44 



FIRST LESSONS IN POULTRY KEEPING 

 Advantage of Box Style Coops. 



One advantage of this style of coop is that the entire floor space in the coop, and ground 

 space in the pen, are available for the hen as well as for the chicks. In the A shaped coop 



the ben can stand upright only in the middle of the 

 coop. This gives her actually much less room than 

 she appears to have, and this close confinement in 

 coops is one of the reasons why hens sometimes do 

 not do well with chicks. We must give the hen a 

 chance. 



A second advantage of the box coop is that it is 

 more easily cleaned. I used them for years in a dry 

 climate, with the top nailed fast, cleaning the coop 



Another A Shaped Coop. 

 Sides of roof 22 x 28 inches. 



by tipping first backward, then sideways toward the door, then forward, the droppings rolling 

 out at the door. For climates where the floor gets damp, and the droppings adhesive, the top 

 should be hinged, thus making it easy to get at the inside of the coop to clean. Besides, the 

 angles at the floor being right angles instead of acute angles, as in the other style of coops, the 

 corners are much easier to keep clean in case of 

 the coop with a floor, and this box coop makes a 

 serviceable coop for all seasons. 



To go into all the details of coop construction 

 in this lesson would be out of the question. We 

 must have a special lesson on that subject next 

 winter at the time when coops should be made <*><* Shown in Last illustration with Pen* ft. Long 



-. , and Movable Shelter Board. 



ready for the coming season. I give here only 



enough about coops to give those studying these lessons a fair idea of them, and wish to 

 impress on them as having special bearing on their success in rearing chicks with hens that the 

 structure of the coops should combine these two features: 



(1). Comfort of both hen and chicks. 



(2). Convenience of the attendant. 



Coop Pens for Hens and Chicks. 



The illustrations so far show pens which confine the hen, but give the chicks full liberty. 

 This is the best way to handle them if it can be done. 



It cannot be done, however, where enemies of chicks are so numerous that they would 



destroy many of the chicks if 

 given liberty. Poultry keep- 

 ers living in towns have espe- 

 cially to guard against the 

 maraudings of cats. Against 

 these the best protection is 

 wire covered pens. The il- 

 lustration on next page shows 

 such a pen used with a box 

 coop of the same width. 



This pen is a little more 

 easily handled than that I use, 

 which is wider, mine being 6 

 x 12 ft. on the ground, where 



Box Coop With Knock Down Pen. 

 This coop is 22 x 24 inches, outside measure on the ground, 21 inches 



high in front, and 16 inches in the rear. When made of these dimen- thJS is 2 X K ft ' * P refer tlie 



sions 10 inch boards cut with practically no waste. The latter pen is larger ones as giving the 



4 ft. long, 2 ft. wide, 2 ft. high. Top and bottom rails are of 1 inch chicks more room, and not re- 



Btuff, 2 inches wide. quirjng to ^ ^^^ ^ ^^ 



Now just a word about the use of such coops to protect the small chicks. They are more 

 expensive, and it is more trouble to handle chicks this way than in the other coops with the 



