154 The Hen at Work 



the floor about the nest. The chickens can scratch 

 around and pick up what they please of these hard 

 morsels, which will do them no harm and much 

 good. 



Drinking Fountains. — Clear water must, of 

 course, be provided at all times. The pictures 

 show some useful fountains for watering chickens. 

 Never place water in an open dish for chickens to 

 drink. They are sure to fall into the dish now and 

 then, often are drowned, and always scratch dirt 

 into the water. The sj^hon fountains of crockery 

 are especially good for little chicks. They« are 

 easy to clean, heavy enough to keep upright, and 

 provide water on all sides, if the chickens de- 

 cide to take a drink together, which they fre- 

 quently do. 



Syphon fountains made of galvanized iron are 

 also good. Two types are shown in the picture. 

 One allows the chickens to drink all around the 

 edge. The other exposes the water at one point 

 only. While the flock is small the chicks will 

 find the water more easily from fountains where 

 the water runs all around the edge. 



Later, after they are six weeks old, the large 

 fountain is very satisfactory, as it holds a gallon, 



