100 The Business Hen. 



they are yarded the poultryman is compelled to supply the feed, water 

 and means of exercise in order to realize his profit. As compared to free 

 range the discomforts of the ordinary henyard are many. Too frequently 

 no provision is made for protection of the fowls from the cold Winter 

 blasts or fiercely hot Summer sun, against which the fowl when allowed 

 free range always chooses sheltered thickets or the lee of some fence, wall 

 or building. The chief protection against vermin, parasites and communi- 

 cable diseases is the wire fence. 



WIRE FENCE. — The height chosen should be according to the fowla 

 kept and the size of the yards. For small yards those 40 or 50 feet wide 

 by 80 or 100 long, a height of seven feet for Leghorns, is ample; three 

 feet of woven wire, one inch mesh, is .used at the bottom and buried at 

 least six inches in the soil. Four feet of two-inch mesh fills the top. The 

 corner posts are set like the others, whether in dug holes or driven. A stiff 

 pole for a brace is placed horizontally between the corner and next post, 

 provided the latter is not more than eight or 10 feet away, and at a height 

 of four feet from the ground. Notches may be made to hold the brace in 

 position or it may be nailed. A No. 9 wire is then passed around the 

 bottom of the corner post and top of the second post and back to the 

 corner post, where after pulling as tight as possible the ends are fastened. 

 Nails may be used to keep the wire in place while fastening. A short iron 

 rod should then be used to twist the wire by placing it between the two 

 strands near the middle and turning it over and over until the twisted wire 

 is taut. This completes a corner that will not give and will be heaved by 

 freezing very little. If displaced it may be easily driven back. The gates 

 are made four feet wide with a removable foot-wide board across the 

 bottom. These can be cheaply made of furring two inches wide, a few 

 nails and woven wire. Cut four pieces the width of the gate. Cut two the 

 length of the gate. Cut one to reach from the bottom next the hinge to 

 the top on the swinging side and miter its corners so that they fit against 

 the side sticks, especially at the bottom. When fastened together a space 

 is left between the top and bottom cross-pieces. The nails driven through 

 the three pieces and the cross brace together with the separated double 

 pieces make a very strong light gate. The advantage of this fence is that 

 fowls do not try to dig under. They rarely try to fly over. Only cats 

 and hawks can enter. The fence seems to be practically rat proof. The 

 tendency of animals to tunnel under seems to be avoided by the clear view 

 through the wire. Dogs, skunks and minks are surely kept out. No com- 

 municable disease can enter excepting when carried by some hen or by 

 the attendant. The disease that is carried through the air is very rare. 

 Even mites and hen lice are little likely to leave their haunts to invade 

 other pens. 



