POULTRY YARDING AND FENCING 
painted so that they will present a more pleasing 
appearance than a wire fence. Wire netting has 
until recently been in very common use among 
poultrymen, but now woven-wire fences are the 
most popular, because they are stronger, last longer, 
and are more serviceable in every way. Cedar 
posts are probably the best, while chestnut ranks 
next with regard to durability. Galvanized staples 
are used for attaching the wires to the posts. 
The height of the fence depends very largely 
upon the breed kept. The quiet, sedate Asiatics 
may easily be kept in by a fence four feet high, and 
sometimes three feet high is plenty. American 
breeds usually require a fence four or five feet high, 
the latter height being the safer. Fences for the 
active Mediterranean breeds usually have to be at 
least six feet high, and sometimes seven feet in 
height is necessary. 
It is best always to have a base board 
around a poultry fence, because then the fowls 
are less liable to burrow underneath and get 
out of the pen, and also less liable to get their 
heads caught in the mesh in the wire. This board 
should be something like a foot in height, except 
where the yards are side by side and contain pugna- 
cious male birds, and then they should be at least 
two feet, or high enough that the birds cannot see 
and torment one another, as otherwise they will 
pick at one another and try to fight through the 
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