04 Pi'ojitable Poultry Keeping. 



upon which it is built, it will be worth the cost of building 

 such a wall, if there is not one already which can be used. 

 Of course, if the wall of a dwelling-house, stable, or cow- 

 shed is available for such a purpose, so much the better ; but 

 upon no account must the aspect of the house be altered, 

 even to obtain the benefit of a warm wall. Heat of this 

 kind is good, but the sun's natural heat is far better ; and 

 for early chicks the latter is absolutely indispensable. If 

 both can be obtained, well and good ; if not, let the one we 

 have indicated be taken in preference. Whenever possible, 

 it is well to have the chicken-house as near to the dwelling 

 of the attendant as possible. In a plan of the yard of Sir 

 Henry Thompson, near Hampton Court, which appeared in 

 one of the Poultry Journals, we noticed that the chicken 

 run is directly in front of the poultryman's cottage, the 

 house being only a few steps away. Of this we heartily 

 approve, as the birds require very great attention during the 

 first weeks of their existence ; and, if the attendant has a 

 considerable distance to go to them, he will be unable to give 

 them the same amount of care, as when they are close at 

 hand ; whereas, if only a few steps away, he will often go, 

 even though his presence by strict rule may not be absolutely 

 required. As far as possible let labour be saved, and the 

 saving will be far more than repaid. 



It will be necessary, in selecting the site for a chicken- 

 house, to arrange it so that there may be a good-sized run in 

 front. The object of this is, not so much that the birds in 

 the chicken-house may have plenty of space, when they are 

 allowed to run outside, but that later on in the year, say in 

 April and May, when the coops are placed outside altogether, 

 as they should be, after the birds are a few days old, there will 

 be room enough for them. This, we believe, to be a much 

 better plan than scattering the birds all about the place, as, 

 when the latter is done, they are not sufficiently under the 



