8 THE HOME POULTRY BOOK 
the hens are confined all the time. It is perfectly 
feasible, however, to keep a small flock housed all 
the year round if the houses are of the open-front 
or fresh-air type and not placed in too hot a situa- 
tion. Asa rule, though, it is not advisable to breed 
from hens kept in such close confinement, so ama- 
teurs who use this plan, sell all their laying hens in 
the Summer and buy well-grown pullets in the Fall, 
unless they care to purchase eggs or day-old chicks 
in the Spring. The custom of stocking up in the 
Fall with pullets just ready to lay and selling off the 
hens in the course of the Summer as they cease to © 
lay makes poultry keeping a very simple matter and 
solves the problem for the would-be amateur who 
hesitates to begin because he has no time to give 
sitting hens or an incubator and no place in which 
to rear young chickens. 
It must be said, though, that growing the chicks 
is one of the most fascinating and interesting phases 
of poultry keeping to the amateur who is a genuine, 
seasoned enthusiast. There are professional men 
who find their chief relaxation in the Spring of the 
year, when business cares weigh heavily and 
vacation days are yet far away, in the care and over- 
sight of a little flock of chickens — sometimes Ban- 
