ill, 

 it is because of inexperience or neglect by the poultryman him- 

 self. 



Cleanliness. Some do succeed for a time who pay little or no 

 attention to the cleanliness of their houses, brooders, incubator, etc., 

 but you can depend upon it, their days of success are numbered. See 

 that everything is subjected to a thorough cleaning and disinfection 

 at least two or three times a year. By thorough cleaning, we mean 

 to clean out the litter, shovel out the dirt and droppings, then thor- 

 oughly sweep the floors, walls and ceiling. "We also like to have the 

 nests, roost poles, feed boxes and hoppers so arranged that they may 

 be removed from the house and thoroughly cleaned and new nests 

 made before replacing. If you have a water hose convenient, turn it 

 upon the floor, walls and ceiling and loosen up all dirt. Take your 

 shovel or hoe and scrape this all from the floor and again turn the 

 water on. Let the house dry out for a day or two then thoroughly 

 sprinkle the floor and walls with a solution of some good disinfectant 

 like Zenoleum, Creolin, etc. The nests and roost poles should be 

 similarly treated. If there has been any disease in the house, we would 

 apply the disinfectant the second time before putting in birds. Keep 

 the roost poles painted with a liquid lice killer, or with one of your 

 own make, one part crude carbolic acid and two parts kerosene. 



Sunlight and Fresh Air. We believe that nature's own remedy 

 and preventative, fresh air and sunlight, should be made use of by 

 every poultryman. The importance and value of fresh air and sun- 

 light is recognized by all medical authorities. Disease germs cannot 

 survive long where these two exist. 



Clean Litter. You should give your fowls plenty of exercise and 

 the best way to do this is by the use of clean dry litter, and throw 

 your grain food in this. The straw or whatever kind of litter that 

 is used, should not be damp, dirty or moulded. 



Dampness to be Avoided. A great deal of the complaints and 

 inquiries about disease which come to us, we find are the direct re- 

 sults of fowls being kept in damp houses, and houses being located 

 in low, flat, damp places on the farms. The house should be located 

 on a well-drained piece of land, and should have sufficient -foundation 

 under it to raise the floor higher than the ground on the outside of 

 the building. 



Clean Feed. Feeding has much to do with the health of your 

 flock. The feed should be clean and wholesome. Avoid decayed 

 vegetables, tainted meat, musty or moulded grain. The hoppers or 

 feeding vessels should be kept clean. Do not overfeed stock intended 

 for breeders. Provide green food. Always make sure that they have 

 all the fresh, pure drinking water they desire. "We think much of the 

 colds and diseases with which our fowls are attacked can be avoided 

 by using permanganate of potash or potassium permanganate in the 

 drinking water. We take a pint bottle and fill it one-third full of 

 these purplish crystals and then fill the bottle nearly full of pure 



