GENERAL INFORMATION 
a difficult or irksome task to sweep off the drop- 
pings every morning or every other morning. 
When a hen is compelled to sleep above the 
accumulated droppings of many nights, breathing 
foul, impure air, laden with the rank ammoniacal 
gases arising from the droppings, her breathing 
apparatus is bound to get out of order and her 
constitutional strength undermined and weakened. 
In the wild state fowls perch on trees, fences or 
other high objects, far above the lodging place of 
the droppings, and sleep in air that is always pure 
and fresh. 
How often the scratching litter should be re- 
moved from the floor and replaced with fresh 
depends very largely upon the number of fowls, 
the season of the year and the kind of weather. 
Once a week is often enough in all ordinary 
cases, and sometimes the same litter may be used 
continuously for two or three weeks. A good 
rule to go by is to remove the old material as soon 
as the birds have it scratched and picked pretty well 
to pieces, and as soon as it begins to get dusty and 
broken in such small pieces that it settles together 
and is hard for the hens to scratch apart, or it 
becomes filthy from the droppings or soiled by the 
fowls running over it with muddy, unclean feet. 
Loose litter will allow the grains to become buried 
deeper and better than heavy stuff, the hens prefer 
it to work in, and it is more desirable in every way. 
207 
