Various Plans for Yards. 13 



contrivances, are pressed into tlie service. For rearing cliiclcens, Mr. Wragg is veiy partial to 

 low, open sheds, about three feet in height, such as are shown in plan at 52, 83, and 84; and what 

 was originally a "cow-yard" and shed, at 85, at our visit accommodated as promising a lot of 

 chickens, about five months old, as could be seen anywhere. Small wooden coops, or houses, are 

 also employed to harbour the chickens ; and, as a rule, Mr. Wragg endeavours to keep all his young 

 stock outside the "yard" till pretty full grown. During all this time they have unlimited grass-run 

 and lay the foundation of a constitution which shall be proof against all ordinary circumstances. 



In the establishment we have thus endeavoured to describe, it will be observed that the system 

 of separate pens for accommodating surplus birds, which we have spoken of as so necessary in a 

 " fancier's " yard, is carried to a very great extent ; but the same object may be attained in very 

 various ways, and as an e.xample of quite different management, we may refer to the establishment 

 of Mr. Henry Beldon, at Goitstock, Bingley, Yorkshire.- This gentleman is, perhaps, the most 

 extensive breeder and exhibitor in England ; but has a great part of his stock reared at so much per 

 head by the cottagers round, bringing them in as they are wanted for e.^hibition or sale. The 

 breeding birds are sheltered in small detached houses in different parts, each lot having ample grass- 

 run, the whole extent being about fifteen acres. Of course, a tolerable number of chickens are also 

 reared at home, and so far all is plain ; but the visitor looks in vain for the numerous pens he 

 expects to find, each containing one of the handsome Hamburgh or Polish cocks for which 

 Mr. Beldon has so enviable a reputation, and which he knows are about the place soincivhere. But 

 where arc they .' The truth is, Mr. Beldon has, undoubtedly, " the largest poultry-h'ouse " in 

 England, in the shape of an old disused factory or mill, which shows no sign whatever outside of 

 the novel use to which it is now devoted. This immense building measures about one hundred and 

 twenty by thirty feet in plan, and consists of four floors, all of which are occupied by fowls, some of 

 them being kept there, entirely under cover, for months together, excepting what time they may 

 spend at various shows. One floor only is wood, but even this is kept in perfect health by cleanli- 

 ness and sanding, and occasionally moving the birds to parts which have been unoccupied. Two 

 floors are devoted entirely to rows of pens about ten feet square, down each side of the building 

 each pen having a window, and a wide passage being left down the centre between. The other 

 floors are left more open, but also accommodate many birds ; and in this novel manner Mr. Beldon 

 has for years effectually secured thfe object we have been considering. Of course, chickens could not 

 be reared in health under such circumstances; but when brought up out of doors, and fully 

 matured, Mr. Beldon finds no difficulty in keeping them in good condition, and the whitest plumage 

 never becomes tanned by the sun. No precisely similar circumstances are likely to occur in any 

 other case ; but the large building taken advantage of in this ingenious manner may perhaps 

 furnish useful hints to many an amateur. 



Lastly, supposing an entirely new yard is to be erected, of great extent, and that the space is 

 ample and unencumbered by large trees or other hindrances, some such plan as shown on the 

 following page (Fig. 10) may be adopted with great advantage in many ways. It is eminently 

 adapted for either breeding and rearing fancy fowls, or for producing eggs and poultry in large 

 quantities for market. The plan provides for each pen its own permanent grass-run, which is 

 here represented as forty-five by twenty feet, for a Cochin cock and four hens ; but for Spanish, 

 or similar breeds, eighteen by thirty-five feet would be sufficient. The pens for single birds 

 may be added or omitted at discretion, the essentials of the plan being the covered passage 

 between the rows of houses, which gives both shelter and the least possible amount of labour 

 in attending to a large number of fowls. If the small pens be many, as the sheds will be 

 longer and grass-runs wider, the length of the grass-plots may be reduced in proportion. Ne.Kt 



