8 Wooden Houses. 



when they are scarcest and most valuable, while air and 

 exercise are necessary to rear superior fowls for the table ; 

 and if they can have the run of a farmyard or good fields 

 in which to pick up grain or insects, their flesh will be far 

 superior in flavour to that of fowls kept in confinement, or 

 crammed in coops. 



Almost any outbuilding, shed, or lean-to, may be easily 

 and cheaply converted into a good fowl-house by the exer- 

 cise of a little thought and ingenuity. 



The best material to build a house with is brick, but the 

 cheapest to be durable is board, with the roof also of wood, 

 covered with patent felt. One objection to timber houses 

 is their being combustible, and easily ignited, and houses 

 had better be built of a single brick in thickness, unless 

 cheapness is a great object. 



A lean-to fowl-house may be constructed for a very small 

 sum, with boards an inch thick, against the west or south 

 side of any wall. Whenever wood is employed it should 

 be tongued, which is a very cheap method of providing 

 against warping by heat, or admitting wind or rain ; lying 

 flat against the uprights, it saves material and has an 

 external appearance far superior to any other method of 

 boarding. If the second coat of paint is rough cast over 

 with sand, it will greatly improve the appearance, and the 

 house will not be unsightly even in the ornamental part of 

 a gentleman's grounds. 



A house may be built very cheaply by driving poles into 

 the ground at equal distances, and nailing weather-boarding 

 upon their outside. If it is to be square, one pole should 

 be placed at each corner, and two more will be required 

 for the door-posts. The house may be made with five, six, 

 or more sides, as many poles being used as there are sides, 

 and the door may occupy one side if the house be small 

 and the side narrow, otherwise two door-posts will be re- 

 quired. If the boards are not tongued together, the chinks 

 between them must be well caulked by driving in string or 

 tow with a blunt chisel, for it is not only necessary to keep 

 put the rain but also to keep out the wind, which has great 

 influence on the health and laying of the fowls. 



