158 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 



ing the summer. Rinse them out thoroughly at least 

 once a day and scald once a week to remove every 

 bit of the algae which grows so quickly in warm 

 weather. Keeping the vessels in the shade helps to 

 keep down this troublesome green growth. Cool, 

 fresh water means much to the comfort of hens in 

 hot weather and should be provided twice a day al- 

 ways, oftener if necessary. On one of the largest 

 poultry plants in Southern California the water 

 troughs are emptied and rinsed three times a day. 



Comfort at night is quite as essential as comfort 

 during the day. Hens that are crowded in close, 

 stuffy quarters, or worried by lice and mites, can- 

 not sleep well and will be fagged and worn before 

 the summer is over. Every roosting house should 

 be provided with windows at the rear, which may be 

 opened in warm weather. Where only a few hens 

 are kept, or where they are moved to the orchard for 

 the summer, temporary coops of 1x3 covered with 

 muslin or burlap make inexpensive summer roosting 

 places. If the hens happen to roost on top no harm 

 is done ; in fact, sleeping out of doors is just as good 

 for hens as it is for folks, and an out of door roost- 

 ing place can often be managed if only one thinks of 

 it. Nearly all my pullets this summer left their 

 coops and roosted outside, and they are in the pink 

 of condition. 



The same principles that govern the diet of hu- 

 man beings in summer apply also to the feeding of 

 hens. A lighter diet, less of meat and all heating 

 foods, and more of succulent greens, is as necessary 

 to hens as is an increased proportion of fruit and 

 vegetables to the rest of us. Omit corn and corn 

 meal from the ration until it is needed for making 

 feathers; allow access to the mash for half a day 

 only ; give all the greens the hens will eat, and sprout 



