52 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



their health when they are not permitted the 

 range of the barn-yard. The yard should, if 

 possible, be a little sloping, that it may be dry, 

 as moisture is a most destructive enemy to poul- 

 try. It should be inclosed by a fence at least 

 seven feet high, with long, sharp pickets, and 

 the timbers on which the pickets are nailed, un- 

 less some distance below the top, should be on 

 the outside, to prevent the fowls perching on 

 them, as they seldom attempt to fly over a fence 

 without alighting. When first confined, if they 

 have been used to roam over the premises, they 

 will show some impatience, which soon wears 

 away, if every thing else is made agreeable to 

 them. It may, however, be necessary to clip 

 the wings of some of them, when first intro- 

 duced, particularly if taken from the barn-yard, 

 where they have always had their liberty. 



The buildings at the ends should be thirteen 

 feet square, and thirteen feet posts. We name 

 this size, as there would be no waste of timber, 

 being just the length of the boards. If not too 

 near the dwelling-house, so that there would be 

 danger of fire from sparks, we would recom- 

 mend to have the roof thatched with straw, be- 

 ing much cooler in summer, and warmer in the 

 winter, and when well done, it forms a light and 

 durable roof, and will last for twenty years. It 

 should, however, be made very sloping, that it 

 may carry off the water the more readily. A 

 door, ten by fourteen inches, should be made in 

 each department, three feet from the ground, for 

 the fowls to pass in and out, and to confine them 

 when necessary. There should be no floor in 

 the first story to prevent the fowls from com- 

 ing to the earth ; and the litter should be often 

 removed, and the bottom sprinkled with effete 

 lime or old mortar, at least once in each week. 



In the second story there should be a tight 

 floor under the roosts to catch the droppings of 

 the fowls, by which means the apartments will 

 be kept much cleaner, and the manure may be 

 gathered, which, with the exception of pigeon's 

 dung, is said to be the strongest of all animal 

 excrements it is home-made Guano. This 

 will add a considerable item to the profits of 

 keeping fowls that has heretofore been entirely 

 overlooked. 



The roosts should commence on one side, at 



the top, near the plate, and slope downward, 

 at an angle of about forty-five degrees, like a 

 ladder, to within eighteen inches of the floor. 

 The spars for the roosts should be about three 

 inches square, with the corners taken off, and 

 placed eighteen inches apart horizontally, for 

 fowls, and at least two feet for turkeys, so that 

 they may not incommode one another by their 

 droppings. No flying will be necessary in this 

 form of a roost, as the birds ascend and descend 

 by steps. This arrangement is well adapted to 

 the Asiatic fowls, such as Cochin Chinas, Brah- 

 mas, etc. 



The lower story is designed for the laying 

 and hatching department. When we first erect- 

 ed our poultry-house we tried ranges of boxes, 

 similar to those usually made for pigeons, placed 

 against the walls for nests, but experience, the 

 best of teachers, proved it was erroneous, espe- 

 cially when hatching ; for when the sitting hen 

 left her nest to procure her food, drink, etc., one 

 of the other hens would espy the eggs, and pop 

 in and lay her egg there. In the mean time 

 the hatching hen would return, and finding her 

 nest occupied, and it being no easy matter to 

 eject the intruder, as possession, with hens as 

 with men, is considered nine points of law, she 

 would seek the first nest she could find with 

 eggs, and settle herself there very contentedly. 

 The consequence was, the other hen, after de- 

 positing her egg, would leave the nest, and the 

 eggs would cool and spoil. There is another 

 difficulty. If vermin should make their ap- 

 pearance, there is no way of getting at them or 

 cleaning the nests. To remedy this, we would 

 recommend the insertion of shallow drawers in 

 the niches, as adopted by a friend on Staten 

 Island. When they become foul and require 

 cleaning they can be easily removed. 



The size and shape of the yard may be made 

 to suit the convenience and taste of the owner, 

 but from our experience, the larger the better. 

 A hedge of lilac, or any other sort of shrubs 

 within the fence, or what are better, small ever- 

 green trees, with the branches left as near the 

 ground as possible, will be found very accepta- 

 ble to the poultry, where they will retire for 

 shelter from the heat of the sun, and protection 

 from the hovering hawk. 



