The Family F o ii 1 t r v Y a r d 



CONDUCTED BY ENOS WHITNEY 



C]iiekens and eggs have brought such high 

 rrices for several vears now that the man or 

 woman with room enough to keep a dozen or 

 two hens could save quite a few dollars by so 

 doing. 



Do not attempt to keep too many chickens 

 in a limited space. Just because they can man- 

 age to find room on the perches is no proof that 

 the coop, let alone the yard, is big enough for 

 jour flock. A few chickens properly kept w411 

 pay more than twice the number if crowded. 



Chickens need shade these hot days. Provide 

 some shelter for them if you have no shade. 

 Plum trees are excellent, and you get the fruit, 

 too. 



Give the chicks dry feed, and keep a good 

 supply of fresh water on hand. 



Do not put the water in the sun. It gets 

 warm soon enough anyhow. 



HOW^ ABOUT THIS'? 



Fowls will often do well on a small place 

 for several years, and then fall off and become 

 unprofitable, just as the owner thinks he has 

 learned it all. The usual reason is either that 

 the stock has become run out by too much con- 

 finement, or that the fowls have used up some 

 of the things about the place which they need. 

 They have killed out the grass, used up all the 

 sharp gravel, or perhaps the soil has become 

 infested with, disease or the coops w^ith lice. 

 A thorough renovation of the place or a move 

 fo fresh ground then becomes necessary.— 

 World. 



LOOK FOR LICE 



A safe rule during the summer especially is 

 to look for lice on old fowls and on the young 

 chicks. 



There will be lice if you do not fight them, 

 that is certain. 



Lice do more damage than dampness, rats, 

 bad food, and about everything else combined 



They kill chickens directly and are also the 

 cause of a variety of diseases. 



Fighting lice is not always pleasant nor easy, 

 but it pays to do it. 



Dirt and lice are twin evils. They are usually 

 found together, and the first does less harm 

 than the second. 



Dirt and lice are not so difficult to fight if we 

 are after them all the time. Once a month 

 ■mil not do.— r/.^ Pacific Homestead. 



Prevention is better than cure. 



Thoroughly clean. your coop Do not miss a 

 single crack. Whitewash applied generously 

 vdll help a great deal. You will need to clean 

 every two or three weeks if your house is badly 

 infested with lice. 



Destroy all old nests, and see to it tliat the 

 nest boxes are kept sweet and clean. 'Jhange 

 the straW' in the boxes every week. 



Now is the time to get ready for next winter, 

 when eggs are scarce and bring a high price. 

 Chickens need green food in ^^inter as well as 

 summer, and cabbage is excellent for winter 

 feeding. You can cure the lawn clippings, es- 

 pecially if there is clover in it, and save a bit 

 beside getting rid of a pile of rubbish. Get 

 a good silpply of sharp gravel for winter. If 

 you can find none, save your broken dishes and 

 crockery and you can pound them up and thus 

 lay in a good stock of "hen teeth." Chickens 

 are troubled with lice all the year more or less. 

 Fill a big box with road dust to replenish the 

 dust bath next winter. Save your wood ashes 

 and mix them with the dust. It helps to kill 

 the lice. 



Crack your pieces of hard bread for the little 

 chicks. This is better than soaking in water. 

 A hammer will do the business easily, and the 

 small, hard bits will be far better than the soft, 

 doughy mush. 



Get some tobacco stems from a cigar manu- 

 factory and put them on the bottom of the nest 

 boxes. Lice do not like tobacco. 



The moulting season is hard on chickens. Give 

 them shade in the day time and comfortable 

 quarters at night. 



Wheat and oats are better than corn during 

 the hot season. 



You will be safe in attributing almost any 

 chicken ailment to lice if you can find nothing- 

 else upon which to put the blame. At any rate, 

 lice cause more trouble and kill more chickens 

 than any other one thing. 



Keep the chicks out of the grass until the 

 dew is off. 



The moulting hens should have plenty of milk. 

 A teaspoonful of tincture of iron in the drink- 

 ing water will be a good tonic. 



Save your sunflow^er seeds this year. Gather 

 all you can ; they will come in handy. 



