106 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



* 



PIG. 222 CONVENIENT END GATES FOR POULTRY YARDS 



pulling fairly taut and fastening securely. Make a notch 

 on the end of your pole deep enough to hold the selvage. 

 With this pole push the netting up t>n the post, having 

 pulled the nail when you attached the pole, until the net- 

 ting is firm and straight. Staple the selvage wire to the 

 post, repeating the operation on each post. After you 

 have done this, staple to the post as much as you think 

 necessary. I use two staples between selvages, making 

 four to each post, and as for the bottom I staple every 

 2 feet. 



"With a boy to help unroll the netting, you can put 

 up a roll in twenty minutes. Our yards are on level 

 ground and we have posts sawed 3 by 3 inches and 8 

 feet 4 inches long. We drive them 2 feet into the ground 

 and put two 12-inch boards at the bottom to prevent the 

 males from fighting." 



Where the yards are to be used by breeding flocks 

 it is always desirable to make the first two feet solid as 

 described by Mr. Harrison. For' ordinary layirtg flocks 

 this is not imperative, and as this method of construc- 

 tion adds considerable to the cost it is customary to use 

 only one 10 or 12-inch board which is needed in order to 

 have a substantial base to which the bottom wire or sel- 

 vage can be securely stapled. Wire fences usually re- 

 quire posts about every 16 feet with 

 a short post between each to support 

 the middle of the base board and 

 keep it from warping. 



It is always desirable to make am- 

 ple provision for getting the plow 

 team into and out . of the yards. 

 Where the yards are narrow the 

 plan of having the end of the yards 

 closed with one big gate, as in Fig. 

 222, is a good one. With these gates 

 open the team can be taken into the 

 yard for plowing, turning it in the 

 open space at the foot of the yard. 

 If the yards are connected at the 

 other end with wide gates so that the 

 team can turn through into an ad- 

 joining yard instead of having to 

 make a complete turn in one yard, it 

 is possible to plow and cultivate 

 quite narrow runs with comparative- 

 ly little difficulty. 



Gate Fastener 



A simple and effective gate fast- 

 ener is shown in Fig. 223, which any 



blacksmith can make in a few mo- 

 ments' time. It consists of a strip 

 of strap iron about T / 2 -mch wide and 

 bent in the shape of a U with the stem 

 long enough to extend over the gate 

 as shown. In the closed' end a plain 

 iron ring iy 2 to 2 inches in diameter 

 is hung loosely on a rivet and the 

 whole device is screwed firmly to the 

 gate post. The ring drops down on 

 the rivet and in this position will 

 hold the gate securely so that it can 

 not be opened until the ring is 

 raised by hand. With a little trim- 

 ming on the inside edge of the top 

 rail of the gate the ring will 

 automatically raise up as the gate 

 swings shut and then will promptly 

 drop into place again. 



Yard Tools 



Small yards should be cleaned and spaded at fre- 

 quent intervals in order to keep them free from accumu- 

 lations of filth. Many careful poultry 

 keepers make it a practice to sweep 

 small yards once a week, for which pur- 

 pose there is nothing better than a fibre 

 brush like the one shown in Fig. 224. 

 Where this attention is given, the yards 

 will look better, smell better and keep 

 in much more wholesome condition. 



Once a month is not too often to 

 spade the yards if they are quite small. 

 It is not necessary to do all the spad- 

 ing at once, but a spading fork like the 

 one shown in Fig. 224 should be kept 

 handy and a small portion of the ground 

 spaded from day to day. The fowls 

 will appreciate the worms that will 

 be turned up, and if the prac- 

 tice is formed of sprinkling a small amount of grain over 

 the ground before spading (oats are excellent for this pur- 



FIG. 223. 

 SIMPLE GATE 



FASTENER 



FIG. 224 BROOM AND SPADING FORK FOR KEEPING YARDS CLEAN 



