PREVENTION BETTER THAN CURE 



Every poultry keeper should have personal knowledge of how to recog- 

 nize the disease of fowls and chicks and of what Steps to take to cure them . 

 But of far greater value is the knowledge of how to prevent these diseases, 

 and the poultry man who does not know how to care for and feed his flock 

 so as to accomplish this, is liable to have more than his share of annoyance 

 and loss. In this book the object has been to describe the more common dis- 

 eases of domestic fowl and tell how to treat these diseases, in order to help 

 the beginner who does not recognize symptoms until a disease has gone too 

 far to prevent it, or who has not yet learned the art of keeping his flock up 

 to that point where diseases are warded off. 



Our successful poultrymen know how to ward off diseases — first, by 

 having stock that possesses vigorous constitutions; second, by proper housing 

 and feeding; third, by absolute cleanliness. The question of clean poultry 

 houses is so important that it cannot be emphasized too strongly, so we give 

 the following definite directions. 



HOW TO CLEAN A POULTRY HOUSE 



The following excellent advice is given by Dr. Raymond Pearl, of the 

 University of Maine:-;— 



Not every poultryman of experience even, knows how reaUy to clean a 

 poultry house. The fi^st thing to do is to remove all the litter and loose 

 dirt which can be shoveled out. Then give the house — floor, walls and ceil- 

 ing a thorough sweepipg and shovel out the accumulated debris. Then 

 play a garden hose, with the maximum water pressure which can be obtainedj 

 upon floor, roosting boards, walls and ceiling, until all the dirt which can be 

 washed down easily is disposed of. Then take a heavy hoe ot roost board 

 scrapeT and proceed to scrape the floor and roosting boards clean of the tram- 

 pled and caked dressing and dirt. Then shovel out what has been accumu- 

 lated and get the hose into action once more and wash the whole place down 

 again thoroughly and follow this with another scraping. 



Next, with a stiff-bristled broom thoroughly scrub walls, floors, nest 

 boxes, roost boards, etc. After another rinsing down and cleaning out of 

 accumulated dirt, let the house dry out for a day or two. Then make a 

 searching inspection to see if any dirt tan be discovered. If so, apply the 

 appropriate treatment as outlined above. If, however, everything appears 

 to be clean, the time has come to make it really and truly clean by disin- 

 fecting. To do this it is necessary to spray or thoroughly wash with a scrub 

 brush, wet in a solution used, for all parts of the house, with a good disinfect- 

 ant at least twice, allowing time between for it to dry. 



HOW TO DISINFECT A POULTRY HOUSE 



First. See that the house is perfectly clean by foUowiiig faithfully the 

 instructions given above. Where the garden hose is not available, use in- 

 stead a broom or a scrubbing brush. 



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