POULTRY HOUSES. 



597 



POULTRY HOUSES. 



IN&quot; order to attain success in poultry raising, a good substantial house will be necessary. 

 It need not essentially be large or expensive, but should be warm and comfortable, and 

 provided with ample means of ventilation and admitting the sunlight. It may be 

 cheaply constructed of common boards, with the cracks well battened, and glazed sash of 

 large size on the south side. Ventilation is best accomplished by having a cupola on the 

 roof, under which may be a small door, or ventilator, opening down into the building. To 

 this may be attached a cord so that the ventilator may be opened full or half-way, according 

 to the weather and other conditions. &quot;Where the winters are very severe, it will be well to 

 line the inside of the hen-house with tarred, paper, or to lath and plaster it. The roosts 

 should all be low, and on the same level, as fowls,, like many of the human species in society, 

 will be apt to quarrel for the highest perches. Large, heavy fowls should always have low 

 perches, so that they can gain easy access to them. It is a good plan to have the roosts hinged 

 to the side of the building, so that may be raised up out of the way when the house is 

 cleaned out. 



The different pens of the house should have a wire netting a part of the way above the 

 board partition, to prevent the hens flying over. There should be feeding troughs placed 

 against the wall of the house inside, and wired over to prevent the fowls from getting their 

 feet into them. Feeding boxes that are self-feeding are very good for this purpose. It is 

 also a good plan to have feeding troughs in the center of the yard, where the fowls may be 



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A CHEAP AND CONVENIENT FOWL HOUSE. 



fed in warm, pleasant weather. These should be made stationary, so as not- to be upset. Pure 

 water should always be kept where the fowls can have access to it at all times. 



Various kinds of water tanks and drinking fountains for fowls are recommended. Those 

 so arranged that they cannot be easily upset, or the water made filthy by the fowls, are the 

 best. A three or four-gallon jug filled with water and turned mouth down, in a suitable dish, 

 and properly supported, makes a very good drinking fountain. 



