32 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
May, 1910. 
Poultry Farming on Small 
Holdings. 
[By H. V. Hawkins, Poultry Expert, in 
- Victorian Journal of Agriculture.’ 
(Continued from last Issue.) 
—Perches.— 
These should always be low. Eigh- 
teen inches from the ground is ample 
and the perches should net be nailed, 
When nailed you have always to contend 
against the vermin troub’e, The little 
rd mite, if allowed sufticient latitude, 
will drain the system of any fowl, and the 
very essence of egg-production is drawn 
from the body of a hen in an. infested 
house.. It will pay better to sccure 
insect-proof perches, which may be 
constructed as follows:—Take a piece of 
iron tubing 24 inches long, and an 
ordinary jam tin, ‘eit a hole ia the 
bottom of tin suflicent to si'ov tho 
tubing to pass up through th tin with n 
6 inches of the top, tven sillerth yin o 
the iron. The perce: should ro alro. 
8 inches shorter than the length of the 
house. Bore ahole in both ends of the 
perch the size of tubing, and when the 
tubing is fixed on toa heavy stand or 
driven into the floor, place the perch 
which should be made of 3 in. x 2 in, hard 
wood, on top. Perches require to be 
about 3 inches wide to prevent crooked 
breasts. These a:e often caused ‘through 
the birds roosting on narrow perclies. 
When the perch is in position, pour a 
little kerosene into the tins at each end, 
and the perches will be insect proof. 
— Floor Catchment, — 
The continual cleaning of the floor is 
usually followed by the ground becoming 
basin-shaped, and the result isa damp 
floor in the winter. A cheap and effective — 
plan to prevent this is to purchase a piece 
of black tarpaulin, about tho size of the 
floor and nail this on to two pieces of 
wood, one at each end, and place on floor 
of house. Every morning roll it up and 
empty the croppings into a wheelbarrow. 
If the birds have been scour:ng, through 
eiting too much wet grass, and the carpet 
of the tarprulin has become very dirty, 
remove it to a tap, and put the hose on, 
Then hang over a fence to dry. It is 
advisable to throw a little sand to prevent 
the droppings adhering to the tarpaulin’ 
This system works well, saves a great deal 
the spread of 
of time, and prevents 
warmth. 
— 'T'rap Nests. — 
Trap nests will assist the farmer to 
discover the good layers, and will enable 
him also to pick out the unprofitable 
birds which are too often bred from un-— 
These should be used for, 
lnowingly. 
table pusposes ; on no account waste food 
Nests should 
never be made inside the fowl-honses nor 
in keeping bad tiyers 
yet adjoining, The Letter plan is to have 
them in a shady, darkened spct, away 
from the house. If the hens are allowed 
to make nests in the houses vermin is 
encouruzed. 
— Dust Bath, — 
A dust bath should be provided in every 
breeding pen, and should consist of a 
sh ..ow box 5 by 4 feet, in which sand, 
ashes, and some sulphur, and a little in- 
sectibane, should be placed. This should 
dry, and have a cover to move on or off 
Neglect of the bath means an increase of 
the fowl fleas, which, unlike the blood 
mites which are only found out at night, 
live on the body of the hen, and drain it 
of much of the egg-forming elements, 
These parasites lay countless small white 
eggs, almost the size of silk-worm eggs, on 
the downy, part of the feathers, especially 
under the wings and near the vent. In 
the early autumn, when the birds usually 
loose their old feathers, these eggs are 
carried about the farm, are duly hatched 
and return to the newely feathered flock ; 
therefore the necessity of a dust bath is 
apparent if we expect our birds to doany- 
thing above the old time barnyard fowl. 
We live in the days of improved methods 
-and the more we .attend to the little 
details, the better results accrue. 
- (Fo be continued ) 
Poultry Brevities. 
Wheat is a fine morning feed, 
it elie 
Boil and mash some of the small 
potatoes aud feed them to the hens. 
They aro good for eggs, 
fae at hast 
Never feed mouldy feed to a hen. 
That’s the way a good deal of sickness 
comes to the poultry yard. 
Tie 
Never use an incubator until you have 
tested it. Too much variation in 
temperature will ruin the hatch. 
t TF 
Be neat in your hen housekeeping. 
Have a big box handy to the honses; and 
keep the manure good and cry, 
feapet rT 
When you are laying in your grain for 
winter feed, don’t forget to put in a lot 
There is no better feed. 
eee iY 
Hens and pullets that are allowed to 
of oats. 
run with a malo bird come on to lay more 
quickly than when allowed to run alone. 
fhe Meh 
Hens are like folks about all wanting 
the highest places. They will quarrel 
over them, but put them on a level, and 
you will fix them all right. 
Pentneect 
Poultry, when well bred, fed, and cared 
for, is capable of turning’a given quantity 
of raw material into more pounds and 
shillings than any other animal on the 
farm. : 
Tee tn aes 
Keep the hens out of damp quarters, 
Dampness breeds roup and other diseases , 
Put a floor in the chicken house or throw 
in a lot of straw to keep chickens off 
frosty floors. 
Teenie mt 
Clean the windows of the poultry: 
house by washing with: soapy water and 
drying with cloth or paper. Clear 
windows let in the warm sunlight on cold 
days, adding health and comfort to tho 
flock, it 25] ae 5) 
