THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



other drawbacks as encounter a proprietor in 

 places where such methods are even possible. 

 Those who have considered what we have 

 above briefly recalled, will see that almost 

 every such question of general management 

 has two sides, and that in a country already 

 civilised and crowded with inhabitants, there 

 will generally predominate a necessity for 

 adopting the conditions of civilisation. 



The limitations, and the advantages, and 

 the methods of the e.xposure system of keep- 

 ing poultry, may be shortly stated. 

 ^"^ It can only be carried out altogether : 



System!^^ there must be the wide range, lead- 

 ing to active exercise and pure air, 

 or it is fatal. Where, however, these can be 

 had, breeds whose best "condition" is hard 

 flesh and tight and glossy plumage, will attain 

 that condition in a degree that can hardly be 

 equalled in any other way ; and there will be 

 little illness. At the commencement, a few of 

 the first stock ("reared on another system) may 

 probably perish, and the weakly ones of a given 

 hatch may be quickly weeded out ; but on the 

 whole this system, fully carried out, produces 

 health and condition of the highest kind, and 

 is even not inconsistent with great weight, as 

 was proved by the Dorkings of the late 

 Viscountess Holmesdale, so successful about 

 thirty years ago. The question of housing is 

 thus reduced to a minimum ; all that is neces- 

 sary will be as many as required of detached 

 sheds, perfectly open on one side, dotted about 

 at different suitable spots, which can be arranged 

 so as to give some little shelter from the worst 

 winds. These will form both shelters and 

 roosting-houses, though some birds will prob- 

 ably roost in the trees. Exhibition poultry 

 of the very highest class can be reared in 

 any park in this way, without any formal or 

 permanent outlay in the way of buildings and 

 fencing. 



Parks and large farms are, however, within 

 the reach of few ; and even where they are, 

 health, hardihood, and condition are not the 

 only points to be considered by the majority 

 of people who keep poultry. The exhibitor 

 pure and simple may wish for no more ; but 

 most people have to consider cost of food and 

 value of produce. In these respects the free 

 exposure system does not come out so well. 

 This is well shown by the experience of a lady, 

 published in an American paper. She had 

 adopted for years the then usual American 

 plan of closing up houses as much as possible 

 in winter, and confining the birds in very bad 

 weather. At last she resolved, even in that more 

 severe climate, to try the open plan, and left 



one-half of her stock to roost in an entirely 

 open cart-shed, even with the thermometer at 

 zero, only in December hanging some old horse- 

 blankets in front of them. Those in the houses 

 continued to trouble her with colds ; those out- 

 side had none, and were much the glossier birds, 

 and had the larger frames. On the other hand, 

 hovve\er, those outside ate a great deal the more ; 

 while those inside were a great deal the heavier, 

 and began to lay about a month before the 

 others. These results put the whole matter in 

 a nutshell, and obviously bring us back in most 

 cases to the habits of what we have termed 

 " civilisation " ; but in many cases the best re- 

 sults of both systems can be secured in all but 

 the more severe of English climates. We must 

 still, and at all costs, secure pure air ; but we 

 more generally want this in combination with 

 shelter from the weather and outside frost, and 

 freedom from direct draught or current of air, so 

 easy to set up in a small house, and which is 

 quite different in its effects from the free winds 

 of the open plan. 



Open Run. 



Fig. I. 



In considering how poultry should be housed, 

 then, we will begin with the smallest scale, such 



as half a dozen fowls (more or less) 

 Small House to be kept at the bottom of a garden 

 and Run. or back-yard. A long shed may 



already exist, and if so, will do ex- 

 cellently if in repair ; otherwise comes the ques- 

 tion of building the whole affair, which ought to 

 be within the power of an average man. It will 

 generally be better (with all due respect to the 

 average British workman) if so built, and more 

 according to what he desires. The best general 

 arrangement will be as in Fig. i, the house being 

 in one corner, a roofed shed carried out at its 

 side, and as much open run in front as can be 

 afforded, or perhaps the whole yard. The house 

 will be closed in ; but the shed should be open 

 in front, though with a closed end wall unless it 



