26 POULTRY HOUSES 



YARDS FOR POULTRY HOUSES 



Purpose and Size of Yards. Fowls are confined in 

 yards to prevent them from trespassing and from going 

 where they may do harm or where they may injure^ 

 themselves. They are also confined when an effort is 

 being made to secure a large egg yield by intensive 

 methods, and when several varieties of fowls are kept 

 for breeding purposes, in which case the flocks must be 

 kept separate in order that each breed may remain pure. 



Yards cannot be too large and are frequently too small. 

 Less than 100 sq. ft. of yard room per head is not 

 enough to secure the best results in producing eggs; 

 a yard 50 ft. wide and 100 ft. long will be sufficient for 

 fifty hens, provided special care is taken to keep the 

 soil in a sanitary condition. If the yard is 100 ft. 

 square, the fifty hens will do much better. Two and 

 one-half acres will answer much better for five hundred 

 hens in one flock than the same space divided into 

 ten yards for fifty hens each. The reason for this is 

 that when the five hundred hens are confined in the 

 space of 2*/2 A., each one has the free range of the 

 entire area, and when the space is divided into ten 

 yards, each fowl is confined to a space about equal 

 in size to that of an ordinary town lot. 



Close confinement causes the flock to become discon- 

 tented, and overcrowding the yard lessens the egg 

 yield. If either one or both of these conditions is of 

 long duration, the health and vitality of the fowls is 

 undermined and destroyed. Asiatic fowls can be kept 

 in health and vigor in much less space than can the 

 American varieties; Leghorns must have more than 

 double the space that is necessary for other varieties. 

 These remarks apply to the keeping of laying hens 

 and not forcing a few fowls to an early maturity for 

 the market on a space so limited that they neither pro- 

 duce eggs nor maintain vitality. The more closely 

 hens are confined, the greater the necessity for clean- 

 liness, care, and proper feeding. 



