CHAPTER III 



Where to Keep JPowls 



While fowls can be kept almost anywhere and 

 ■everywhere, they do best in congenial locations. The 

 .soil and arrangement of buildings have much to do 

 with their health and profit. As a general proposition 

 it may be said that a light soil which provides good 

 natural drainage, yet is strong enough to grow grass, 

 makes the ideal location. An exposure varying from 

 southeast to southwest, protected from prevailing 

 winds, is best. 



Fowls naturally like to roam. The ideal condi- 

 tions are such that provide them with a liberal area. 

 On the farm the most that is needed is a suitable house 

 and a good sized yard in which they can be confined 

 at certain seasons. In village and city lots the area is 

 necessarily limited and the fowls must be kept in yards 

 most of the time. 



Where poultry is kept as a business there are two 

 plans which may be followed : One, the intensive sys- 

 tem, whereby they are crowded together in small 

 yards ; the other, the colony plan, in which small houses 

 are scattered about the place so that the fowls are 

 given either partial or entire free range. One must be 

 governed by circumstances and amount of land at dis- 

 posal as to which plan to adopt. The intensive plan 

 requires considerable more labor to care for the fowls 

 because every want must be supplied. The colony 

 plan is, no doubt, the best for the great majority of 

 poultry keepers who have a few acres at their disposal. 

 With this system separate yards may or may not be 

 mecessary. 



