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Show .1 wyjiuiiiii F . ' -, .-. - DRINKING WATER FOR FOWLS Sufficient Supply, Frequently Renewed, Is as Necessary as Proper Amount of Food. (Prepared by the United States Department Depart-ment ot Agriculture.) If your flock of poultry has not been doing as well as you think it ought to, perhaps it is because you have not been providing the chickens with a supply of fresh, pure drinking water. Of course, lack of thrift and low egg yields may be due to a number of other certain causes, such as poor stock, poor feed (both quality and quantity), bad housing conditions, diseases, presence of lice and mites, and lack of care. But for some reason many poultry raisers who give attention to these items sometimes neglect the water supply. A supply of pure drinking water wa-ter frequently renewed is as necessary for poultry as sufficient amounts of food. There are two different types of drinking vessels for poultry in common com-mon use: Open vessels pails, pans, crocks and the like; and drinking fountains foun-tains so constructed that dust and dirt cannot get into the water, except by way of a very small exposed surface. These quite opposite types of drinking drink-ing vessels are about equally popular with poultry keepers. Open vessels catch more dirt and dust, but are more easily cleaned. Closed fountains may be used much longer without cleaning, but if allowed to become foul are harder hard-er to clean thoroughly. Placing open drinking vessels on a shelf a foot or more above the floor prevents the hens from scratching coarse litter into them, but does not keep out the dust which floats in the air and settles in the water. ! ' Thoroughly rinsing open vessels once a day and scalding drinking fountains ! once or twice a week will usually keep them as clean as necessary. |