294 



POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT 



10 or 12 inches wide, is hinged at the bottom and cut 

 in the center, one door serving for two nests. It is also 

 an advantage to put hinges on the roof so that it may be 

 opened. In dry locations and where the house can be 

 moved to fresh ground occasionally, floors are not neces- 

 sary or desirable. In some localities where rats are a pest, 

 a floor will serve to prevent losses of eggs and chicks. 



When the chicks hatch, about twenty of them may be 

 given to a hen to brood, and the remaining hens reset. The 



hen and chicks may be 

 put in a coop such as is 

 shown on this page. This 

 will afford them shelter 

 for a month or six weeks, 

 after which a larger 

 coop in which they can 

 be brought to maturity 

 will have to be provided. 

 Or the small coop may 

 be dispensed with, and 

 the hen and chicks 

 transferred at once to 

 the larger coop. A coop the size of that illustrated 011 

 page 293 is large enough to rear the chicks of two hens, 

 or forty chicks. 



A New Brood Coop. A brood coop which may also 

 be used for sitting hens is shown on pages 294 and 295. It 

 is ratproof and rainproof. The wire front affords pro- 

 vision for fresh air. The netting is of 1-inch mesh. The 

 door which slides up and down may be fastened with a 

 wooden pin, to allow the chicks to come out and confine the 

 hen. The bottom is separate to afford easy cleaning. To 

 clean, the floor is pulled from under the coop, or the coop 

 lifted to one side. Where there is no danger from rats or 



A NEW BROOD COOP 

 Oregon Station. 



