Cleanliness and Drainage. 5 



With regard to the minimum of space absokitely necessary to keep fowls in health, our 

 experience has taught us that if the birds are of only moderate or small size, ten square feet of run 

 for each bird may be made sufficient, adding half as much again for larger kinds. This is inde- 

 pendent of the roosting-house, and supposes both the most scrupulous attention to cleanliness and 

 a judicious diet. A shed so small will give least trouble if floored with clean fresh-water sand^ 

 as a rake with thin steel teeth, set a quarter-inch apart, will remove all offensive matter every 

 morning, with the least possible labour. But if a grass-run can be given, it will be far better, 

 giving higher condition with much less labour, as the shed floor will then only need turning over 

 occasionally, and renewing once a year. For Spanish, or similar breeds, not quite one hundred 

 square feet for each bird will be needed to preserve the grass : thus, a cock and four hens would 

 require a grass-run of about twenty by twenty-five feet, which will remain pretty fresh and in 

 capital order. Brahmas and Cochins require fully as much again, or the grass will soon become 

 trodden and foul. 



In any poultry-yard there are some essentials, attention to which is necessary to health 

 and prosperity ; and one of the first of these is that some retreat shall be perfectly dry 

 under foot. This is especially to be secured in the early chicken-nursery, for if the young 

 broods be put upon a flooring even a little damp, early in the year, it will be impossible to 

 prevent cramp from making sad inroads even in the most hardy breeds. But in the shed for 

 the adult fowls it is almost equally important. The grass-run may be a damp, cold clay, but 

 if so, it is all the more essential that the shed to which the occupants resort in bad weather 

 shall be perfectly dry ; and in erecting a yard, money spent in securing this end will save 

 many times the amount in future. Even if the natural soil be very bad as regards cold and 

 damp, there is no difficulty in accomplishing the desired object. Perhaps the simplest and best 

 method of doing so is that adopted by Mr. Tudman, in the chicken^nursery of the yard 

 presently described. The ground is dug out to the depth of three feet, the space being filled in 

 with brick-ends and stones, rammed pretty solid, and levelled on the top ; and over this is put 

 plenty of dry sand. In the case of a very bad, wet soil, the brick-ends should be raised 

 nearly a foot in the sheds above the ground outside ; and the thorough drainage, through 

 the loose bricks, will keep the floor beautifully dry in the very worst weather. Instead of 

 brick-ends or stones, large cinders, clinkers from an engine-furnace, pieces of shale, or any- 

 thing of the kind, will answer the purpose, the only object being to provide interstices for the 

 moisture to drain away. In such circumstances, dry sand or fine sandy gravel will make the 

 best top stratum, but sifted earth or ashes will answer the purpose almost equally well. If 

 preferred — and, for ourselves, we should prefer it — a layer of concrete, or strong hydraulic 

 mortar, may be laid over the stones or bricks, which will prevent the sand or earth from 

 being shaken down and filling up the crevices ; and will also allow of the whole being periodically 

 renewed with the least possible trouble. 



Hen-lice or other vermin should, from the very first, be guarded against, or they will 

 be a great annoyance to both the fowls and their owner. Stone or brick houses should be 

 regularly washed every year with a strong lime-wash, in which sulphate of iron has been also 

 mixed, a pound to every three gallons ; put on, if possible, hot from the slaking, and 

 thoroughly worked into every cranny and crevice in the walls. So important is this thorough 

 searching of the walls, that if they be built very rough or uneven, it is well worth while to 

 give them a little plastering over, to make the surface more even. In building wood houses, 

 a brush dipped in kerosene or paraffine should be passed along the tongued edges of all the 

 boards, as they are nailed in their places, the effects of which will last some time ; but wooden 



