88 THE DOMESTIC FOWL. 



chopped hay or straw, dried grass, or the leaves of 

 trees. 



Where the fowls have the range of an orchard, or a 

 wide, dry, sandy pasture, or field, and are able to pro- 

 cure clean water, a good poultry house is all that is 

 essential, though even then an enclosure, or yard, is 

 desirable for the safety and better management of the 

 young broods. It should be open and airy, its soil dry, 

 and sheltered from cold, wintry winds. A simple shed, 

 moreover, should be erected in some suitable spot, in 

 order to afford a screen to the fowls from the hot rays 

 of the mid-day sun in summer, and from heavy rain 

 storms and showers. Should there be no access to a 

 pasture, orchard, or field, it is desirable that a portion 

 of the yard should be laid down with turf; and the 

 larger the yard, the better the accommodation. 



Cleanliness, both in the poultry house and in the 

 yard, is indispensable. Hence, all rubbish should be 

 frequently swept out ot both apartments, and the 

 whole interior of the building white-washed, at least 

 once a year. This, with as free a circulation as pos- 

 sible, and a proper space for the fowls to run in, is 

 necessary to insure success ; as in narrow and confined 

 situations they never do so well. A sickly fowl ought 

 to be separated immediately from the rest of the flock, 

 and removed to some proper place, where it can 

 remain in seclusion, not only because the disease may 

 be contagious, but for the sake of safety and quietude 

 of the fowl itself. Meagre, pining fowls are frequently 

 objects of dislike, not only to the cock, which is apt to 

 maltreat them, but even to the hens, that evir^e their 

 hostility and rancor to such a degree, that, sometimes, 

 they actually destroy their more unfortunate com- 

 panions. 



Every poultry house, as before observed, should be pro- 

 vided with nest boxes, filled with hay or straw, &c. If the 

 plan be adopted, as recommended above, sliding boxes, 

 or drawers, n, o, may be constructed twenty-eight 

 inches long, fourteen inches wide, and ten inches deep, 

 partitioned in the middle, so as to leave tvro compart- 



