28 COMMERCIAL EGG FARMING 



with a hinged lid from the outside, but which 

 is divided into three compartments to hold 

 dry mash, grain, and water, is placed under 

 the window in the front of the house. The 

 floor is covered to the depth of two inches 

 with peat moss litter. Wire netting is put 

 up around each house to confine the birds 

 until they are accustomed to their new home. 

 Generally after they have been confined in 

 the yard for two days the netting can be 

 rolled up, and the birds given free range. 

 They usually find their way back all right. 



They are watered twice a day. Grain, dry 

 mash, and coarse sand mixed with grit are 

 always kept before them. If the summer is 

 dry, extra green stuff is given. The houses 

 are cleaned once or twice a week as required, 

 and once a month they are disinfected by 

 means of a spray pump and a strong dis- 

 infectant. 



When the birds are first put in the colony 

 houses, ordinarily fifty in each house, they 

 have a tendency to crowd together for the 

 first few nights. To prevent this I make up 

 the corners of the houses so that they are 

 raised above the ordinary floor level. (I am 



