REQUISITES FOR HEALTH 



ginners seldom have much serious trouble until the second or third season 

 is because at the start the buildings and grounds are new and fresh. Ap- 

 parent success at the start leads to neglect and the fouled ground of the floors 

 and runs breeds trouble. With portable houses the conditions are almost 

 ideal since the poultry can be moved to fresh ground whenever necessary. 

 With permanent buildings and runs the yards should be ploughed up at 

 frequent intervals and sowed with some quick growing grain like rye to sweet- 

 en them. PVuit trees in the runs, combined with frequent stirring and work- 

 ing of the soil and seeding down, afford satisfactory means of purifying the 

 soil. Where grass runs are used they should be ploughed and re-sown when- 

 ever the ground shows evidence of needing sweetening. Here the poultry- 

 man will need to be observing and possess a keen sense of smell. While an 

 offensive odor does not necessarily mean disease and death, iff is a good plan 

 to consider it a danger signal. The poultryman who possesses a "sensitive 

 nose" will find that that organ used with good judgment will save him many 

 dollars in a year. 



DRINKING WATER 

 As with human beings, the drinking water is the fruitful source of 

 trouble. Probably more diseases are spread through the drinking water 

 than in any other way. Impure water should not be allowed within reach 

 of fowls. It is no uncommon sight on poultry farms, otherwise well kept, 

 to find the water vessels in a filthy condition. To put clean water in foul 

 receptacles is labor wasted, yet we often see on poultry farms dirty wooden 

 tubs or unclean metal vessels containing foul, green-scummed water. Care- 

 lessness of this kind is almost certain to result in heavy losses. The drink- 

 ing water should be the best obtainable and such as we would be willing to 

 drink ourselves, since it plays a most important part in the make up of the 

 fowl and of the egg. Water dishes should be made so that they can be 

 easily cleaned and once a week they should be washed and scalded or rinsed 

 with some good non-poisonous disinfectant. 



FOODS 



Food has an important influence on health. The amount of food, the 

 variety and method of feeding depends largely on what your fowls have been 

 accustomed to. Damaged food is money wasted, and feeding it is prejudicial 

 to health. In feeding the aim should be to promote a healthy appetite by 

 supplying a variety of wholesome, palatable, nourishing food. Its chemical 

 composition is of secondary importance. Whether a dry grain ration is to 

 be fed or one in which a moist mash plays an important part, is largely a 

 matter of individual preference on the part of the breeder and one which will 

 he will have to settle for himself. Anyone who is getting good results with 

 his present ration would be foolish to change because someone else gets 

 equally good or possibly a little better results by another method of feeding. 

 Where mashes are fed, they should never be given hot, since a hot mash in- 

 vites colds and other disorders by overheating the fowl and causing sluggish- 

 ness. Mashes are best fed barely warm. The writer prefers feeding mash 

 at night, since fowls so fed will take more exercise. For the same reason 



