28o 



Poultry-yard Fittings. 



[AUG., 



extensive farm. The foods fed from hoppers are whole corn^ 

 dry crushed corn, and dried meat scraps of various kinds. 



Feeding without Troughs. — The only case in which feeding 

 without troughs or hoppers can be recommended is when whole 

 corn is being fed to hens, and there is a clean bare place or a 

 field in which it can be scattered, or when it is mixed with the 

 litter of the scratching shed with the object of inducing hens to 

 take the exercise which they need, especially in winter. In all 

 other instances suitable troughs must be used. 



Water Troughs and Vessels. — The vessels which are used to 

 hold drinking water in poultry yards may be broadly divided 

 into two classes ; namely, open troughs and closed vessels. 

 The advantages of the closed fountain are that but little dirt 

 or dust can get into the water, and consequently the water 

 keeps cleaner than in an open fountain ; fowls cannot walk 

 into the water, chickens cannot be drowned, and fancy fowls 

 cannot wet their combs, wattles, beards, and crests. The 

 disadvantages are that it takes time to fill or empty it, and that 

 it is much more difficult to keep clean than an open trough. 

 Taking these things into consideration, the practical poultry 

 keeper, who has some hundreds of fowls, generally decides 

 that open troughs are most suitable. 



The materials from which water troughs are made, and their 

 size and shape, are matters of no great importance. But 

 the important points are that the water should by regular 

 renewal be kept fresh, that it should be kept cool by placing 

 the vessels in shady places, and that the vessels should be kept 

 clean. Wide, shallow vessels are undesirable, as hens walk into 

 them too easily, and they collect an undue amount of dirt ;. 

 and for this reason it is preferable that the trough should be 

 narrow in proportion to its height and capacity, but not so narrow 

 as to make it difficult for the fowls to drink from it or as tO' 

 make it liable to be easily turned over. 



An open V-shaped trough of the same kind as that already 

 described for feeding fowls makes a most desirable vessel for 

 holding water where hens are kept in flocks from fifty to one 

 hundred, and where a large quantity of water is consumed daily. 

 For rapidity in cleaning and refilling this style of trough is- 

 unsurpassed. 



