128 DOMESTIC AinMALS. 



into little balls with milk, the dried seeds and leaves of nettles have been 

 recommended by the continental poulterers, some of whom give a little 

 henbane-seed to induce sleep, while others put out the eyes of the 

 prisoners as the most eflfectual way of keeping them in a state of dark- 

 ness, which is considered essential to their becoming rapidly fat ; and 

 under the pretext of relieving them from the irritation of vermin, the; 

 pluck the feathers from their heads, bellies, and wings. While fowls 

 are thus preparing for the knife, though their bodies are closely con- 

 fined, their hinder parts are free for evacuation and cleanliness, and their 

 heads are at liberty to take in fresh supplies of nutriment. 



Poultry are the better for high feeding from the very shell, and on 

 this account the heaviest corn is often far cheaper for them in the end 

 than tailings, as regards the flesh, or the size and substantial goodness 

 of the eggs. Young chickens may be put up for feeding as soon as the 

 hen has ceased to regard them, and before they lose their first good 

 condition. When chickens are wanted for domestic purposes, they are 

 often left at liberty in the farm-yard, and if they have plenty of good 

 food, they will be in the most healthful state for the table, and rich and 

 j uicy in flavor. 



POULTRY-HOUSES AND YARDS.— Those who intend to rear fowls or any 

 kind of poultry on a large scale, should have a distinct yard, perfectly 

 sheltered, and with a warm aspect, well fenced, secure from thieves and 

 vermin, and suflBciently inclined to be always dry, and supplied with 

 sand or ashes for the cocks and hens to roll in, an operation necessary 

 to disengage their feathers from vermin : running water should be 

 especially provided ; for the want of water, of which all poultry are fond, 

 produces constipation of the bowels and inflammatory diseases ; and for 

 geese and ducks, bathing is an indispensable luxury. A contiguous field 

 is also necessary, for free exercise, as well as for the supply of grubs and 

 grass to the geese. The fowl-house should be dry, well-roofed, and 

 fronting the east or south, and, if practicable, at the back of a stove or 

 stables; warmth being conducive to health and laying, though extreme 

 heat has the contrary effect. It should be furnished with two small 

 lattice windows, that can be opened or shut at pleasure, at opposite ends, 

 for ventilation, which is frequently necessary; and the perches should 

 be so arranged, that one row of roosting fowls should not be directly 

 above another. 



M. Parmentier has shown* by what arrangement a house twenty feet 

 long and twelve feet wide may be made to accommodate one hundred 

 and fifty hens at roost. The plan is sinsply this : the first roosting-perch 

 (rounded a little at the upper angles only, for gallinaceous fowls cannot 

 keep a firm hold on perfectly cylindrical supporters) should be placed 

 lengthways and rest on trestles in each end wall, six feet from the front 

 wall, and at a convenient height, which must depend on the elevation 

 of the house from the floor, which should be formed of some well con- 

 solidated material that can be easily swept. Another perch should 

 be fixed ladder-ways («k echeloii)abo\e this, but ten inches nearer to the 

 back wall, and so on, until there are four of these perches, like the steps 



* "Biciionnaire ^Agriculture.'' 



