QUAIL PROPAGATION METHODS 31 



Hatching and Rearing Coops. Aside from wire enclosures 

 with their simple shelters, and the small breeding-pens for 

 single pairs, the only other equipments necessary to build 

 are hatching-coops and rearing-coops. These may as well 

 be exactly the same and be used interchangeably. In any 

 case there should be no board bottom, and nests or birds 

 should be directly on the ground, for moisture, in the first 

 case, and cleanliness in the second. 



Another Device. Some build, as for poultry work, a 

 simple board affair for hatching purposes. There is a 

 square of boards nailed together, about 5 feet long and 2 

 feet high. Boards inside this divide it into three or four long 

 compartments. One end of each of these, a small square 

 of about a foot and a half, is partitioned off for a nest-place, 

 the rest being a run for the hen to feed and exercise. A long 

 hinged cover, sloping down to the rear, protects the nests. 

 A slide door shuts in hen or chicks. The yard part is cov- 

 ered with slats. This makes a handy tier of nests and runs. 



Construction of Coop. The separate coops should be 

 about 2 feet square, with the roof sloping to the rear. There 

 should be a solid door in front to shut the chicks in at night, 

 and another one with bars or slats to keep the hen in and let 

 the young run out into the yard. On one side there had 

 better be another door, hinged, to let the hen and chicks out 

 to range when desired. 



Wire Run. Each coop should have also a small frame for 

 a yard, just high enough for the hen to stand up in, boards 

 along the base, f-inch wire above this on the sides, and the 

 same or i-inch size, as convenient, for the top; four feet by 

 two will answer for this. It will serve for the setting hen to 

 feed and exercise in, and later for her and the chicks for the 

 first few days, before they are liberated. For the latter 

 purpose either there must be a baseboard a foot high, or else 



