104 BREEDING AND EXHIBITION OF PRIZE POULTRY. 



houses, B. for roosting and laying in are 7J feet by 4 feet, and 

 the side facing the passage is only built or boarded up about 

 2 feet, the remainder being simply netted; hence the birds 

 have a free supply of the purest air at night, whilst quite 

 protected from the external atmosphere ; and can be all 

 inspected at roost without the least disturbance a convenience 

 of no small value. The nests should be reached from the 

 passage by a trap-door, and there is then no necessity ever to 

 enter the roosting-house at all except to clean it. 



A small trap-door as usual, which should be always closed 

 at night, communicates between the house and the covered 

 run or yards, 0, which are 7J feet by 9 feet. They are 

 boarded or built up for 2 feet 6 inches, the remainder netted, 

 except the partition between them and the houses, which is, of 

 course, quite close. Both houses and runs must be covered with 

 some deodoriser, and Mr. Lane preferred the powdery refuse 

 from lime works, which costs about Id. per bushel, and which 

 he put down about 2 inches deep. It always kept perfectly 

 dry, and is a great preventive of vermin ; whilst if the drop- 

 pings are taken up every morning, it will require renewal 

 very rarely. In front of all is a grass-run, which should 

 extend as far as possible, and on which the fowls are let out 

 in turn in fine weather. 



An additional storey, E, may or may not be constructed 

 over the roosting-house, and in case of emergency, by sprinkling 

 the eggs, may be made to accommodate sitting hens, but is not 

 to be preferred for that purpose, for reasons given in Chapter 

 IV. Every poultry-keeper, however, knows the great utility 

 of such pens on various occasions which continually arise, and 

 they will be found excellent accommodation for sick or injured 

 fowls, or for training birds previous to exhibition. 



In Mr. Lane's establishment hot- water pipes (a a) were laid 

 along the back of the passage floor, by which the temperature 

 is at all seasons kept nearly uniform. This may or may not 



