30 HOUSES AND YARDS. 



Kg. a 



very apt to be lamed m descending. The house 

 being small, they drop perpendicularly from the 

 roost, and so injure their feet ; hence the bumble 

 foot of the Dorking. A smaU or smooth cylin- 

 drical perch is not desirable. The fowls can- 

 not take a firm hold of it; and it is certain 

 to cause crooked breast-bones, a most grave 

 defect. For the use of the hens, a few nests on 

 the ground, divided from each other by strips of 

 wood, are necessary; but these are understood to 

 be merely for the benefit of laying fowls, a 

 sitting-house being indispensable in even a 

 moderate establishment Where only one variety 

 of fowl is kept, a very simple style of arrange- 

 ment is required. A span-roofed house, covered 

 with felt, or tarpauling coated with tar, a door to 

 lock, moveable perch, a few nests, and trap, will 



