40 COMMERCIAL EGG FARMING 



hen when she is fed her grain on sodden earth 

 outside a dark roosting house, in the rain and 

 wind. In the worst weather the hens on this 

 farm can be seen scratching all day long in 

 these dry, well-lighted, and well-ventilated 

 houses, whereas on similar days the birds 

 housed in small houses would be humped up 

 miserably in a corner or sitting on a perch. 

 These houses before the war cost about five 

 hundred dollars each, that is, a dollar and a 

 quarter per bird. They last for very many 

 years, the only upkeep being the annual 

 creosoting of the inside and front outside, and 

 every other year a coat of tar for the roof and 

 the back outside. 



Every partition has a dry mash box 

 fastened on it, the bottom of the box being 

 about nine inches above the level of the litter 

 on the floor. The boxes are twenty-four 

 inches long, eight inches wide, and six inches 

 deep. Laths are nailed at intervals of 

 three inches across the top to prevent the 

 birds from getting into the boxes and scratch- 

 ing the mash out. The boxes are never filled 

 more than three-quarters full, as the birds 

 would hook the mash out with their beaks. 



