PRAIRIE F ARMER' S POULTRY BOOK 



flock. There should always be a hospital or pest house on 

 every farm where a hundred chickens can be kept. This may 

 be only a room with compartments or suitable coops. It should 

 be located at some distance from the other buildings. If dry, 

 well ventilated and kept clean and comfortable it will be the 

 means of saving many fowls and prove a good financial invest- 

 ment. It is sometimes urged that it does not pay to doctor 

 sick fowls, that they should be killed as soon as discovered. 

 If the same principle were applied to human beings the race 

 would become extinct. The truth is that there is no farm 

 animal that responds more promptly to treatment than the 

 fowl. The poultry attendant must be the judge and, if he finds 

 that a fowl is beyond the help of remedies, the more quickly it 

 is dispatched the better. In the majority of cases, however, 

 good care and correct remedies mean immediate recovery. 



3. Removing the causes of disease. The causes of disease 

 have been discussed briefly in preceding chapters. It will be 

 sufficient at this time to enumerate the more important causes : 



(a) Overcrowding: Allowing more in the house than one 

 for every four square feet of floor space. 



(b) Lack of ventilation : Failing to supply and to dis- 

 tribute an abundance of fresh air. 



(c) Drafts: Permitting holes and cracks in the building; 

 failing to provide partitions in long buildings, which are al- 

 ways drafty unless this precaution is taken. 



(d) Lack of sunlight : Darkness and gloom are the friends 

 of disease ; sunshine and oxygen are the great germ killers. 



(e) Dampness: Health and dampness cannot abide to- 

 gether. 



(f) Uncleanliness : Disease germs revel in unclean sur- 

 roundings. Frequent and thorough cleaning and disinfection 

 are necessary. 



(g) Lack of exercise: A watch allowed to run down and 

 stand idle will corrode; the chicken is a machine that must 

 have exercise in every part to maintain a healthy condition. 



(h) Improper feeding : The feeding of one grain continually 

 or the constant feeding of an unbalanced ration invariably 

 brings disease. 



(i) Disease germs : These are brought to the flock in many 

 ways but more especially by domesticated and wild animals. 

 Rats are disease carriers, also English sparrows. They go 

 from farm to farm, spreading contagion. This explains why 



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