io6 



making cleaning more difficult; it also has perches at different heights, 

 which permit fowls to crowd on the highest ones. Fig. 48-^ is a wall 

 arrangement for trap nests to be used when the back wall is so low that 

 there is not room for nests under the perches. Fig. 4&-H is an open 

 wall nest which lacks seclusion and permits fowls to roost upon it. 



Alleyways 



Alleyways are objectionable in most poultry houses. They occupy 

 valuable floor space which might be better used in keeping more hens 

 or in giving more floor space to the hens usually kept. In houses 12 to 

 1 6 feet wide, J to J the entire floor space is thus occupied, reducing the 

 carrying capacity of the house 20 to 25 per cent, which adds just that 

 amount to the cost per hen capacity. Alleyway houses are cold because 

 they add 20 to 25 per cent to the cubic feet of air space to be warmed 

 by the fowls without increasing the available floor space. They also cause 

 houses to be draughty, forming unobstructed passage for currents of air 

 from one end to the other and out through each pen if the partition is 

 loose. They do not save labor in opening and closing gates if the atten- 

 dant goes inside the pens to feed and look after the hens. Unless this is 

 done the feeder cannot keep in touch with his flock. 



In brooder houses, fattening houses and observation houses where 

 many visitors must be received alleyways are necessary. In the latter 

 the alleyways may be in the center in a wide house extending north and 

 south, or in a narrower house along the back side. In any event they 

 should be well lighted and partitioned to avoid draughts. 



The dust wallow 



A dust wallow is as essential to a fowl's health and happiness as a water 

 bath is to the health of a human being. By it, fowls scour off the scurf 



and scales from the skin and rid themselves of 

 vermin. The finer, lighter and dryer the dust 

 the better for this purpose, because the dust 

 must be light and fine to get into the breathing 

 pores of the lice and so kill them. Sandy 

 loam is often better than sand or some kinds 

 of road dust which are cold and heavy. 

 Screened coal ashes lighten up such heavy 

 material. The best place for the dust bath is 

 in the open air of the scratching-shed or in 



P ,, , , , . a covered box close to the window where the 



r IG. 49. A good covered dust 



wallow wallow may be kept dry and warm. Here the 



