WITH 4200 HENS 13 



less pleasant for the hens ; so avoid the heavy soil if you 

 can. 



Buildings and Yards 



There is no ideal building for housing either chicks or 

 hens — one that can be used in every country and every 

 climate. Local weather conditions make modifications 

 necessary wherever you may go. The writer has seen 

 hens kept, on an egg-farming basis, in little houses with- 

 out yards, the likes of which if attempted in a southern 

 climate where it really gets hot, would result in cooking 

 the life out of the birds, and the other extreme was a 

 case where no houses were used at any season of the 

 year. If this were attempted in Maine or in Michigan, 

 especially with Leghorns, the birds might not actually 

 freeze to death but they would surely lose their combs 

 and wattles and they would lay few if any eggs in the 

 winter. 



Before deciding on the style of housing you will adopt, 

 make inquiries and learn who is most successful in the 

 district. There is always someone who stands out above 

 the rest in making a success of the work. Learn from 

 him or them how your brooder houses and laying houses 

 had best be faced. Generally speaking a southern ex- 

 posure is best, east is second choice, west third, and north 

 last or not at all. The writer cannot recall seeing a suc- 

 cessful poultry plant with houses faced north. There are 

 some, of course, but they are raje. Unless your success- 

 ful man is a faddist whose ideas are contrary to all gen- 

 erally accepted rules for keeping hens you might well 

 follow his lead both as to exposure and as to style or 

 type of housing. 



