FIFTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VI. 409 



between, or a good single flooring covered with a few inches of dry earth, is 

 probably the best. In all cases of board floors there should be sufficient 

 space beneath for ventilation and to guard against the lodgment of rats. 



SPACE TO BE ALLOWED. 



The amount of space to be allowed for each bird depends upon the size of 

 the birds, whether a shed is attached to the house or whether the fowls have 

 a free run of the open fields. For birds in confinement there should be from 

 six to fifteen square feet for each adult bird in case there is no shed attached 

 to the house; and with a shed this space may be reduced about one-half. 

 The yards should be large enough to allow exercise in the open air, and to 

 furnish more grass than the birds will eat. This will vary from sixty to one 

 hundred and fifty square feet per adult bird. The open shed facing the 

 south, where the birds can be induced to hunt for their food and take ex- 

 ercise in all seasons of the year, and where they can enjoy the pleasure of 

 scratching and dusting themselves in the sunshine, even during the winter 

 months, is of great assistance in maintaining the health and productiveness 

 of the flock. The roosting space allowed should be six to eight inches for 

 the smaller breeds, eight to ten inches for the medium breeds and ten to 

 twelve inches for the larger breeds. 



VENTILATION . 



Poultry houses should be well ventilated, but so arranged that drafts of 

 air will not strike the birds. Windows and doors should be provided in such 

 locations that the sun may shine into the building a considerable part of the 

 day. Sunshine is required both to keep the house dry and to destroy va- 

 rious forms of infection. 



POULTRY COOPS. 



A liberal supply of coops should be provided for the confinement of hens 

 with broods of small chicks, and for those hens which insist upon sitting at 

 inconvenient times. A few days in solitary retirement will usually breakup 

 the desire to sit, and the hen will soon after resume laying. 



The common A-shaped coop is one of the most easily constructed and con- 

 venient forms in use. The one disadvantage connected with it is the diffi- 

 culty of removing the feeding and drinking vessels for cleaning or of catch- 

 ing a bird in it without danger of some of the birds escaping. To obviate 

 this, one of the slats may be made to slide. The opening made by sliding 

 this slat is sufficient to admit the hand and arm so that any part of the coop 

 may be reached without leaving an avenue of escape unguarded. For early 

 hatched chicks, which come out when the atmospheric temperature is so low 

 as to be injurious to them, a combination of coop and glass-covered run 

 has been found very useful. 



RANGING OF FOWLS. 



Poultry may be raised with the greatest economy on the large farms of 

 the country, where there is unlimited range, and exhaustless supply of in- 



