76 PROGRESSIVE POULTRY CULTURE 



provided for entrance and exit. Inch holes bored in the 

 staves near the top of the improvised coop allow of ven- 

 tilation without strong drafts. 



It is possible, in many places, to obtain empty dry 

 goods boxes, grocery boxes or shoe boxes at small ex- 

 pense. These will furnish lumber for making coops 

 which are both economical and effective. If the poul- 

 tryman is not too particular he may, for example, take 

 a common shoe box about four feet in length and nearly 

 two feet in depth and width and make two coops of it. 

 The box is sawed across the middle slanting so that 

 when the two parts are set on their ends and the 

 slanting part boarded, each coop has a single pitch roof. 

 The boards which form the front of the coop as it 

 stands after sawing, are taken to make the roof and if 

 covered with tarred paper or roofing paper will shed 

 rain water satisfactorily. A frame covered with lat- 

 tice or with inch-mesh wire netting will answer for the 

 front of the coop. A shelter board may be made for 

 the front of the coop in case storms are liable to drive 

 rain into the coop when it is occupied by the hen and 

 chicks. Such a board is also useful to shade the coop 

 from too hot sunshine if the hen is confined .in it dur- 

 ing sultry days in summer. 



The common A shaped chicken coop, constructed of 

 boards, makes a sensible and satisfactory shelter. Such 

 coops may be made by anyone who can use a saw and 

 hammer. The lumber of a dry goods box will supply 

 the materials. (Such a coop may well be made of sep- 

 arate parts and these parts fastened together by hooks 

 and screw-eyes. The coop may be made of a size which 

 allows of the use of the boards of the dry goods box to 

 best advantage. It will not be far from right if, for 

 instance its width at the ground, its heighth from ground 

 to peak and its depth from front to back are each two 

 and one-half feet. Two sides are made three feet by 

 two and one-half feet. A triangular board back is made, 

 three by three by two and one-half feet. A triangular 

 frame of the same size, for the front is covered with ver- 

 tical strips of lath or with wire netting. 



