HOUSING FOWLS. 



There is no necessity for elaborate and expensive houses for 

 fowls, as they do not make the inmates any better. A palace or 

 hovel is the same to the hens, and there is only one excuse for build- 

 ing costly houses, and that is, a man of wealth, or fancier of means, 

 who, having a handsome residence and pleasant surroundings, does 

 not like to mar his home by putting up a cheap and common-looking 

 hennery in their midst. Those who are well to do in the world's 

 goods may satisfy their taste, but nothing more than a plain, com- 

 modious and comfortable house is required for the majority engaged 

 in poultry culture. 



The situation of a house has much to do with its health and 

 comfort. It should be erected on the highest piece of ground con- 

 venient, and if there is no choice, the site should be filled up with 

 sand and loam so it would be eighteen inches or two feet above the 

 outside, to prevent rain and dampness affecting the inside. One 

 cannot lay down rules that will suit individual cases, and only in a 

 general way can we suggest what to do. We prefer small houses 

 and each one its own assigned run, and each run utilized with fruit 

 trees, shrubbery, root crops or grain, to lessen the expense and rid 

 it of its deleterious accumulations. One should plan before build- 

 ing how to make double runs, so that the fowls could be readily 

 changed from one to the other while the crops are growing and 

 ripening. 



Every run should have enough of permanent grass and clover 

 for the fowls. Each house or division of house large enough for a 

 dozen hens. The fencing should be arranged on one set of runs, 

 so it could be taken down and put up with ease. This can be done 

 by the use of sections, say twelve feet long, and the use of hooks 

 and staples to the posts. This would facilitate the ploughing or the 

 making of temporary new runs. If breeding for market is the main 



