Evening star., 1915-03-07

spade the earth, turning it up as deep
as the spade will go, rake it fine. and
% SOW 1t to rye or oats. BY the time the
chicks are ready for the run the green
growth will be several inches high and
Will supply them with tender green
feed during the entire spring.
Crooked keel. or breast bones. in
| fowls is usually caused by insufficient
| litter. in the hover. Litter should be
not less than an inch and half deep:
two inches or more is better. 1t should
! be soft and absorbent, SO as to absorb
the liquid portion of the droppings. and
+, to coat and seal up the remaining por-
| tons. Straw will not do. unless 1t is
cut into inch lengths or shorter. Two
| inches of finely shredded or mealed al
| falfa under the hover will give the
chicks soft, springy. warm bed. on
which they can squat in comfort with
out danger of deforming the breast
bone. The chicks will also eat large
| much protein the flesh, bone and
feather forming element OF the feed.
bear in mind that crooked keel bone
Will disqualify an otherwise fine bird
IN any exhibition. Birds with this de-
1orm1ty never are as strong and thrifty
as fowls with straight, perfect breast
bones. and fowls SO maiformed should
never be used as breeders.
In planning the new poultry houses.
race the south or the southeast. This
| lnsures the maximum of sunshine.
Bu1ld the houses with open fronts. u.s.
ing heavy muslin curtains attached to
| rolled up during the day in fair wealth
er' to be dropped and fastened down
| by means of hooks and screweyes in
| cold, windy or rainy weather. Place
a window in each end of the house.
using at least a four-pane sash, and
protect
strong wire poultry netting. Build
the house on foundations that will al
low the floor to be raised several inches
off the ground. Brick or stone founda-
in excavations deep enough to carry
several inches below the normal frost
line. Lay the sills in cement, which
will keep rats out of the house. The
poultry husbandman of the division
of animal husbandry, Department of
Agriculture, will furnish plans for
cheap, easily constructed practical
poultry houses, the department having
published several bulletins containing
such plans.
A few days ago a poultryman asked
the. writer to inspect his poultry house
and yard in an effort to learn the cause
OF high mortality among his fowls.
said, and his flock. which in the late
fall numbered nearly 100 fine hens, had
been reduced to less than half that
number One glance inside the house
showed the cause. The hens were
watered in large. fiat. open pans. and
each Of the three pans was Shiny with
the droppings from the hens. The
owner. in reply to a question. said he
had not cleansed the water vessels all
winter. expressing surprise that such a
thing should be considered necessary
An old pan in the chicken yard was in
such a position that after every rain
water flowed into it after seeping
through an accumulation Of dead
leaves, drit and filth of every kind.
and the hens also drank this water.
Under such conditions. the writer ex-
planned, 1t was a wonder that even
one hen was left alive. A peculiar fact
in connection with this was that the
pou1tryman-who has no right to the
title, in facts a crank in regard to
sanitation about his home. Anything.
however. was good enough for the
hens. the result being that he has
bought eggs all winter and has fewer
than half the hens with which he start
ed in last fall Isn't the moral SUI
ficiently obvious?