REQUISITES FOR HEALTH 



have over-estimated its capacity, and that what you want in the house is 

 not ventilators, but fewer fowls. The use of the now popular open-front 

 house will do much to solve the problem of ventilation. 



IMPORTANCE OF SUNSHINE 



Sunlight is most important to health. The house should be so placed 

 that through the day sunlight may penetrate to all parts of it. Sunshine 

 and pure air are the greatest blood purifiers and natural disinfectants. No 

 poultry house should ever be built in such a manner that it cannot be thor- 

 oughly sunned whenever the sun shines. This applies to all poultry build- 

 ings. Many brooder houses which have proved unsatisfactory and which 

 seemed veritable death traps for little chicks would have worked well if proper 

 provision had been made for getting plenty of sun into the house whenever 

 practicable. This does not mean that little chicks should be exposed indefi- 

 nitely to the direct rays of the sun without an opportunity to seek a shady 

 shelter.. Such a condition would be almost sure to result fatally from sun- 

 stroke, but the house and runs should be so arranged that the chicks may have 

 sunshine and shade at will, trusting to their natural instinct to seek shelter 

 whenever the heat from the sun becomes too strong for them. 



THE EARTH BATH 



For as long ap the writer can remember, dust has been recommended 

 as a remedy for all kinds of insect pests affecting poultry. It is true that 

 fowls can stand more dust than human beings, but constant breathing of a 

 dust-laden atmosphere invites catarrhal troubles. The place for dust is in 

 the dust bath and not all over the poultry house. This bath should be 

 located in some sunny corner. The so-called "dust" or earth bath is a neces- 

 sity since it is the natural method of cleaning the skin and feathers and keep- 

 ing down vermin. At this point attention should be called to the fact that 

 the most satisfactory dust bath is "dust" in name only, since hens preier 

 baths that are supplied with earth that is a little moist, and will always 

 choose such rather than use one that is very dry and dusty. 



Dusting powders for destr03ripg insects will be found valuable aud very 

 effective, but in order to get satisfactory results they shojid be thoroughly 

 applied by working them well down into the feathers at frequent intervals. 

 Where a large number of fowls are kept this involves too great an amount of 

 labor for the results obtained, and it is much more satisfactory to encourage 

 the hens to dust themselves by providing them with an earth bath. 



The roosts should be so placed that the fowls will not be required to 

 do much jumping. Jumping to and from high roosts often results in 

 injury. They should occupy the most sheltered position in the pen; should 

 be high enough to escape floor drafts and should be far enough away, from 

 the roof to afford ample head room and plenty of air space. Where the 

 roosts are too close to the roof, the breath fi:om the fowls condenses on the 

 boards in cold weather in the form of heavy frost, rendering the sleeping 



