6 Farm Poultry 



confined in a comparatively small yard or "run" 

 if the ground is kept clean by cultivation. Four 

 or five acres will afford ample space for eight 

 hundred hens if suitable arrangements are made 

 to keep them in moderately small flocks. This 

 amount of land will also provide ample space for 

 the rearing of the young required for the mainte- 

 nance of the flock. If the grain food be pur- 

 chased, very little land will be necessary, only 

 enough for the houses, yards and sufficient space 

 whereon to grow the green or succulent food. A 

 very small area will be sufficient on which to raise 

 the green food if the land be kept in a high state 

 of fertility. It is true that in some parts of 

 the year it will be advantageous to have a wide 

 range, if one can be provided. 



Fowls, like other classes of live stock, require 

 more exercise while they are growing and devel- 

 oping, and do best in a large run or park, as 

 so much depends on a strong body and constitu- 

 tion when the period of greatest usefulness is 

 reached. It is of relatively more importance, 

 therefore, to have a large run for the young and 

 immature fowls than for the mature birds, which 

 latter are being maintained solely for the pro- 

 duction of eggs. Fattening fowls require com- 

 paratively little exercise, their health is not mate- 

 rially impaired by a short confinement, and more 

 rapid gain in weight is secured by confining them. 



