POULTRY HOUSES. c 



subsoil has been levelled, and smoothed, and rammed down 

 to a hard permanent floor. This is the proper way to keep 

 a shed and especially a shed which constitutes the only run 

 the fowls have clean. To dig it up a foot deep every two or 

 three weeks, as some do, answers for a period ; but gradually 

 the whole mass becomes contaminated to that depth, and 

 the fowls begin to ail from the poisonous atmosphere. If all 

 can be removed and replaced with fresh earth every three 

 months or so, it will answer. But it is generally easier and 

 more manageable to renew merely a few inches of scratching 

 material, down to a hard bottom, as above indicated. The 

 removed earth or ashes will be valuable for the garden. 



Another very useful material is peat-moss litter, 

 especially for the houses ; small sheds, however, are also 

 often floored with it Some scatter half an inch or an inch 

 deep all over, and renew every two or three days ; others 

 prefer to put in six or eight inches deep, and only rake off 

 the top every now and then ; the whole lasting for months. 

 The droppings mixed with the moss scraped up make 

 admirable manure. 



Where no wall is available for a lean-to erection, the 

 back uprights as well as the front must be raised on sills, if 

 they are to be tenant's fixtures : otherwise all may be, if 

 preferred, sunk into the ground. A double-pitched or gable 

 roof is much the best for such detached houses. The back 

 and end of the shed should still be boarded up, so as to give 

 adequate shelter. 



Ready-made houses for fowls are now made and sold 

 very cheaply by quite a number of manufacturers, in a great 

 variety of patterns. They can be had built for a lean-to 

 against a wall ; or entirely detached, with span, or circular, 

 or slanting roofs. We have seen them advertised as low as 

 25/- for 4 feet square ; but seasoned wood can hardly be 

 expected at such a price. 



