2 The Illustrated Book of Poultry. 



four feet square will do ; and much more will only increase the liability to cold and roup in winter, 

 on account of the difficulty in maintaining a proper temperature. For, while ventilation is all- 

 important, to secure it without either cold or draught is equally so ; and much harm has been 

 done by writers who have advised that cracks and chinks should be deliberately left all about 

 the walls for the purpose of securing " pure air." For the air supplied there should be but one 

 well-defined source — the hole by which the birds enter — and their perches must then be so 

 arranged that they are out of the draught there will always be between this and the ventilator, 

 which should be as high above the perch as possible. The ventilation may consist of anything 

 except an unprotected aperture, which is bad. Louver boards answer well, but perhaps the 

 simplest plan is to provide a sufficient hole in the wall, as near the roof as possible, and cover 

 it with a piece of perforated zinc. The cost of tliis in England is generally sixpence per 

 square foot ; and it entirely prevents injurious draught, while providing ventilation perfectly. 

 A window, however small, is also necessary. 



In the numerous cases where only a few fowls are required to provide a family with eggs and 

 an occasional chicken for table, some brick or stone building is frequently available, and if so, 



OPEN YARD. 



Fig- 



should be turned to account in preference to erecting a slighter one. If the house has to be built, 

 by far the cheapest (and on the whole the best) material will be wood ; and the simplest possible 

 plan will be to erect a small square structure in any convenient corner — say five feet by six feet, 

 extending the roof sideways to form an open shed, and either fencing in as much open yard as 

 can be spared in addition (as in Fig. i) ; or, provided the shed be large enough, and the sun can 

 reach it during a good part of the day, wiring-in that alone. For a very few fowls the shed is not 

 absolutely necessary, provided the house be so well lighted that the fowls resort to it readily in wet 

 weather. If the amateur erects the house for himself, he should employ boards an inch thick, using 

 scantling three by four inches for the* frame ; and, as planks are almost universally cut into twelve- 

 feet lengths, the best size will be six feet high in front, and six feet from front to back, which will 

 use it up without waste. The boards should either be tongued, which costs very little, or have a 

 thin lath nailed over each junction to avoid draught from the cracks. The putting-up will be very 

 simple. The two back uprights must be fastened to the wall with stay-nails or holdfasts, holes 

 being first dug two feet in the ground for them. Another, but horizontal piece must also be 

 fastened to the wall for the rafters to rest on, and the front uprights and door-post deeply sunk in 

 the ground, truly perpendicular, and in line with each other. A second horizontal piece being sjjikcd 

 to these for the caves, all is ready for spiking-down the rafters, which completes the frame ready for 



