270 
DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
into little balls with milk, the dried seeds and leaves of nettles have been 
recommended by the continental poulterers, some of whom give a little 
henbane-seed to induce sleep, while others put out the eyes of the 
prisoners as the most effectual way of keeping them in a state of dark- 
ness, which is considered essential to their becoming rapidly fat ; and 
under the pretext of relieving them from the irritation of vermin, they 
pluck the feathers from their heads, bellies, and wings. While fowls 
arc thus preparing for the knife, though their bodies are closely con- 
fined, their hinder parts are free for evacuation and cleanliness, and their 
heads are at liberty to take in fresh supplies of nutriment. 
Poultry are the better for high feeding from the very shell, and on 
this account the heaviest corn is often far cheaper for them in the end 
than tailings, as regards the flesh, or the size and substantial goodness 
of the eggs. Young chickens may be put up for feeding as soon as the 
hen has ceased to regard them, and before they lose their first good 
condition. When chickens arc wanted for domestic purposes, they arc 
often left at liberty in the farm-yard, and if they have plenty of good 
food, they will be in the most healthful state for the table, and rich and 
juicy in flavor. 
POULTRY-HOUSES AND YARDS. — Those who intend to rear fowls or any 
kind of poultry on a large scale, should have a distinct yard, perfectly 
sheltered, and with a warm aspect, well fenced, secure from thieves and 
vermin, and sufficiently inclined to be always dry, and supplied with 
sand or ashes for the cocks and hens- to roll in, an operation necessary 
to disengage their feathers from vermin : running water should be 
especially provided ; for the want of water, of which all poultry are fond, 
produces constipation of the bowels and inflammatory diseases ; and for 
geese and ducks, bathing is an indispensable luxury. A contiguous field 
is also necessary, for free exercise, as well as for the supply of grubs and 
grass to the geese. The fowl-house should be dry, well-roofed, and 
fronting the east or south, and, if practicable, at the back of a stove or 
stables; warmth being conducive to health and laying, though extreme 
heat has the contrary effect. It should be furnished with two small 
lattice windows, that can be opened or shut at pleasure, at opposite ends, 
for ventilation, which is frequently necessary; and the perches should 
be so arranged, that one row of roosting fowls should not be directly 
above another. 
M. Parmentier has shown* by what arrangement a house twenty feet 
long and twelve feet wide may be made to accommodate one hundred 
and fifty hens at roost. The plan is simply this : the first roosting-perch 
(rounded a little at the upper angles only, for gallinaceous fowls cannot 
keep a firm hold on perfectly cylindrical supporters) should be placed 
lengthways and rest on trestles in each end wall, six feet from the front 
wall, and at a convenient height, which must depend on the elevation 
of the house from the floor, which should be formed of some well con- 
solidated material that can be easily swept. Another perch should 
be fixed ladder-ways (en echelon) above this, but ten inches nearer to the 
back wall, and so on, until there are four of these perches, like the steps 
* “ Dictionnaire <T Agriculture. 
