2 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. 



of this section are not intended simply to be read and ap- 

 proved, but the directions given are such as are proper for the 

 circumstances therein referred to, and are the price to be paid 

 for health and eggs. For instance : when it is said that the 

 roosting-house should be cleansed daily, it is meant that it 

 should be done. When it is said that fowls in confinement 

 should have daily fresh vegetable food, it is intended to convey 

 that such food must be regularly given; and so on. Let the 

 reader deal fairly by us and by his poultry; so will the latter 

 deal fairly by him. 



The first essential requisite to success is a thoroughly good 

 house for the birds to roost and lay in. This does not neces- 

 sarily imply a large one or a costly : we once knew a young 

 man who kept fowls most profitably, with only a house of his 

 own construction not more than three feet square, and a run 

 of the same width, under twelve feet long. It means simply 

 that the fowl-house must combine two absolute essentials be 

 both perfectly weatherproof and well ventilated. 



With regard to the first point, it is not only necessary to 

 keep out the rain but also the wind a matter very seldom 

 attended to as it ought to be, but which has great influence on 

 the health and laying of the inmates. The cheapest material 

 is wood, of which an inch thick will answer very well in any 

 ordinary English climate ; but, if so built, the boards must 

 either be tongued together, or all the cracks between them 

 carefully caulked by driving in string with a blunt chisel. 

 Care should also be taken that the door fits well, admitting no 



O 



air except under the bottom ; and, in short, every precaution be 

 taken to prevent draught. The hole by which the fowls enter, 

 even when its loose trap-door is closed, should admit enough 

 air to supply the inmates ; and the object is to have but this 

 one, source of supply, and to keep the fowls out of all direct 

 draught from it. 



For the roof, tiles alone are not sufficient, and, if they 



