292 



POULTRY PRODUCTION 



pared with close confinement, makes a decided difference 

 in tlie bacterial content of the egi^s laid, even when the 

 rations fed are the same. Whether the difl'erence was due to 

 the increase in exercise or the green feed and insects it was 

 impossil)le to determine, but when hens were given free range 

 on April 2(1 there was a marked falling oif in the bacterial 

 content of the eggs. This change was not due to seasonal 

 variation, as summer eggs usually showed more than 10 per 

 cent greater infection than spring eggs. 



Fig. 165 



North yar<l8 are frequently piled high with snow while tlic birds are dusting 

 themselves to the soutli of the house. 



When circumstances make it necessary to yard the stock 

 the yards should be as large as possible and provision made 

 for double yarding. By double yarding, reference is made to 

 the practice of keeping the stock in one yard while a crop is 

 grown on the other. In this way, by alternating the yards 

 from season to season, the ground is freshened, there is 

 pasture for the fowls, and the fertility dropped by the fowls 

 is made use of. 



It is i)ractically impossil)le to yard hens at the rate of more 

 than four hundred fowls to the acre and maintain a sod. 

 Yards that are crowded so as to be kept bare of greenness, 

 unless given considerable attention in the wa>- of turning the 

 ground o\'er, or by applying lime, or by cropping from time 

 to time, are a source of danger. 



