RHODE ISLAND BGK5 FARMING 



111 



over the droppings, thus deodorizing the house for the 

 time being. In the spring and fall these houses are thor- 

 oughly cleaned. The sand or loam that forms the floor is 

 taken out, the inside walls whitewashed and clean sand or 

 loam put in. That which has been taken out is used for 

 fertilizer on grass land. 



Location and Capacity of Houses. 



These houses ar^ located in the fields, usually fifty to one 

 hundred feet apart. The number in each field depends upon 



Device for Moving Colony Laying Houses From one Location to An- 

 other on a Rhode Island Egg Farm. 



the size of the field and the notion of the proprietor. We 

 saw none, located so close together that the growth of grass 

 in the fields was affected by the number of hens. They 

 are generally placed in rows so that a team can be driven 

 handily along the front of each pen. Each house contains 

 from twenty-five to fifty fowls, usually about thirty-five. 

 The size of the house that . contains the latter number is 

 usually ten by twelve or fifteen feet. 



Methods of Feeding are Simple. 



These flocks have a hopper of cracked corn before them 

 at all times. A great many flocks also have all the beef 

 scraps that they will eat, also in hoppers. They are fed, too, 



