236 POULTRY AND WILD BIRDS 
when the snow covers the ground. If not allowed freedom 
to range where they please, they should have a yard where 
they can run whenever the weather is favorable. They need 
plenty of sunshine, and for that reason the house, shed, and 
yard should have a southern exposure. 
On the floor of the scratching shed there should be plenty. 
of chaff or chopped straw, and into this the grain may be 
thrown to give the chickens exercise in scratching for it and 
picking it out. In a sunny corner there should be a box of 
fine dust scraped from the road in the summer time. The 
dust bath helps to keep the birds free from lice. They are 
also apt to be afflicted with mites that live in the nests and in 
cracks on the walls of the roosts, and at night come out and 
attack the birds by sucking their blood. To destroy these 
mites the poultry house should be cleaned at frequent inter- 
vals, and if necessary, washed with coal oil. 
Feeding. — If we wish our chickens to do well, it is fully 
as important to feed them properly as in the case of horses 
and cattle. True, in the summer, if allowed their freedom, 
they will gather a good part of their rations themselves, and 
what they find needs merely to be supplemented with a 
certain amount of food from the granary. In winter, how- 
ever, and at other times when confined in the yard, good 
methods of feeding require intelligence and care. The fowls 
must be fed such food and in such a manner that they will 
keep in the best physical condition. They must have some 
surplus fat in the body, for a poor hen cannot lay. On the 
other hand a very fat hen becomes too sluggish. We must 
therefore guard against these two extremes. The appetite 
must be kept good. They should come to breakfast hungry 
and eager, and not get too much then; but once a day, 
preferably at night, they should have all they can eat. The: 
