12 Perches. 



flooring, and it or other materials may easily be kept clean 

 by placing moveable boards beneath the perches to receive 

 the fowl-droppings. The floor should slope from every 

 direction towards the door, to facilitate its cleansing, and 

 to keep it dry. 



Perches are generally placed too high, probably because 

 it was noticed that fowls in their natural state, or when at 

 large, usually roost upon high branches ; but it should be 

 observed that, in descending from lofty branches, they have 

 a considerable distance to fly, and therefore alight on the 

 ground gently, while in a confined fowl-house the bird 

 flutters down almost perpendicularly, coming into contact 

 with the floor forcibly, by which the keel of the breast-bone 

 is often broken, and bumble-foot in Dorkings and corns 

 are caused. 



Some writers do not object to lofty perches, provided 

 the fowls have a board with cross-pieces of wood fastened 

 on to it reaching from the ground to the perch ; but this 

 does not obviate the evil, for they will only use it for 

 ascent, and not for descent. The air, too, at the upper 

 part of any dwelling-room, or house for animals, is much 

 more impure than nearer the floor, because the air that 

 has been breathed, and vapours from the body, are lighter 

 than pure air, and consequently ascend to the top. The 

 perches should therefore not be more than eighteen inches 

 from the ground, unless the breed is very small and light. 

 Perches are also generally made too small and round. 

 When they are too small in proportion to the size of the 

 birds, they are apt to cause the breast-bone of heavy fowls 

 to grow crooked, which is a great defect, and very un- 

 sightly in a table-fowl. Those for heavy fowls should not 

 be less than three inches in diameter. Capital perches 

 may be formed of fir or larch poles, about three inches in 

 diameter, split into two, the round side being placed upper- 

 most ; the birds' claws cling to it easily, and the bark is not 

 so hard as planed wood. The perches, if made of timber, 

 should be nearly square, with only the corners rounded off, 

 as the feet of fowls are not formed for clasping smooth 

 round poles. Those for chickens should not be thicker 



