The Red Cloud chief., 1881-09-15

An elaborate and expensive house IL
o q necessity. but n disadvantage in
poultry keeping The two great ots,a-
cles in the way o! ia this bust
hess are yermin and Gods. The costly
house Affords no protection azEins;
either. of the three kinds Ct insects
which infcsi the common fowl the mile
Is The worst and hardest to get I'd OF.
The louise. body or feather. Is rolled Of
in the dust bath. and nav be killed or
driven AWAY by applying Persian insect
seldom breed in sucn numbers A. TO
completely Cysrrun = owl Bot the
mite breeds in the house and no; oa the
fowl; doesn't even appear 10 need tbs
presence of a fowl 10 continue in life
and propagate. i, i. analogous 20 the
bed bug and partakes at it, habits IN
attacking its victims while =; roo and
leaving them when they are out a-ain
in the morning. This - the insect
which is 80 destructive 20 sitting hens;
they have no chance 10 bc free from II
in the DAYTIME. 4 thorough busting
with Persian insect powder once or
twice a week. is \ great help to the hen.
but il does not destroy the msriads
which dwell in every crack in a board.
or Joint between. or the creyicss of a
stone wall which frequently forms The
foundation II the house. The first time
the hen leaves her nest she shakes the
insecticidc from her feathers. and then
the insects renew their depreda,iOns.
The sitting period. "a every poultry
man knows. quite frequently tears \
hen all 10 pieces; she ONE out Of 1t a
mere skeleton, tie large h~igh-coioreI
comb which she carried when she began
her task il sickly and shriyeled. and the
bright color faded out Her feathers
are IN about the same condition. his
destruction Of the hen IS not necessary.
As man a hen viii prove that has sat
her three weeks in some out of-the-way
place ut a distance from the poultry
house. She has lost weight, her comb
and feathers are somewhat dali aud
smudgy, but a week or two viii put her
in condition again. Few chicks are
Matched in infested nests; the hens cant
cit closely enough To keep up the regui-
site temperature. The constant twist
ing about of the head 20 pick the bitten
spot lets a little cold air 10 the eggs,
and the embryo dies in consequent
And when an egg gets rotten Dts rot
ienncss being due in min eases out oil
ten To the death of the chick from this
lack Of heat). its contents begin TO eN-
ude through the pores OF the shell. and
the mites hasten 10 the feast. Seasons
in which eggs fail TO hatch well tthe
roultry Journals inform us that there
are such) are probably seasons favor
able TO the propagation of he mite.
Now the larger and more complicated
the poultry house, the more cracks and
small hiding places for the mites 10
breed in, and the more difficult To- APP
ply any i~nsecticide effectively. Such
houses require more attent on and work
than one man in a hundred will eve
devote to them, and more than the
profits from the poultry would pay for.
il il were done. Ii we wish 10 raise
healthy. quick-growing chicks, they
should never be allowed To approach
such a structure.
The liability of a fowl or chick To
take cold is the othergreat drawback
in this business. Years ago il WAS
much more common To see fowls roost-
ing on trees in winter than it is now.
and, if the evidence of old people is To
be taken. roup and cholera were I'M
known diseases. Blu To keep n lot of
fowls and allow them to roOSt IN the
trees in winter, even admitting that by
SO doing they would never contract
roup and cholera, is too outrageous To
be tolerated. Wild birds live out Of
doors all winter; we can't help it and
are not responsible for it.; but when we
come to the commo fowl, we are deal
ing with animals either educated or
susceptible of education; and If they
be decentlv educated. there will be no
difficulty in inducing them TO sleep ill.,
doors. We should provide a rOO>ting
house for them which which will retain
the healthy conditions of the tree, and
Mt the same time protect them from
winds and storms. a very large amount
Of fresh air is absolutely necessary; and
a close house will not admit it. II we
build partially underground to secure
warmth. it will be more or less damp.
and a damp roosting place is n fruitful
source of roup and cholera. Fowls are
disposed TO huddle together As closely
as possible on the perches; by 50 doing
they become overheated, and when
they 90 out in the morning the sudden
ness of the change of temperature in-
duces colds. Hence in arranging perch
es space enough to allow a good cir
culation of fresh air should be left be-
tween them.
Our model poultry house. then, will
stand on the surface of the earth, and
not he an incipient mine; it will not be
large, and not be expected TO house
more than twenty or thirty fowls. ES-
p~erience is clearly against large ilocks.
If we desire to keep more we should in
crease the number instead of the size Of
our houses. Six feet high and six feet
bv eight feet on the ground will be
large enough. leave the south side en-
tirely open in summer and partially close
il i'm winter: put in one sash and that Of
moderate size; glass allows the heat to
pass through it so rapidly. that if the
whole front were of glass the fowls
would get about as cold in the long
nights rs they would were the front en-
tirely open. Such a house al be read
ily moved to a clean place; which is
~ .r1l- ,l.- ,fno-n-