1902.] DISCUSSION. 229 



Dr. Curtice. Well, as I said, the parts can be put up 

 in sections and hooked together with a hook and staple, and 

 then the top put on and fastened in place with hooks and 

 staples. Such a house as that can be moved in sections. 

 Perhaps it is easier to move the larger sized houses that way, 

 but most of the farms have the apparatus to move the large 

 houses, or they can be moved on low wagons that can be 

 found in the vicinity. If the farmer has not got one he could 

 probably borrow one for just that day. 



Question. How many fowls are kept in a house of this 

 description, usually? 



Dr. Curtice. About thirty. From twenty-five to thirty. 

 That is about as high as it goes. These can be moved out 

 into a field and put in a row, or arranged to suit the farmer. 

 It depends upon the taste of the farmer and the size of the 

 field. I have seen two thousand chickens in a single field. 

 The chickens at first will not confine themselves to their par- 

 ticular house, but if they are confined for a few days, after 

 that they will return to them. They get mixed up at first. 

 Of course, I am speaking of houses where there are no 

 fences between. 



Question. How far apart do they usually put those 

 houses? 



Dr. Curtice. They set them about sixty feet apart. 

 How they are placed depends on the room that you have got. 

 I know of a poultrv^ house, a long one, where twelve hundred 

 chickens are kept with great success without fencing between. 



Mr. Seeley. Do you approve of a large number of fowls 

 roosting together in the same house, or in the same place, for 

 a long time? For instance, if a farmer has a hennery and he 

 keeps there from a hundred to a hundred and fifty hens right 

 along, is not the chance for disease to get among the flock 

 much greater? 



Dr. Curtice. You have got two propositions mixed up. 

 One is the existence of possible disease in the flock, or being 



