232 MY POULTRY DAY BY DAY 
As an absorbent and deodoriser peat moss is easily the best litter 
for poultry-houses, and it seems a pity that the price should have 
gone up so rapidly in recent years. Even at a comparatively high 
price—say £4 per ton—it is, however, well worth the money. It 
is warm and dry without being musty, and nothing is better 
calculated to hold the ammonia of the droppings till they are 
transferred to the soil. It is best not to get it too fine and powdery, 
or the dust will become unpleasant. It must, however, be broken 
up into particles not much bigger than peas. I have seen it 
thrown on the floor in lumps and carted out again in the same 
condition. Needless to say, this is not the form in which peat moss 
should be used. It ought to be spread on the floor in a condition 
to absorb moisture to its core. Big pieces will take up only a 
very little damp, and are therefore virtually wasted. Peat moss 
may be purchased all ready to be transferred to the fowl-house, but 
in this form it is certainly expensive, and could only be used in 
economically small quantities. All the litters mentioned are quite 
suitable if reasonable care be taken, but peat moss is the ideal 
litter for the birds and for the resultant manure. 
BROODINESS 
All hens are more or less broody some time during the spring 
and summer months, even the non-sitting variety. Most light 
breeds are termed non-sitters, and as a rule a small percentage of 
light breeds will be found to go broody ; even if they do they are 
easily cured without any drastic steps being taken. Those who 
require eggs only, and do not intend to use the broody hens for 
natural incubators, should keep light breeds only, preferably the 
Leghorn. Less than 10 per cent. of Leghorns will go broody 
during the year, and a few days’ isolation in a broody coop will 
usua'ly get rid of the fever of broodiness. For many generations 
broodiness has been bred out of the Leghorn, just as at the present 
day broodiness is being bred out of the Wyandotte, the Rhode 
Island Red and the Faverolles, with the result that the Leghorn is 
never used for hatching purposes even if she is broody. 
