Nature-Study Agriculture 



Roosts and 

 nests 



w. T. suuing 

 FIG. 250. Mixing concrete for the floor of a school chicken house. 



by a stairway. This doubles the area over which the 

 chickens may move about. The lower floor is of earth 

 that is kept soft and fine for the fowls to scratch in and 

 dust themselves. The upper story is provided with 

 roosts and nests, and troughs for feed and water; and 

 the board floor is kept covered six or eight inches deep 

 with cut straw. The straw keeps the place clean and 

 gives the chickens something to scratch in for their feed, 

 compelling them to exercise. 



The roosts may be made of two-by-two-inch sticks 

 with the corners rounded off a little. About ten inches 

 under the roosts there should be placed a platform made 

 of planed boards so that it may easily be cleaned. The 

 nests are made in compartments about a foot square, 

 the tops being covered to keep the nests clean. Parti- 

 tions between nests are often omitted, so that several 

 hens will not try to crowd into one nest. For a few 



