SUCCESSFUL POULTRY KEEPING 



great amount of work to remove. The fowls' chances, more- 

 over, were ruined for the show. 



The tub in which the fowls are washed is two-thirds filled 

 with water of a temperature equal to that in which a person 

 would enjoy a hot bath. The tub for rinsing is filled with cold 

 water (with the chill removed) and where the third tub is used 

 the temperature of the water in that tub is the same as in the 

 second. 



The coal oil stoves in the drying or fluffing pen should be 

 burning in order that the temperature of the pen will be suf- 

 ficiently warm to insert the fowls as soon as they are washed. 

 The pen will be described later. 



WASHING THE FOWLS 



Before the fowls are placed in the washing tub, their feet 

 and legs should be thoroughly cleaned with a hand brush, soap 



THE DRYING AND FLUFFING PEN 

 After the fowls are washed they are placed on the roost of the drying and fluffing 

 pen; the front curtain is lowered and the warm, air rapidly dries their plumage. During 

 the drying; heavily-feathered varieties can have their plumage "flufifed" and greatly im- 

 proved in appearance. 



and hot water; dirt on the head or face should be removed with 

 a damp cloth. The fowl is grasped with both hands and stood 

 in the washing tub. A lather is made with the soap and sponge 

 and this lather is worked into the plumage with the hands. 



lOfi 



The back is first soaked; then the saddle or cushion and under 

 plumage. Care is exercised not to break any feathers by rub- 

 bing them backwards — ^they will stand almost any amount of 

 "with-the-web" and diagonal rubbing. 



While the fowl is in the tub the wings are extended and 

 carefully washed with the sponge, the feathers being supported 

 with the pahn of the left hand; the tail feathers are washed in 

 a similar manner. 



From the washing tub the fowl is placed in the moderately 

 cold rinsing water. Here the dipper and sponge are used to 

 thoroughly remove the soap from the plumage. With white 

 fowls a third lub of slightly blued water is necessary; the water, 

 however, must not be too blue or it will streak the plumage. 



When the fowl is taken from the rinsing tub it is placed 

 on a table and the superfluous water is removed with the sponge. 

 Afterwards the plumage is carefully "patted" with a towel; 

 then the fowl is ready for the drying and fluffing pen. 



THE PEN WAS A VALUABLE ADJUNCT TO 

 OUR PLANT 



This pen was designed for use in a cellar wanAed 

 by^a furnace and where there was no range or open 

 fire place before which the fowls could be dried. It 

 was used with great satisfaction for many years and 

 was a valuable adjunct to om* plant. The heat of 

 several coal oil stoves (one stove for each foot in 

 length of the pen) was utilized, and by means of 

 these stoves the birds could be dried-off and fluffed 

 in a few hours. They afterwards presented a more 

 attractive appearance than if they had been ten or 

 twelve hours drying in the orthodox manner of "sit- 

 ting before a fire." A pen six feet long will accommo- 

 date from eight to ten fowls, even if several are 

 matured males — ^there will be no fighting on the roost. 



By boring a number of one and one-half inch 

 holes near the bottom of a barrel and placing a coal- 

 oil stove in it with a cone-shaped galvanized-iron top, 

 slowly drying portions of the plumage, such as the 

 juncture of hackle and back feathers underneath the 

 wings, etc., can be hurried and a uniform drying 

 produced. 



THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE DRYING AND 

 FLUFFING PEN 



The drying and fluffing pen is of the following 

 simple construction, and can be easily erected: Length 

 4 to 6 feet; height 5 feet; width 2 feet. There is a 3 

 liy 2-inch roost (the fowls stand on the 3-inch face) 

 '2 inches above the lower compartment. The back 

 a.nd ends and the lower half of the front are built of 

 lumber; the four comer pieces are 2 by 4 inches in 

 dimension. 



The tops of the lower and upper compartments are 

 covered with one-inch wire netting to prevent the 

 fowls falling to the ground. A piece of burlap can 

 be lowered to inclose the front of the open compart- 

 ment and another piece is used to cover the wire top. 

 The washed fowl is placed on the roost of the pen 

 and the front and top curtains are drawn to increase the tem- 

 perature. If the temperature of the pen seems too high, a comer 

 of the front curtain is pinned back; if more ventilation is re- 

 quired the. top curljain is partially removed. 



