244 DISKASES OF POULTKY. 



Straw in the nest to protect it from direct contact with 

 the wood. 



To guard against the formation of the egg -eating 

 habit the fowls should have plenty of lime, oyster - 

 shells, bone, or similar substances to ensure a firm 

 shell upon the eggs. The nests should be properly 

 supplied with straw, and artificial nest eggs should 

 be used. In this way the danger of breaking eggs is 

 reduced to a minimum. It is, also, well to have the 

 nests rather dark so that if an egg is accidentally 

 broken the hen will not discover it. 



When the habit has been once acquired, these pre- 

 cautions are not always sufficient, and it may be 

 necessary to construct the nests so that the eggs will 

 roll beyond the reach of the hen. Some people place 

 artificial eggs in the nests and about the houses so 

 that the hens may peck at them and get the idea that 

 they are no longer able to break egg shells. Others 

 blow out the contents of a few eggs through a small 

 hole in the shell and fill the space with a paste con- 

 sisting largely of mustard, capsicum, aloes or other 

 disagreeable compounds and leave these where the 

 hens will find them. 



Under any circumstances, it is best to remove the 

 egg eaters from the remainder of the flock, and, unless 

 they are very valuable, to kill them for the table. If 

 they are too valuable for this treatment, then dark 

 nests or those in which the egg rolls into a safe recep- 

 tacle are the only resources. 



FEATHER EATING, FEATHER PULLING. 



Fowls often acquire the habit of pulling out and 

 eating either their own feathers or the feathers of other 

 members of the flock. This vice is acquired most 

 frequently in the Spring or at molting time. The 



