296 POULTRY PRODUCTION 



grown on the other. In this way, by alternating the yards 

 from season to season, the ground is freshened, there is 

 pasture for the fowls, and the fertility dropped by the fowls 

 is made use of. 



It is practically impossible to yard hens at the rate of more 

 than four hundred fowls to the acre and maintain a sod. 

 Yards that are crowded so as to be kept bare of greenness, 

 unless given considerable attention in the way of turning the 

 ground over, or by applying lime, or by cropping from time 

 to time, are a source of danger. 



The efficiency of a poultry fence depends as much upon 

 having an invisible top as upon the height. The height of the 

 fence will need to be in inverse proportion to the size of the 

 yard it surrounds. Any but the Asiatic breed will fly very 

 high if they can see a place to alight, and it is necessary to 

 have the tops of the gates invisible as well as the fence. 



Care of the House. — ^The poultry-house should be well 

 bedded with straw at all times. The straw should be renewed 

 whenever it becomes badly broken up, damp, or so full of 

 droppings that grains fed out of the hand are not quickly 

 lost from sight, compelling the fowls to scratch to find them. 

 Where birds .spend most of their time out of doors and the 

 house is so dry that the droppings dry out soon after being 

 voided, they need be removed only at rather infrequent 

 intervals. If they tend to remain moist for some time, how- 

 ever,, they should be frequently removed, as their presence is 

 likely to cause dirty eggs by being carried to the nest on the 

 feet of the hens, and in a moist condition they serve as a 

 harbor for germs. 



As a precautionary measure the poultry-house and all its 

 fixtures should be thoroughly cleaned and then soaked in 

 every part with a good strong disinfectant at least once a 

 year, preferably before the beginning of the breeding and 

 growing season. This should be repeated promptly upon the 

 appearance of any ailment that shows the least sign of being 

 communicated from one individual to another. In cold 

 weather, low-grade kerosene with enough crude carbolic 

 acid to give it a distinct odor is preferable to the use of such 

 sprays as are administered in water solutions. 



