Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 November 1876 — Provide Water for Fowls. [ARTICLE]

Provide Water for Fowls.

Hens and turkeys, ducks and geese, will live without water; yet they will thrive much more satisfactorily if they can havo unrestrained access Jo. a generous supply at; all seasons of ihe> year.; They frill drink large quantities of water even in cold weather, if they are not required to go too far away from their roosting-places when they are thirsty. The fact that they are. thirsty affords the assurance that they need water to promote a more complete digestion of their food. We provide water for our hens with as much care as for the horse and cow. During warm weather the zinc receptacle, or water fountain, is filled as often as tbs supply becomes exhausted. In co]d weather, when the water in the fountain is liable to congeal with cold, an old pan is filled with warm water in the morning, and then again toward evening. After a hen has filled her crop With dry feed she needs a generous supply of water to promote the softening process preparatory to digestion We frequently see our fowls hurrying from their roosts to the water early m the morning, while it is yet so dark that they can scarcely see where the water can De found. More than a score of times during the day laying hens will be seeq drinking. Hens, with their half-grown broods, will sometimes go to the water fountain as often as every hour during the entire day. If they were not thirsty, they would not desire water. The fact that they are thirsty shows conclusively that water will promote their comfort and aid digestion. The water fountain should always be kept in one place, so that fowls may know where to go when they are thirsty. If water is kept in a pan, a narrow board should be laid across the top to prevent careless fowls from pouncing into the water. When ducks or geese are reared where they connot have the advantages of a stream or pond of water, provide a large trough aqd place it in an excavation in the grouna, near a well, so that the swimmers can step from boards at the brim of the trough into the water, lo facilitate their exit from the water, let an inclined plane be placed at each end of the trough, having small cleats nailed across the surface, so that they can walk out of the water to terra firma. The trough should be placed so near the well that fresh water can be directed into it without difficulty every day, or several times daily, if desirable, At all events, let fowls be provided with pure water in some way.— N. Y. Herald.