THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



roof just above the low back wall. Above the 

 board are the perches EBB. At the foot is a 

 box or trough C C, loose on the ground. The 

 board having ashes or road-dust sprinkled over 



Y'vz,. 5. — Dropping Board. 



it, the droppings fall in the box C C, which is made 

 slightly wider than a shovel, so as to be cleared 

 by one sweep of that implement ; and in the 

 morning the board is drawn up by the rope and 

 pulley, and the box C C set back against the 

 wall out of the way. The object of these 

 arrangements is to leave all the floor space at 

 liberty for the fowls, which is desirable in winter 

 time, when they are confined. Another arrange- 

 ment, said to be largely used in the eastern 

 States, is a permanent flat shelf at the back of 

 the house, about three feet from the ground, to 

 the under side of which are fixed the partitions 

 and front ledges only of a row of nests. Under 

 these is hinged at the back another shelf, as a 

 bottom for these nests. This arrangement also 

 leaves the entire floor clear, and when the nests 

 want cleaning or renewal of material, the bottom 

 is let down, and everything falls to the floor, 

 after which all is replaced clean. Before adopt- 

 ing any of these arrangements, ingenious as 

 they are, it should be remembered that their 

 main object \s floor space, which is not so neces- 

 sary in a climate where the fowls can run out, 

 more or less, all the year. But their wide 

 adoption is at least a proof of the great use- 

 fulness and convenience of the shelf method. 



Little is really needed for nesting in a small 

 house. Hens like some darkness and seclusion , 

 but under such a shelf as in Fig. 4 a few bricks 

 to confine a little straw will be sufficient. Other- 

 wise a row of nests can be arranged by tacking 

 together a thin board all along the top, thin 



partitions, and a strip three inches high in front 

 to keep in the straw ; this needs no back, but 

 can go against the wall. The less wood, and 

 cracks, and joins, the better. The old-fashioned 

 tiers of nests are never used now. Half of a 

 cheese-box on the ground makes a good nest. 

 Complication, fixity, and harbour for vermin are 

 the points to be avoided. 



Sometimes no wall is available for even a 

 small lean-to fowl-house. In such case the 

 back uprights as well as the front ones must 

 be halved or mortised into back sills, if they are 

 to be tenants' fixtures ; otherwise they can, if 

 preferred, be sunk in the ground. But sill-work 

 is really the best in any case, and makes it 

 easier to raise the whole, and the floor, by a 

 " footing " of bricks. The whole may be on 

 the same plan, of a small house with shed at 

 the side ; or as Fig. 2 or Fig. 3 for ventilation. 

 Ready-made houses for fowls are now made 

 and sold very cheaply by quite a number of 

 manufacturers, in a great variety of 

 patterns. They can be had built 

 for a lean-to against a wall ; or en- 

 tirely detached, with span, or circular, 

 roofs. We have seen them adver- 

 tised as low as 25s. for four feet square, but this 

 is really too cheap for sound timber. They are 

 packed flat for carriage, and readily put together 

 by anyone at all used to even the simplest tools. 

 There is one point about many of the smaller 

 houses, common to all manufacturers ; viz. that 

 the floor of the roosting-house itself is raised a 

 couple of feet from the ground, so that of itself 

 it forms a shed or shelter for the ground under- 

 neath. A good pattern for rather a larger house 



Portable 

 Houses. 



or slantins 



Fig. 6. — Portable House. 



than usual is shown in Fig. 6, the house being 

 made rather narrow but long, so as to give 

 more shed room. These houses are cheap, and 

 often very useful, but two or three things about 

 them need to be borne in mind. The first is, 

 that the sizes given in most price lists are not 



