KIND OF HOUSE TO BUILD 



197 



K '" ; - 



ed it will be necessary to raise the platform 3 feet from the 

 floor. This is higher than desirable, especially for the 

 heavier breeds, as they are liable to injure themselves in 

 jumping to the floor from the roosts. However, there is 

 little danger from this in a house without a floor or with 

 a floor if it be covered deeply with litter as it should be. 

 The coal oil can nests may be used under the platform, or 

 a row of nests may be made with lumber. "Whatever is used, 

 they should be made in 

 a way that they may be 

 easily removed for clean- 

 ing and disinfecting. 



Another plan for 

 nests more desirable 

 than either in mild sec- 

 tions where the fowls are 

 out of doors all the year, 

 is to put them outside 

 the house either on the 

 end or side of the house 

 least exposed to rains or 

 the hot sun. Still an- 

 other plan is illustrated in a Utah colony house. In this case 

 the nests are placed in the back wall of the house. The hens 

 enter from the inside, while eggs are gathered from the out- 

 side. 



Separate Laying House. Where the colony system is 

 used, as in Petaluma, Cal., a separate laying house has 

 many advantages. It may be used in part for feed storage 

 and feed hoppers. The space in the roosting house is all 

 used for roosting or taken up with perches ; the nests must 

 either be on the outside wall of the house or in a separate 

 house for that purpose. On the large Petaluma ranches no 

 scratching houses are used, dependence being placed on the 



NESTS UNDER THE DROPPING 

 PLATFORM 



The front board is hinged at the bottom and 

 is shown open for gathering the eggs. 



