232 PROFITABLE POULTRY PRODUCTION 



be due to idleness in the flock, and they recommend 

 exercise as the cure. There is a good deal in this, 

 and flocks have been helped by being obliged to 

 scratch in straw or leaves for the greater part of 

 their grain food. It is believed, however, that the 

 cause is not so much lack of exercise as lack of salt 

 in their feed. Idle fowls will pull the feathers 

 from one another's necks and get a little flavor of 

 the salt in the soft part of the base of the feather. 

 This taste prompts continued pulling, and often 

 the fowls' necks are bare almost their full length. 

 The remedy is to give abundant opportunity to 

 exercise and feed a small quantity of salt in the 

 wet mash, just enough to season the mixture. The 

 habit is rarely observed when fowls have free range. 

 At least, it is far less common among them than 

 among those shut up in city yards. 



ROUP 



The fundamental cause of roup can always be 

 traced to filth of some kind ; it may be no fault of 

 the owner of the poultry, since the birds may eat 

 putrid food or drink foul water while out on range, 

 when visiting a neighbor's premises, or when ex- 

 hibited at some poultry show; but usually the 

 trouble lies in the home poultry quarters, especially 

 if the birds have not free range. The source of 

 infection may be in the water, the feed dishes, the 

 yard or other places where the fowls are confined. 

 For this reason it is imperative that the premises 

 and vessels be thoroughly cleaned as soon as an}^ 

 trouble is discovered. y\fter being made pure, 

 .the whole place may be sprayed with a 5 per cent 

 solution of carbolic acid in water, care beinsf taken 



