POULTRY YARDING AND FENCING 



painted so that they will present a more pleasing 

 appearance than a wire fence. Wire netting has 

 until recently been in very common use among 

 poultrymen, but now woven-wire fences are the 

 most popular, because they are stronger, last longer, 

 and are more serviceable in every way. Cedar 

 posts are probably the best, while chestnut ranks 

 next with regard to durability. Galvanized staples 

 are used for attaching the wires to the posts. 



The height of the fence depends very largely 

 upon the breed kept. The quiet, sedate Asiatics 

 may easily be kept in by a fence four feet high, and 

 sometimes three feet high is plenty. American 

 breeds usually require a fence four or five feet high, 

 the latter height being the safer. Fences for the 

 active Mediterranean breeds usually have to be at 

 least six feet high, and sometimes seven feet in 

 height is necessary. 



It is best always to have a base board 

 around a poultry fence, because then the fowls 

 are less liable to burrow underneath and get 

 out of the pen, and also less liable to get their 

 heads caught in the mesh in the wire. This board 

 should be something like a foot in height, except 

 where the yards are side by side and contain pugna- 

 cious male birds, and then they should be at least 

 two feet, or high enough that the birds cannot see 

 and torment one another, as otherwise they will 

 pick at one another and try to fight through the 



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