POULTRY-HOUSES 115 
of providing fresh ground for the fowls and cheapening the cost 
of their keep. 
Another useful house is called the apex—getting its name from 
its shape—and can be used in a variety of ways. It will accommo- 
date at a small cost a large number of young stock ; it can serve 
as a cockerel house; it can be used for a hospital or an isolation 
camp. It is a most useful house to have as a reserve ; it is easily 
made and it costs less than almost any other type of building. 
I take specifications from a publication of the Board of 
Agriculture. 
‘In houses which must be moved frequently it is essential that 
the frame should be strong to stand the strain, or it may soon come 
to pieces. The joints should, in all cases, be tightly mortised, and 
where cross stays are used the ends should be cut and fitted into 
corresponding grooves in the uprights, as nailing does not afford 
sufficient resistance to the strain. 
«An apex house on similar lines to that illustrated elsewhere 
may be 5 ft. wide, 6 ft. long, and 6 ft. high to the point of the 
gable, with side walls 1} ft. high and boarding in front 1? ft. high. 
The capacity is 15 adult fowls, or 20 growing chickens. Roof, 
sides and back are solid, except that a door is made in the 
last-named. The front consists of boarding 1} ft. from the 
ground with 1 in. mesh wire-netting above, and a triangular 
front. The roof may usefully be carried a foot beyond the 
shutter. 
* Material used.—Scantling for frame, 2 in. by 2 in. ; to reduce 
weight, 2 in. by 1} in. may be used, but the heavier material should 
be used for the sills or bottom frame. Boarding, white deals, 
5 in. by 2 in., tongued and grooved. Wire-netting for front, 1 in. 
mesh. One pair of 9 in. hinges and lock or catch for door; a 
supply of 14, 2 and 23 in. French nails ; optional, guttering and 
felting for roof (see p. 116). 
“* Frame.—Front: 2 lengths, 5 ft. each, for sill and cross ; 
2 lengths, 6 ft., for roof ; 2 uprights from roof stays to sill, 1 ft. 
8 in. each; 1 cross tie, 2 ft., below apex. Back: 1 length, 5ft., for 
sill ; 2 lengths, 6 f{t., for roof ; 2 uprights, 1 ft. 3 in. ; 1 cross tie 
