282 MY POULTRY DAY BY DAY 
be plenty of old military huts in the market at moderate 
figures. 
There is, it seems to me, a splendid opportunity for the inventor 
of a very cheap scratching-shed, not to accommodate the birds at 
night but contiguous with the sleeping chamber. Supposing we as- 
sume that thefowls havea roosting-house and a separate scratching- 
shed, which, as I have said, is the ideal arrangement. Could 
we, for instance, get a sleeping-chamber 8 feet by 8 feet and a 
scratching-shed 12 feet by 12 feet for anything like the same money 
as one could get the combined house—say £12, 10s.? It is obvious 
that a house 8 feet by 8 feet would cost two-thirds (or a little more) 
of a house 12 feet by 12 feet. Supposing, then, we assume that the 
sleeping-house costs £8, 5s., there is thus £4, 5s. left for a scratching- 
shed 12 feet by 12 feet. On the face of it the problem does not 
seem very hopeful, but I am not so sure that it cannot be done. 
Such a seratching-shed obviously could not be so substantial as 
the ordinary poultry-house wholly constructed of wood. I would 
therefore suggest that there is room for a new type of scratching- 
shed, one of which the skeleton only would be made of wood, with 
three sides and the roof composed of some weather-tight material. 
There are a number of materials that might be employed, but most 
of them are not a great deal cheaper than wood. 
There are, however, two or three weather-proof fabrics that 
might be largely utilised in the building of cheap scratching-sheds. 
First of all there is canvas, which can be treated to keep out the 
weather. One objection to canvas is that it is cold, or rather that 
it does not keep out the cold. This is not an insuperable difficulty, 
because it is only during the day that the canvas-covered structure 
would be used by the birds. They would retire at night to the 
roosting-place made of stout wood. Now during the day the 
birds only require a shelter from rain and rough winds, and the 
canvas would afford all the protection needed from sudden storms. 
It seems to me that there is a possibility of properly waterproofed 
canvas being used for at least three sides and the roof of a 
scratching-shed, in which case there would be plenty of light 
without putting in a window. For small houses, including brooders, 
