242 Profitable Poultry Keeping-. 



birds so confined, do not obtain something that is necessary 

 to tbem, which we know nothing of, and cannot supply, but 

 which at liberty they can find for themselves, and the 

 feathers satisfy the craving thus engendered. And for 

 this reason we have sometimes found bonemeal of great 

 service, once curing a hen by putting a large quantity of 

 this into every dish of food she had for several days, giving 

 her soft food all the time. But in other cases we have known 

 this remedy to fail entirely, and we are fain to acknowledge, ' 

 that at times we have been completely puzzled how to proceed. 

 Thirst also is said to induce the practice, and the treatment 

 recommended in the following translation from an article 

 which recently appeared in a French poultry journal, will 

 indicate further measures : — 



" The cause appears to us, to be attributed to the general 

 discomfort felt by all classes of poultry during the cold 

 weather, and especially the east winds. The poor things, 

 huddled together in a sheltered corner, dare not come out ' 

 in the open unless at feeding time, and then they never 

 scratch about, nor look for insects, grass, or those 

 little nothings which constitute the essential part of their 

 food, and which is found in every run well attended to. 

 Under these circumstances the want of animal food has 

 made itself felt, and the opportunity and temptation being 

 within their reach, they have pulled at one another's 

 feathers, which they eat with evident satisfaction. The 

 only immediate remedy is to set them at liberty, but as 

 this cannot be done in every case, one has to be satisfied 

 with the means at his disposal. Let them have, several 

 times a day, green-meat. Mix with the soft food, some 

 meat cut up into small pieces. Avoid tainted meat. 

 Eenew the sand in the runs, and especially put dry sand 

 under the sheds where the fowls generally dust themselves. 

 Care must be taken with a hen, although not picked herself, 



