458 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 June, 1898. 
Poultry. 
RAISING CHICKENS. 
Tnx secret of raising chickens is to keep them growing all the time. To do 
this they should have nourishing food, a fair range, and not be overcrowded. 
Poor feed is expensive at any price where chickens are concerned. It is best 
to let chickens run at large, providing they do not go so far as to keep them 
tired all the time. A young chicken can be run down the same as the young 
of any kind, and when this is the case they will not prosper. They thrive 
unusually well in orchards, the reason being they are shaded, and insects are 
more plentiful. A piece of land where a fair amount of grass, old trees, and 
loose soil abound is the very best place imaginable to raise chickens, and 
especially after they have reached the age of four to six weeks old. Under the 
old leaves, and along the logs and fallen timber there is an abundance of insects, 
&e., which make splendid food, the shade is plentiful, and the green food 
contains the elements for building up the body. It is essential to give them 
all they can eat in the morning and evening, and if the range or run does not 
afford “good picking’ it is best to scatter cracked grain where they can 
find it by scratching. A chicken that receives every attention and is. pushed 
right along for the first few weeks must not be neglected, for if permitted to 
stop growing it will never fully recover.—Adelaide Observer. 
KEEP YOUR FOWLS CLUAN. 
THER are many readers of a poultry column, as well as fanciers and others, 
who consider that too much is made of this subject. I confess that writers of 
the poultry columns are constantly harping on the subject, but it is in duty 
bound and in the best interests of those who keep poultry that this subject 
receives so much attention. I should not be far wrong in saying that 60 per 
cent. of the fowlhouses in the colony are so dirty that it is impossible for fowls 
to live in them ina healthy condition. Filth is the sure cause of disease, and 
ofttimes death; indeed, it is the one great curse in keeping poultry. If your 
fowls droop, or are ailing, see if the house is infected with lice or tick. If it 
is, so are the hens, and also are the nests. Do you think you would enjoy life 
yourself if a myriad of insects were for ever boring into your skin, preventing 
all comfort during the day and all rest at night? Yet this is the usual 
experience of the vast majority of fowls. They are overrun with lice or tick, 
Many of them have broken-down, draughty houses, fetid runs, impure water, 
and then their owners wonder why they don’t lay a plentiful supply of eggs. 
Cleanliness is second only to godliness in the human creature; in poultry- 
keeping there is nothing comes before it. Itis the first and most important 
condition of success. It is advisable, therefore, to occasionally examine your 
birds for the purpose of detecting any parasites that may from time to time 
molest them, This remark also applies with regard to the houses. As the 
moulting season is fast drawing to an end, it is advisable to thoroughly lime- 
wash all poultry-houses, coops, &c., and if you have any suspicion that tick or 
other parasites are present use Little’s Phenyle profusely in all the crevices, 
corners, and other places where these pests are likely to congregate. If this 
is neglected, the fowls which will in a very little time from now present quite a 
gay and glossy appearance will be found with their feathers eaten away to such 
an extent as to entirely spoil their appearance, and may eventually be found 
dead just for the want of proper attention.—ddelaide Observer. 
' 
