302 CARE OF LAYING HENS 



Fifth, hens provided with dust baths are apparently as 

 much infested with Uce. as hens not so provided. 



Preventing Poultry Diseases. — The old maxim that 

 " an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure " 

 is a splendid guide for the poultryman. It is far better 

 to prevent disease than to attempt to cure it. Sanitation 

 is the one preventive. The poultry house, the drinking 

 vessels, and the food containers should be kept clean. The 

 drinking water should be made antiseptic by the addition 

 of potassium permanganate in the proportion of one tea- 

 spoonful to each ten-quart pail of drinking water, or iron 

 sulphate at the rate of one tablespoonful of crystals to a 

 gallon of water. Mature fowls should be given a small 

 dose of Epsom salts in a wet mash every two or three 

 weeks in the proportion of about five ounces to each one 

 hundred hens. 



One should not wait until the spread of disease necessi- 

 tates disinfection, but should disinfect regularly. It is a 

 good practice to apply to all poultry buildings a heavy 

 coat of whitewash once a year, and to spray the roosts, 

 ceiling, and walls with a good strong disinfecting solution 

 two or three times a year. The perches, nests, and crevices 

 about the dropping board should be sprayed more frequently. 



When a sick fowl is found in one of the pens it is, as a 

 rule, too late to attempt to cure that fowl. But it is the 

 signal to begin extraordinary methods of cleaning, so that 

 other fowls will not contract disease. The htter should 

 be removed, the floor thoroughly cleaned, all the dust on 

 the walls and crevices washed down, and then the walls 

 and ceiling should be thoroughly disinfected. 



Treatment of Infectious Poultry Diseases. — Infectious 

 diseases may be prevented by cleanliness and proper sani- 



