48 POULTRY HOUSES 



Cold Frames in Yards. Each yard or runway of small 

 size should be provided with a cold frame for producing 

 a daily supply of green food for- the fowls. Such a 

 frame is shown in the accompanying illustration. It 

 is made of boards 1 in. thick and 9 in. wide. The frame 

 may be made of any desirable dimensions, the one shown 

 being 12 ft. long and 4 ft. wide. The frame is set 

 from 3 to 4 in. into the ground and the top is at least 

 6 in. above the ground. To produce green food, the soil 

 in the frame is thoroughly dug up and cultivated to 

 provide a fine seed-bed. Oats, wheat, rye, or barley, 

 with which has been mixed Red clover seed, or the 

 screenings from these grains, is then sown thickly to 

 produce a close growth of plants. After the seed has 

 been raked in a wire-covered frame is placed over the 

 top. The seed-bed is watered daily, both morning and 

 evening, and this is continued until the plants finish 

 their growth. The top of the frame is kept covered with 

 muslin cloth until after the seed has sprouted. 



After the seed has sprouted the cloth is removed and 

 a more plentiful supply of water is sprinkled over the 

 bed each time they are watered. As soon as the plants 

 appear through the netting the fowls peck at and eat 

 them. The mesh of the netting used should not be 

 greater than 1 in., and a smaller mesh is preferable. The 

 fowls should be prevented from reaching through and 

 pulling the plants from the ground and care should be 

 taken to have the netting stretched tight to keep it 

 from sagging from the weight of the fowls. When the 

 vitality of the plants in the cold frame has been 

 exhausted the bed can be replanted and a fresh supply 

 of green food grown. When plants are grown in this 

 way the quickness of their growth depends largely on a 

 regular and plentiful supply of moisture. If this 

 requirement is overlooked and the ground becomes dry 

 enough to cause the plants to wilt, no amount of moisture 

 or care can put them in a good condition again. 



