INTENSIVE AND SEMI-INTENSIVE POULTRY-KEEPING. 



great principle of modern intensive hen cul- 

 ture. We cover our intensive hennery with a 

 waterproof roof, and we remove its litter bed 

 (by means of a raised floor) from the influences 

 of ground air and its moisture. We aim to 

 retain all excrement from our fowls in a ' dry 

 as dust ' condition, because we know that by 

 this means its ammonia, etc., becomes 'fixed,' 

 and the organisms of putrefaction are unabk 

 to reproduce their kind through the absence of 

 moisture and heat — no putrefaction can pos- 

 sibly take place. 



"We do more than this. An efficient in- 

 tensive house has a front that is perfectly open 

 at all times, so that the air within its walls is 

 maintained in a state of absolute purity year in 

 and }'ear out ; yet in such a manner that the 

 birds are never subjected to draught, excessive 

 exposure to sun rays, or the lack of light so 

 necessary for their welfare. The fowls' food 

 is exactly w^hat we choose to make it for any 

 given purpose ; for have we not absolute con- 

 trol of the ration, although we are often sadly 

 ignorant with regard to the formation or ap- 

 plication to the hen flock. 



" Similarly, we can compel the fowl to take 

 as much or more exercise within a first-class 

 intensive house as ever she could obtain upon 

 a perfectly open range. 



" We claim for our system that, by means 

 of it, the average hen can produce thirty per 

 cent, or more eggs during the winter months, 

 or, for the matter of that, during any given 

 season, than is possible otherwise. This may 

 appear an extravagant statement to those who 

 are unacquainted witli the method, and 

 especially to the many who have already 

 suffered loss through the supposed advantages 

 of poultry-keeping ; yet we simply make the 

 statement from some five years ardent, con- 

 tinuous, and practical work upon intensive 

 lines. 



" Why it should be so is clear enough to 

 the writer. A laying hen exposed to the 

 vagaries of our climate can, and should, be 

 kept in ' the pink of condition ' upon a free 

 range. Good fare, health, and comfort may 

 one and all be hers ; yet her nutrient intake, 

 her food, must expend itself largely to over- 

 come needless exercise, effort that is at one 

 time more, and at another time less, than is 

 necessary for her health. Not only so in re- 

 spect to this class of work, but an equally 

 large measure of fruitless effort must be 

 directed elsewhere. We refer to the great work 

 of her vasomotor system ; the contractions of 

 her surface blood vessels in their effort to drive 

 the blood stream to deeper levels in order to 



maintain the balance of the body heat. 

 This means a great deal of work, and as such, 

 much needless waste of food that is no longer 

 available for egg production. Even where 

 food is more than enough for every demand of 

 the fowls' bodily needs, the very fact of these 

 requirements undergoing sudden alterations — 

 great and small — will account for the difference 

 between free range and intensive 'results.' 

 The egg-producing organs of a domestic hen 

 are at their very best when the influences of her 

 environment change but little. For instance, 

 a given flock reaches a certain average daily 

 production. Suddenly the weather changes ; 

 it matters not whether from heat to cold, or the 

 reverse, the average return of eggs will fall 

 until the flock adjusts itself to the alteration, 

 whatever it may be. 



'' The intensive house provides open air 

 without the disadvantages of open range, 

 and provided the operator has a good know- 

 ledge of his subject, practically all its 

 advantages in so far as egg production is 

 concerned." 



Major Falkner, in the preceding remarks, 

 puts the case for the intensivist very lucidly 

 Mrs.Bayneson 3-"^ fairly, but in his concluding 

 Intensive Poul- paragraph might have added a 

 try-Keeping. reference to the great advantage 

 to the poultry-keeper of having the work close 

 at hand in compact form, and thus making it 

 particularly adaptable for ladies, of whom 

 numbers have taken up its pursuit. As well 

 known amongst these we may mention Mrs. 

 Baynes, of Boreham Wood, Herts, the author 

 of " Intensive Poultry Culture,"* a handy text- 

 book on the subject, and who has for some 

 time successfully practised intensive methods 

 for the production of table poultry and 

 eggs, as well as achieved exhibition honours. 

 Her plant, of which several photographs are 

 here reproduced {see pages viii. and ix.), is 

 especially interesting as showing what can 

 be done in the limited area of a suburban 

 garden, comprising as it does one house for 30 

 birds, one for 70 birds, and several holding 

 from 6 to 10 birds in each ; besides which 

 are smaller coops for rearing young stock, 

 giving a total capacity of 350 to 400 birds on 

 ^'q of an acre of ground. 



The house for 70 birds is divided into 

 three sections, as Mrs. Baynes is a strong 

 believer in small flocks, and considers 30 

 birds the maximum number to be kept in 

 one house or section of a house, both from 

 the standpoint of health and also egg- 

 production. 



• The Feathered World. London, W.C. 



