Sitting hens must never be
greased, but the sulphur may be dusted freely in their nests,
and it is well to put it in all hens' nests.
_Salt and Water_.--All animals except poultry require salt, and all,
free supplies of fresh water.
_Light_.--Stables, or places where any kind of animals are confined,
should have plenty of light. Windows are not more important in a house
than in a barn. The _sun_ should come in freely; and if it shines
directly upon the stock, all the better. When beeves and sheep are
fattening very rapidly, the exclusion of the light makes them more
quiet, and fatten faster; but their state is an unnatural and hardly a
healthy one.
_Exercise_ in the open air is important for breeding animals. It
is especially necessary for horses of all kinds. Cows need very little
and swine none, unless kept for breeding.
_Breeding_,--Always use thorough-bred males, and improvement is certain.
_Horses_.--The care which horses require varies with the circumstances
in which the owner is placed, and the uses to which they are put. In
general, if kept stabled, they should be fed with good upland hay,
almost as much as they will eat; and if absent from the stable, and at
work most of the day, they should have all they will eat of hay,
together with four to eight quarts of oats or an equal weight of other
grain or meal.
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