THE CARE OF POULTRY 43, 



its wing power, so much so that it is a comparatively 

 small matter to confine them, and so far as practica- 

 bility is concerned, it does not impair their useful 

 qualities. If the work is done when the chicken is. 

 about ten or twelve days old, it is scarcely painful,, 

 and the chick soon recovers its usual activity. 



Road Dust and Coal Ashes — The fine, dry dust 

 on the roads, which is such a nuisance to the traveler,, 

 is a blessing to the poultryman. It is an admirable 

 absorbent, and used itnder the roosts and mixed with 

 the droppings, it preserves the volatile properties of 

 the hen manure, increasing in a very material degree 

 the fertilizer made by the flock. Used in a dust bath, 

 it penetrates the feathers of the fowls and stops up 

 the air passages of the parasites that dwell on the 

 bodies and hide among the feathers of the hens, thus 

 promoting the comfort and health of the flowls. Used 

 on the floors and about the house, it assists in destroy- 

 ing little mites that hide in the cracks and corners of 

 the building, removes noxious odors and exhalations, 

 and makes the poultry house a healthy home for its 

 feathered occupants, instead of a disease breeding 

 prison. It pays to gather and use road dust, which, 

 is plentiful everywhere. In most cases where coal 

 is used for fuel, the coal ashes make perhaps as good 

 a dust bath as can be had. It has the further advantage 

 that the bits of coal which hens find among the ashes- 

 will be eaten by them, and will help grind the food in 

 their gizzards. The coal itself will also be digested 

 in the process, and may appear as black specks on 

 the egg shells of fowls that have access to coal ash 

 heaps. Coal ashes make a very excellent insecticide.. 

 They are finer than any road dust can be made, and 

 therefore are more efifective, closing the pores of ver- 

 min which breathe through the holes in their sides. 

 When these are closed by fine powder, the vermin 



