REQUISTES FOR HEALTH 



doing all that should be expected of them is like whipping up a horse that 

 is doing his best to pull a heavy load, and is bound to bring about discourag- 

 ing results. The less dosing the fowls get the better. Healthy stock should 

 need .little or no medicine. A good grit is necessary to health, as also is a 

 supply of oyster shell for adult fowls. These should be kept constantly 

 before the birds. Granulated charcoal should always be kept in one com- 

 partmelit of the grit box. Wherever a tendency to looseness of the bowels 

 is noted, a little mash containing powdered charcoal may be fed with 

 excellent results. If constipation proves troublesome a little linseed meal 

 and some bran in the moist mash, or bran fed dry, usually corrects the trouble. 

 Preventive medicine in the form of drugs is of little use. Disinfectants are 

 necessary, and some good non-poisonous creolin disinfectant should be freely 

 used about the poultry house at frequent intervals. 



CONTAGIOUS DISEASES 



Fowls that have been bred, for health and so cared for as to keep them 

 in good condition seldom become victims of contagious disease. A sound, 

 vigorous constitution is the best safeguard against contagion. To prevent 

 the spread of contagious diseases every sick bird should be isolated as soon 

 as discovered. Remove it from the flock at opce. Do not wait until some 

 more convenient time, since you are hable to forget and the bird may not 

 be removed until the trouble has spread sufficiently to assume alarming 

 proportions. All new birds or fowls which have returned from the show 

 room should be subjected to at least ten days quarantine before being per- 

 mitted to run with a flock, and if suspected of being diseased should not be 

 allowed to run with other birds until it is positively certain that no disease 

 is present. Birds which have recently recovered from any disease should 

 not be returned to the flock until it is absolutely certain that they are cured. 

 Poultrymen should not go direct from handling sick birds to the quarters 

 of well ones or your neighbors' birds should not be allowed with your own. 

 Do not go direct from other henneries to your own, and last but not least, 

 never keep sick bird^ ip the room where the food for other fowls is kept. 



The poultry buildings should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected 

 at least once, or better, twice a year. The walls should be thoroughly 

 swept with a stiff broom and then brightened by a thorough application 

 of good hot whitewash, to which a little carbolic acid or creolin has been 

 added. If whitewash is not obtainable, use some good wood preservative 

 and paint the whole interior of the house with it. If the floors are made 

 of earth or sand, dig them up and cart off the upper six inches and, 

 after disinfecting with a good fluid disinfectant, replace with new fresh 

 earth or sand. If the floors are of wood or cement, cleanse them thor- 

 oughly and whitewash them or mop them over with some cheap non-poison- 

 ous disinfectant, then cover them with a few inches of sand or earth. 



EXERCISE 

 Exercise is a most important factor in • promoting good health, and 

 should never be lost sight of. Fowls must exercise or they will become 



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