Fig. 258. Dinner is over
When hogs are kept in pens, cleanliness is most important, for only by cleanliness can disease be avoided.
SECTION LVII. FARM POULTRY
Our geese, ducks, turkeys, and domestic hens are all descendants of wild fowls, and are more or less similar to them in appearance.
The earliest recorded uses of fowls were for food, for fighting, and for sacrifice. To-day the domestic fowl has four well-defined uses—egg-production, meat-production, feather-production, and pest-destruction.
STANDARD-BRED FOWLS
Barred Plymouth Rocks, male and female; White Wyandottes, female and male
Hens of course produce most of our eggs. Some duck eggs are sold for table use. Goose and duck body-feathers bring good prices. As pest-destroyers turkeys and chickens are most useful. They eat large numbers of bugs and worms that are harmful to crops. A little proper attention would very largely increase the already handsome sum derived from our fowls. They need dry, warm, well-lighted, and tidily kept houses. They must have, if we want the best returns, an abundant supply of pure water and a variety of nutritious foods. In cold, rainy, or snowy weather they should have a sheltered yard, and in good weather should be allowed a range wide enough to give them exercise. Their bodies and their nests must be protected from every form of vermin.
