122 



FIRST LESSONS IN POULTRY KEEPING. 



give the best general satisfaction, though a good many use roosts only two inches wide and 

 either flat or more or less rounded on the upper side. 



Whatever the upper surface of the roost, it should be thick enough to sustain the weight of 

 the fowls without bending or breaking. An inch board will answer for short roosts, or for 

 roosts for light fowls up to about 8-foot lengths. For heavy fowls a roost 8 ft. long and 4 

 in. wide should be quite 2 in. thick. A roost of such dimensions and length needs support 



only at the ends, but 

 longer roosts should 

 have support in the 

 middle as well. The 

 roost should be 

 strong enough and 

 its supports such that 

 it remains level and 

 firm when filled with 

 fowls. A roost that 



sags is likely to break , 

 ami some of the 

 most 



Strip Attached to Wall to Support Ends of Roosts. 



fowls might in such event, be badly hurt. Besides the sagging, springing roost 

 uncomfortable, as any one may discover by watching the fowls on it. 



For supports for roosts we have quite a variety. I use at the ends simple strips as shown 

 in the cut, with notches in them to hold the roosts in place. These strips are fastened to the 

 walls with screws, and are easily taken down when the house is cleaned. In fact all the 

 fixtures in my houses are such that a compartment can be stripped bare in a very few 

 minutes, a matter of considerable importance when fighting ^ 

 lice. ^ 



Just here let me say that with reasonable cleanliness ami 

 healthy hens given opportunity to dust themselves, I have 

 never had any trouble with lice in the houses. But because 

 of the number of persons reporting it as impossible to get rid 

 of lice though they were very thorough in treating the prem- 

 ises with that end in view, I did, several years ago let my 

 buildings get literally alive with red mites. Then stripping 

 them of fixtures, whitewashing the walls, and using insect- 

 icides on roosts and nests, I had no trouble in clearing the 

 premises of mites in short order. The way the houses were 

 built and furnished made the work easy. I would not care 

 to take the job of cleaning some nouses I know of mites. 



For a middle support for long roosts I use a similar strip 

 attached by one end to the rear wall, and by the other to a strip 

 hanging from a rafter. 



There are severaJ styles of roost brackets, (all I believe of 

 the anti-louse type, with oil cups attached), on the market 

 that are very good. 



Some poultrymen attach the roosts to strips which hinge to 

 the rear wall, so that the two, or more, roosts together swing 

 back against the wall during the day. 



Where droppings boards are used the roosts may lie 

 attached to the walls as just described, or may rest on the v ~J''< / 7~<' "" // 7'7 'tyS 

 droppings boards. Various kinds of iron and wooden legs or Method o/ Supporting Long Jioosts at 

 standards to support roosts above the droppings boards have Middle. 



been devised. I think it may be said that in general the supports from the board interfere 

 more or less with the removal of the droppings, especially when the ends of several roosts rest 

 on the same support. 



So far we have been considering only plain straight roosts. Quite a number of ingenious 



