54 



FIRST LESSONS 



POULTRY KEEPING. 



The second s>t\ le is more common, and, when there is nothing to molest the chicks at night, 

 is preferable, because more airy in warm weather. It must be remembered in using coops 

 like these that the cubic air space in the coop is very much less in proportion to floor and roost- 

 ing space than in a house for adult fowls; hence 

 the necessity of making ample provision for 

 fresh air. 



Many other styles of coops suitable for chicks 

 might be given, but this general plan seems to 

 I be that which gives most general satisfaction. 

 Wherever it is safe to use a coop without a 



A Common Style of Roosting Coop for Chicks. floor, coops should be built that way. Then 

 they can be shifted easily to new locations, and no cleaning of floors is needed. 



The dimensions for such coops as these should be 6 to 8 ft. long, about 3 ft. wide, 2 to2 ft. 

 high in the rear, and 3 to 3 ft. high in front. 



Capacity of Roosting Coop. The capacity of coops approximating the dimensions given 

 above, is about thirty well grown chicks, and this is about as many as it is advisable to put into 

 them, for though a much larger number of chicks just weaned could be kept in such a coop, 

 it is much better to put into the coop at first not many more than the coop will conveniently 

 accommodate when the chicks are well grown. Then one need not fear the effects of over- 

 crowding by the chicks outgrowing their quarters. 



Other Arrangements for Growing Chicks. 



The coops illustrated above furnish substantial neat coops exactly adapted to this special 

 purpose, but many other arrangements are possible. All the chicks really need is shelter, and 

 during summer weather it need not be very complete shelter. One of the nicest lots of 

 chickens I ever had were kept at night, from June until late in October, in a makeshift, tem- 

 porary coop, the back of which was a strip of the board walk we used over the gravel walk 

 in winter. This was. 16 ft. long and 2 ft. wide, and made the coop two feet high at the back. 

 The ends of the coop were two sides of a dry goods box, 2 ft. square. The open front of 

 the coop was 2 ft. high the length of the coop. A board 10 in. wide at the top of the front kept 

 the rain from driving in, and to this and to the edge of the back were nailed short pieces of 

 old goods-boxes, making a roof through which rain might drip, but would not drive. This 

 coop remained in one spot in an orchard where the ground sloped just enough to let all 

 droppings work out of the coop, leaving the floor always clean. 



I give this as an extreme illustration of the useful makeshifts for the purpose our present 

 lesson considers. We do not want such arrangements for permanent use, but for an emergency, 

 and especially when it is necessary to get chicks out of a crowded and badly ventilated coop or 

 house, such quickly improvised coops are a good thing. Give the chicks room if you can do no 

 more to provide it than to made a rude shelter of boards. 



Letting Chicks Roost in Trees. 



On the score of general health there is no objection whatever to letting chicks roost in trees. 

 The objectionable features of it are that the chicks acquire too much readiness to fly, that they 

 are not easy to get at, if one has occasion to catch them, and that their habits have to be 

 radically changed in the fall when they must go into the houses. 



Teaching Chicks to Roost. 



Many chicks of the light and medium weight varieties begin to roost of their own accord 

 about the weaning age. If, when they are first put into roosting coops, one or two hens are 

 left with each bunch, the hens may soon teach the chickens to roost. The chicks may sit on 

 the floor for awhile, but, as a rule, if a few begin to roost, the rest, one by one, follow their 

 natural instinct, and before long the entire lot will be roosting. If they do not begin roosting 

 as they should, even with a few old birds for guides, put a wide board in place of a roost, 

 about ten inches from the ground, and extending back to the wall, and go after dark and put 

 chicks up on this. Generally after a few lessons they will go up of their own accord. Then 



