3 2 
The Illustrated Boor of Poultry. 
filled tightly with horse litter and manure, nailing more strips across the top of the tub to keep it 
in. When all is prepared, the bottle is filled with watei, and corked, after which the whole is 
inverted as shown in the engraving, a pan slipped under the mouth of the bottle, and the cork 
withdrawn. The heat of the manure will remain for days, and keep the water from freezing, 
especially if put in the sun, unless the thermometer is below zero. Of course, whenever the heat 
of the manure becomes exhausted, the tub must be emptied and fresh filled; and every night the 
bottle must be allowed to empty itself, being refilled in the morning. During ordinary frosty 
weather pans are better than fountains, as a slight greasing will entirely prevent the ice adhering 
to them, and save all trouble whatever beyond filling when required. 
In very cold or wet weather, it is well to add some iron to the water. Sulphate of iron alone 
becomes rusty, and disliked by the fowls, but a drop or two of sulphuric acid added will prevent 
this. A lump of sulphate of iron, the size of a filbert, and three drops of acid, will be enough for 
each gallon of water; or a teaspoonful of tincture of iron (the recognised pharmaceutical preparation 
known as “ tincture of steel ” by the chemists, and which consists chiefly of iron and muriatic acid), 
will answer as well. One or the other should always be used during moulting-time, as it helps 
the fowls greatly through what is the most critical period of the year. At that season, also, the 
food should be specially looked after, and a little hempseed given two or three times a week 
is very beneficial, though injurious as usual diet. A little extra meat is always beneficial at such 
seasons. But the greatest aid is a small half-teaspoonful of powdered sulphur twice a week to each 
fowl during moult. This is a recent discovery, and is proved to be of the greatest assistance in 
promoting the growth of the new plumage, and otherwise conducing to a successful moult. 
It only remains to add, under the head of food, that fowls require some regular supply of lime ) 
and also of gravel or small stones. The one is needed to form the egg-shells, the other to assist 
the gizzard. Old mortar will answer both purposes, and burnt, pulverised oyster-shells are also 
good. The stones — which are really the teeth of fowls — they will get for themselves out of almost 
any large run. But if the supply is deficient it must be provided, for fowls cannot be healthy 
without grit, and it must be sharp grit. As good a plan as any is to bake some flints red-hot and 
throw them hot into water. They are then easily pounded into very sharp grit, which should be 
passed through a sieve so as to reject all pieces larger than small peas. It is a great help 
to digestion to scatter also some granulated charcoal among the grit and gravel. 
Fowls, as is well-known, clean themselves by rolling in dry earth or dust, and this must be 
afforded them, however confined the space. Supposing the shed to be floored with dry earth or 
sand as recommended, nothing further will be required ; but if the floor be hard, a shallow box of 
ashes, road dust, or dry earth must be put in some corner for them. In a larger run, any out-of- 
the-way corner will do ; and it is beneficial to mix a few pounds of black sulphur with the contents 
of the box. When this is properly attended to, and the house cleaned out every two days or so, 
there will usually be little trouble from vermin ; but if these do appear, carbolic acid (already 
recommended in our first chapter) is the best remedy. In washing the walls, the best strength will 
be three ounces of the acid in crystals, dissolved in three gallons of lime-water. This will be 
certain death to all insects in the house itself, and the fowls themselves are to be dipped in a 
solution of one part carbolic acid to sixty parts water, long enough to soak them, after which they 
should be put by the fire to dry. Another excellent preparation for use in poultry-houses is 
carbolate of lime (which is identical with “ Calvert’s disinfecting powder,” only much cheaper). 
This is both a powerful and pleasant disinfectant, whilst it will also destroy insects if dusted 
liberally on the floor and against the walls. Being a dry powder, it may also be dusted in nests 
among the straw, where a wash cannot be used, and employed in this way is far more effective 
