CHAPTER VIT. 



HOUSES FOR SITTERS. 



The stock used for hatching purposes is managed dif- 

 ferently from the layers, and needs different accommo- 

 dations. The houses for sitters, Fig. 21, are near the 

 center of the farm, where the granary and cook room 

 are located. They accommodate 100 fowls each, are not 

 movable, and are set upon a stone or brick underpinning, 

 10 in. high. They are 10 ft. 4 in. from the ground to 

 the peak, and 20 ft. long by way of the ridge, and 16 ft, 

 wide. The roofs are shingled, and the ends of the 

 buildings covered with boards nailed upright and bat- 

 tened. About one-third of the roof towards the south 

 is glazed, the windows being partially darkened as warm 

 weather approaches. The form of these houses, like 

 that of all in the establishment, with eaves near the 

 ground, is adapted to afford as much ground room as 

 possible in proportion to the lumber used. The roof of 

 each house is crossed outside by a picket fence running 

 at right angles with the ridge. This fence forms one 

 side of the yard with which each house is furnished, 

 and though it extends only 18 in. above the ridge of the 

 building, the sitters, not being of a high-flying breed, 

 will not get over it. By this arrangement, exit is 

 afforded to the fowls and to their keeper at either end 

 of the building, into a yard which is located at either 

 end on alternate years. The two ends of the house, one 

 fronting east and the other west, are both provided 

 exactly alike with doors and windows. The large doors 

 are 6 1-2x3 ft, opening outwards, and the smaller ones 



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