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Show Limed Litter Helps Improve Hens' Health Built -Up System Also Benefits Baby Chicks By tV. J. DRYDEN Not only as a means of saving on the cost of litter material as well as on labor, but also as a coccidio-sis coccidio-sis control measure, authorities now recommend that litter be left In the brooder and laying house for a year or more. When the utter is treated with hydrated lime little danger from disease will result. By using the built-up litter method, the poultry house receives additional insulation, resulting in drier litter and more uniform temperature. Extensive tests at Ohio and Washington State colleges have proven the value of j'i''n,TOW..iujii)iji iimi.ii, i .ii'w f a M Healthy poultry can be kept on litter left in bouses (or a year or more. , this system of litter management. When the huilt-tin method li em ployed, the litter is first put in at two to three inches deep, to which one pound of hydrated lime is added to each five square feet of floor space. When the litter begins to pack, another layer of litter as well as an application of lime is added. This may be repeated as needed. Whep the litter is stirred with a fork and sticks together in clumps, or if the hens can't move it when scratching, more lime should be added. Less liming will be needed if feed hoppers and other equipment is moved occasionally. When deep litter is used, a greater great-er amount of lime may be advisable. advisa-ble. This system, in fact no system, sys-tem, will be satisfactory in damp weather, unless the house is well built and land well drained. |