THE MATURE FOWLS 



one pound of rice meal boiled in water to a thin paste, one- 

 quarter pound of whiting, and half a pound of glue dissolved in 

 warm water. Mix all thoroughly and let stand covered for two 

 or three days; stir occasionally. Heat the mixture before 

 using. 



Be sure to wear old clothes and old shoes when whitewash- 

 ing, as the Unie is sure to injure cloth and leather. It is a good 

 plan to wear a pair of automobile goggles to protect the eyes, 

 and gauntleted gloves to keep the lime oE the hands. Do not 

 be afraid to put the wash on freely. 



If you object to whitewash, the house can be freshened up 

 and rid of vermin by fumigation with sulphur, or painting with 

 paint or any of the wood preservatives; or spray the interior 

 of the house with kerosene emulsion or with hot soapy water 

 containing three ounces of oreolin to the gallon of water. What- 

 ever method you employ, be sure to air and dry out the house 

 thoroughly before you permit the fowls to return to it. Never 

 shut fowls up closely at night in a house that has been fumigated 

 with sulphur during the day, the results will be d'sastrous. 



The roosts and droppings boards should now receive atten- 

 tion and it is well to paint, them with a good liquid Uce killer, 

 or else use a home-made lice paint made of kerosene in which 

 has been dissolved all it will take up of cmde naphthalene 

 flakes, painting this thoroughly and freely on to the roosts and 

 dropboards. 



All nests should be taken out of the building and white- 

 washed inside and out after they have been thoroughly cleaned. 

 Or if you object to whitewash they should be cleansed with 

 yellow soap and hot water, and then shellaced or treated with 

 wood preservative. Leave them out in the sunshine to thor- 

 oughly diy before they are returned to the building. After the 

 whitewashing or cleansing is completed fill in the floor with good 

 fresh fairly coarse gravel from which the larger stones have been 

 removed to replace the earth which has been removed. 



FRESHENING UP THE RUNS OR YARDS 



The runs or yards should next receive attention. They 

 should first be swept up or scraped to remove the greater part 

 of the acciunulated droppings, which should be used as ferti- 

 lizer on some other part of the farm. Then give the rims or 

 yards a thorough top dressing with thoroughly air-slaked 

 Ume. This should be spaded in or plowed under and the 

 ground leveled with a brush, harrow or rake. Seed down 

 with winter rye or wheat and rake it in, and then run a roller 

 over the ground to smooth it. Keep the poultry out of the 

 seeded portion of the runs until the grain sprouts are at least 

 two inches above the ground. 



Care taken in the disinfection and renovation of poultry 

 houses and runs in this manner will well repay the time and 

 labor involved, as there will be practically no danger from 

 disease where the quarters are given thorough treatment. In 

 the spring the runs should again be scraped or brushed clean, 

 the ground turned over and seeded down again to wheat, rye 

 or oats. With the runs and houses treated in this manner the 

 fowls wiU stand confinement well and illness will be conspicuous 

 only by its absence. ' 



In using air-slaked hme be sure that it, is thoroughly slaked. • 

 Do not use it on the droppings boards, in the dust bath or in 

 brooders or brood coops, as the fine particles of lime dust are 

 very irritating to the fowls' respiratory organs, and its use in 

 such a manner is liable to result in catarrhal disorders. Use 

 either fine sand or fine ground land plaster mixed with loam on 

 the droppings boards, or sawdust may be used as an absorbent 

 if removed frequently. 



All brood coops, brooders and other chicken fixtures should 

 be thoroughly scraped, cleaned and whitewashed or washed 

 with hot soap suds and allowed to dry in the sun before they 



are put away for the season. We prefer to treat all brood coops 

 to a good coat of whitewash on the inside. Brooders are scrub- 

 bed out with hot soap suds and afterwards rinsed with clear 

 water. Occasionally creolin is used in the proportion of half 

 an ounce to each bucket of water used for cleansing the brooders, 

 but unless there has been sickness among the chicks it is not 

 absolutely necessary to use it. Brooders are only whitewashed 

 after the wood has become discolored and darkened. 



RAT-PROOF CEMENT FLOORS 



September will also be foimd to be an ideal month for 

 erecting necessary poultry buildings, as they will have ample 

 opportunity to dry out before winter sets in. During the past 

 season we have had a great many requests from those about to 

 build, for directions for making a rat-proof floor for poultry 

 houses. The most satisfactory means we know of is to put in a 

 well made cement floor. 



The best plan is to dig out a pit about 10 inches deep from 

 6 to 8 inches wider on all sides than you intend the poultry 

 house to be. This should be filled with stone and broken rock 

 to within about one inch of the surface. Place boards around 

 the outer edge to confine the cement. On top of this founda- 

 tion build the cement floor. The best Portland cement should 

 be mixe«ilwith coarse sharp sand in the proportion of one bushel 

 of cement to each two bushels of sand, wet with just sufficient 

 water to inake a thick stiff mixture. The cement must not be 

 wet and, sloppy. This should be well tamped or beaten down 

 from the top, using a flat spade or a piece of plank for the pur- 

 pose. Build up two or, three inches of cement in this ma nn er 

 on top of the foimdation of crushed rock, then add a finish coat- 

 ing about one inch thick made of equal parts by measure, cement 

 and coarse sand, this last coat being well smoothed off and the 

 siUs of the building set firmly into it before it hardens. Cover 

 the job over until the cement is firmly set. When it is hard go 

 about putting up the studs and the balance of the frame of the 

 building in the ordinary manner. If the job is well done it 

 wiU make an absolutely rat-proof house and one that will always 

 be a satisfaction to the owner. 



Three or four inches of sand, sandy loam or fine gravel 

 should be 'filled in on top of the cement floor, the litter material 

 being placed on top of this before it is occupied by the fowls. 



Another quite satisfactory plan of making a rat-proof 

 building where an earth floor is desired is to set the building on 

 posts, run a 12-inoh wide board down into the ground on these 

 posts so that not more than 2 inches of it projects above the sur- 

 face of the ground on all sides of the building. From this run 

 2 or 3 inches below the surface of the ground a 12-inch wide 

 strip of quarter-inch mesh poultry wire projecting outward and 

 downward from the 12-inch board to six or eight inches below 

 the ground level. When the earth is replaced after putting 

 this board and wire screen in position see that it is well and 

 firmly tamped into position. Rats will very rarely burrow 

 into a building so protected. 



BREEDING AND LAYING STOCK. 



November first should find the breeding and laying stock 

 safely housed in their permanent winter quarters. If the grow- 

 ing chickens have been properly cared for during the summer 

 and early fall the first pullets should be well advanced in laying, 

 while the later ones are making rapid progress toward begin- 

 ning their work as egg producers. The yearlings and two- 

 year-olds should have finished or be nearly through their molt, 

 and should be pliunp and in good condition to resist the rigors 

 of the coming winter weather. Birds that have received good 

 care through the summer and autumn, if properly housed and 

 fed on a variety of good wholesome food, can be depended upon 



