Cleanliness. 15 



it is an excellent plan to have a wooden flap made to open 

 just above the back of the nests, so that the eggs can 

 be removed without your going into the roosting-house, 

 treading the dung about, and disturbing any birds that 

 may be there, or about to enter to lay. Where possible 

 the nests in the roosting-houses should be used for laying 

 in only ; and a separate house should be set apart for 

 sitting hens. Where there are but a few fowls and 

 only one house, if a hen is allowed to sit, a separate 

 nest must be made as quiet as possible for her. See 

 Chapter VI. 



Cleanliness must be maintained. The Canada Farmer 

 suggested an admirable plan for keeping the roosting-house 

 clean. A broad shelf, securely fastened, but moveable, is 

 fixed at the back of the house, eighteen inches from the 

 ground, and the perch placed four or five inches above it, 

 a foot from the wall. The nests are placed on the ground 

 beneath the board, which preserves them from the roosting 

 fowl's droppings, and keeps them well shaded for the laying 

 or sitting hen, if the latter is obliged to incubate in the 

 same house, and the nests do not need a top. The shelf can 

 be easily scraped clean every morning, and should be 

 lightly sanded afterwards. Thus the floor of the house is 

 never soiled by the roosting birds, and the broad board at 

 the same time protects them from upward draughts of air. 

 Where the nests and perches are not so arranged, the idea 

 may be followed by placing a loose board below each 

 perch, upon which the dung will fall, and the board can be 

 taken up every morning and the dung removed. With 

 proper tools, a properly constructed fowl-house can be kept 

 perfectly clean, and all the details of management well 

 carried out without scarcely soiling your hands. A birch 

 broom is the best implement with which to clean the house 

 if the floor is as hard as it ought to be. A handful of ashes 

 or sand, sprinkled over the places from which dung has 

 been removed, will absorb any remaining impurity. 



Fowls' dung is a very valuable manure, being strong, 

 stimulating, and nitrogenous, possessing great power in 

 forcing the growth of vegetables, particularly those of the 



