Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 153, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 July 1919 — HENHOUSE HINTS [ARTICLE]

HENHOUSE HINTS

Your poultry houses should be well ventilated in summer. Every glass door should be left open night and day or removed until cold weather. It will require only a few minutes to do this and it will contribute much toward the comfort and best welfare of your hens, writes D. J. Lambert, Rhode Island station. During warm weather it does not matter which side of the house is open. It would be better if all sides were out. There is no danger from draft during August and September. Growing chicks will grow best when they can roost where there are clean perches and only a roof over their heads. With this simple arrangement there will be less#danger from crowding and mites. These mites or spider lice multiply very rapidly when the roosts are neglected. You will find them under the perches and in cracks and crevices of the adjoining woodwork. They Crawl out of their hiding places at night and suck their fill of blood from the birds on the roosts. You can often detect them by a very disagreeable odor which they - throw est. In order to get rid of them, the house must be opened up to the air, brushed and cleaned out thoroughly from ceiling to floor and then sprayed with a solution of cresote oil and water and then with whitewash, so as to know every part of the house has been covered. If a dirt floor, five or six inches of the top must be removed to make a complete job of housecleaning. Those who keep poultry and neglect to keep them clean and comfortable cannot expect them to be profitable.