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306 



TI^E ILLINOIS FA.Ii]MEIl. 



turkcjs cannot be raised at all, and other 

 lands of a heavy, wet nature where chickens 

 will not thrive. 



When fowls are confined to a narrow space 

 it requires much pains to supply them with 

 all kinds of food which they collect when 

 running at large, and without care to supply 

 their wants they will not be profitable. — 

 When running as they please, they devour 

 many grubs, eat gravel and various kinds of 

 insects, and many other things which we 

 cannot discriminate, though we look on while 

 they select their food. 



To render poultry profitable it is essential 

 that great care and circumspection be c-Kcr- 

 cised, not only in the selection of valuable 

 breeds, but in feeding and rearing the young. 

 If remiss in these points, no profit will result 

 from the enterprise — as a general thing he 

 will, to adopt an old adage, "Have his labor 

 for his pains." 



There is a vast difference in foAvIs, and 

 while some are hardy and profitable, others 

 are weakly, and scarcely pay their way un- 

 der the most favorable circumstances, and 

 the best management possible to bcf-tuw. It 

 is always a judicious plan for the fanner to 

 keep a number of fowls of some kind on his 

 premises, as there is always enough waste or 

 refuse grain to feed them; and beside, they 

 are serviceable in protecting the crops, by 

 destroying the numerous insect depredators, 

 which in the spring and summcrmonths prey 

 so voraciously on the youthful and more ten- 

 der plants. 



When one is suitably located the krejiing 

 all kinds of fowls — hens, turkeys, geese and 

 ducks — will be found profitable. It will 

 bring many dollars in the course of the year 

 and insure a constant and liberal suj.ply of 

 eggs and poultry for domestic use. 



In some counsries poultry forms a very 

 important branch of rural economy. In 

 warm climates generally it is used abun- 

 dantly for food, being so readily prepared for 

 the table, while large animals, unless im- 

 mediately used, would become putrid, and 

 spoiled. Roast and boiled chickens, eggs, 

 pancakes, fritters, custards and puddings are 

 not despisable luxuries in a thriving family. 

 Scarcely a meal can be comfortably prepared 

 without the use of eggs; even bread is much 

 improved by beating up a raw egg with tlie 

 water or milk with which it is mixed, and 

 certainly it adds much to its nutriment, as 

 one egg is said to contain as much as one 

 pound of meat. 



POULTRY HOUSE AND YARD. 

 Many persons commence house keeping. 

 by getting a wife, and then a house. J>ut 

 our advice is, "first procure the cage, tlion 

 the bird." Previous, therefore, to getting a 

 stock of poultry, provide for them a house. 

 This will be found a most necessary arratiL^e- 

 c:ent, as on many occasions it is highly ne- 

 cessary they should be confined, as at plant- 

 ing time, or at some other periods when tluy 

 are particularly destructive; close confine- 

 ment in a room or shed would soon make 

 them sick and interrupt their laying, but a 

 house and yard, on the plan we arc about to 

 describe, would answer every convenience 

 and be found often very advantageous in se- 

 curing the eggs of such fowls as had contrac- 

 ted a habit of laying away from the house 



and boxes and endanger the loss of the 

 eggs._ 



If it is desired to confine fowls to a yard 

 for all or a portion of the time, it will be in- 

 dispensable to their health and productive- 

 ness to provide for them suitable accommo- 

 dations. These need not be expensive, but 

 the fixtures should be efficient and complete 

 so as to secure the safety of the fowls. The 

 houses and yards, therelore, must be con- 

 structed according to the purposes of the 

 proprietor. 



As to fowl houses and other circumstances 

 minute directions are almost impertinent. — 

 The three grand requisites arc eleimruuss, 

 dryness and warmth. Those who winh for 

 anything on a large scale will find plenty of 

 plans and descriptions in the "American 

 Poulterer's Companion," so that if they 

 choose they may lay out as much money in a 

 hen house as would build a comfortable cot- 

 tage. But some people have little choice in 

 the matter — they must take or adapt such 

 conveniences as they find around them. — 

 The fowls themselves are not very fastidious; 

 but one may be sure that the more we attend 

 to the comforts of our domestic animals the 

 more they will reward our trouble. 



Whatever number of foT^ Is may b.avc been 

 selected for keeping, provi-ion must be made 

 for their comfort and safety. Tliose kept 

 on farms, lead, in many respects, a happy 

 life. They have good and plenty of room, 

 and generally with no lack of food. They 

 wander about the farm yard, the orchard and 

 the lawn, visit the adjoining fields, travel 

 over the pasture, through the lanes, troop 

 about the barn, and enjoy total freedom. — 

 To the advantage of pure air they usually 

 have that of pure water, and the opportunity 

 of varying their diet, by picking up insects 

 and their larva:;c; and a store of pebbles, 

 gravel, old mortcr, and other calcareous mat- 

 ter, which they require, is always at their 

 command. So far they lead a comfortable, 

 apparently happy and natural life; but how 

 are they housed at night r" In many instan- 

 ces, in a proper and well built poultry house, 

 witli porches judiciously arranged, and with 

 boxes lined with straw, for the laying and 

 sitting hens; but often in places utterly un- 

 fitted for them. For instance, numerous 

 Hocks of fowls will be lodged under the roof 

 of some large, open shed, above the cattle, 

 wagons or carts, which receive abundance of 

 their droppings; others take shelter in the 

 barns, stables, cider mills, pig peiis, out- 

 houses, on the waggon, cart, or any other 

 iuq>lements which may be stored there, while 

 not a few may be found roosting on the 

 branches of some favorite tree. This want 

 of order cannot be too strongly condemned, 

 as hens having no proper laying places, sel- 

 ect such situations as chance may oiler them, 

 not unlrequently in obscure places of con- 

 cealment, so that their eggs are devoured by 

 vermin or are lost. This, to say the least, is 

 a slovenly mode of keeping fowls. It oHers 

 a temptation to thieves, and the health of 

 fowls cannot be improved by their being 

 .soaked all night lung in a drenching rain, 

 or having their feet frozen to the branches. 

 Tli( re is no difficulty in accustoming any 

 fowls to regular housing at night. 



Thos(!who wish to be successful with fowls 

 should have a distinct building, and yard, 



with a warm aspect, facing the south or east 

 as the morning sun is congenial to them in 

 cold weather. The dryest and warmest 

 soils are best adapted to the successful rear- 

 ing and breeding domestic fowls, especially 

 chickens; and to be attended with the great- 

 est success and least trouble, some expense 

 and great precaution will be required. — 

 Fowls endure severe cold much better than 

 moisture. To unite all the advantages des- 

 irable in a poultry yard, it should be neither 

 wet nor exposed to cold winds. There 

 should, if possible, be running water in the 

 yard, and under cover should be placed 

 ashes and dry sand, where they may indulge 

 in their natural propensity of rolling and 

 basking or bathing themselves. Gravel, 

 broken shells, crushed bone and old lime 

 morter should always be placed within their 

 reach. 



Having settled all preliminaries, we pro- 

 pose now to give the elevation and ground 

 plan of a very cheap and pretty model of a 

 poultry house, which can be made to accom- 

 modate from twenty-five to one hundred 

 fowls : 



The posts in 

 front should be 

 twelve feet high; 

 the back posts 

 four feet shorter. 

 This will give a 

 good pitch to the 

 roof, and shed 

 rain readilj'. It 

 may be of shin- 

 gles, of boards, 

 battened, or what 

 is still better, 

 both for warmth 

 and coolness, 

 thatched with 

 straw. The sides 

 and ends covered 

 with boards run 

 ning up and down 

 and the joint.- 

 covered with bat 

 tens; but the bet 

 ter plan is to usi 

 inch and a quar- 

 ter plank, tongu- 



ed and grooved, i'ucltry nousE. 



which will secure more warmth. It will be 

 observed that the top of the front wall in- 

 clines backward. This is for the purpose of 

 imparting greater heat, by obtaining more 

 power from the rays of the sun in winter. 

 Deciduous trees should be placed in front, to 

 protect it from the scorching rays of the 

 summer's sun. In the end is a door for en- 

 trance, and a small one for the egress and 

 ingress of the fowls. This door should be 

 three feet from the ground, with steps out- 

 side and inside for the fowls to pass up and 

 down. If there is danger of the fox, skunk, 

 weasle or rats, remove the outside ladder, 

 and make a platform for the fowls to alight 

 on, by hanging the door with hinges at the 

 bottom, and when let down for a platform, 

 let it rest on a bracket. There should be a 

 small window with slat blinds at each end, 

 for ventilation. The internal arrangement 

 is so clearly exhibited in the annexed plans, 

 that a description or explanation is deemed 

 necessary. 



