76 BIGGIE POULTRY BOOK. 



The tendency of these fowls is to lay on too much 

 fat, but this can be regulated by feeding but little 

 grain or other fattening foods, and compelling them 

 to exercise by scratching in leaves, chaff or soil. 

 The bane of small flocks is overfeeding and this must 

 be avoided to get the best results from Asiatics. All 

 scraps from the table that commonly go to prowling 

 dogs and cats should be fed to the chickens. Milk or 

 other liquid wastes may be mixed with bran. They 

 should have a liberal supply of grass from the lawn, 

 and waste green vegetables from the garden, and only 

 a small ration of grain. Thus fed they will lay and will 

 not grow fat. Lawn clippings, dried in the shade and 

 stored in bags make the choicest of winter greens for 

 a village flock, or indeed for any fowls. 



Those who prefer the smaller and more active 

 breeds must provide higher fences, or where the runs 

 are small, make the fences low and cover the entire 

 top with netting. Sometimes in towns where the 



houses are crowded close 

 together it is difficult to 

 gej: sufficient sunlight 

 and air in the poultry 

 yard to render the quar- 

 ters dry and healthful. 

 In such cases high picket 

 fences make the diffi- 

 culty still worse, and wire netting is much to be pre- 

 ferred both for utility and appearance. 



While an expensive house is not a necessity in a 

 town, it need not be rude and unsightly. Some simple 

 ornamentation is within the reach of nearly every 



