Management, Care and Feeding. 45 



movable when needed for cleansing, A tail board to catch the drop- 

 pings is useful, as it can be easily cleansed, and it should be well 

 dusted every day, to neutralize the affluvia, and save the valuable 

 qualities of the droppings for the garden. 



ie; UHT 



Plan of Portable Perches. 



AA, perches ; BB, kerosene cups ; DD, cross pieces ; EE, foot 

 pieces ; CC, standards. This plan prevents chickens from crowding 

 at ends of perches. The ends do not connect with side or ends of 

 building. The kerosene cups prevent vermin from working to and 

 from any part of the building or on the chickens at night. They are 

 not expensive, and in many cases the standards can be mortised in 

 the floor beams, and then require only four pieces of timber. These 

 perches are made of 2x4 pieces, they are 14 inches high, and 22 

 inches from center to center of perch. The perches are not mortised 

 all the way through, and are not fastened, so they can be lifted off 

 and the whole thing moved out in a few moments. 



Feed Boxes.— Substantial feed boxes, easy to access for the 

 fowls, should be provided, and also placed where mice or rats could 

 not reach them. One's own ingenuity would suggest different plans 

 for making boxes or troughs that would keep the food clean, and 

 prevent the fowls from tramping or perching upon them. Boxes for 

 gravel, broken shells, old lime, charcoal and bone meal, iron vessels 

 for drinking water, earthenware fountains, and nests in secluded 

 places complete all the necessary fixtures for a fowl house. 



Floors.— We are partial to loose earth for floors, as it seems to 

 be the most natural. If board floors be used, they should be 

 covered with sand or earth to the depth of three inches, but if not, 

 the droppings adhere to the boards, the ammonia is liberated, and 

 the liquid absorbed. Every board floor, for either young or old 

 fowls should be covered to prevent sore feet and weakness of legs. 

 Loose dry earth for floors is, however, to our way of thinking, the 

 most suitable. 



