CHAPTER VI 



Advantages of the Large Flock System — Reduces 



Cost of Housing and Economizes in Time and 



Labor 



For many years the floor space per hen has been 

 an interesting study to anyone reading poultry liter- 

 ature, either in books or in magazine articles. 



Some fifteen years ago it was generally considered 

 for a hen to do at all well she must have at least 

 twenty square feet of floor space. Later, the num- 

 ber of feet was divided by half, and for some time 

 ten square feet was considered to be the very least 

 a hen could possibly do with. Then we come to the 

 four square feet period, and this created a great deal 

 of controversy. Many writers declared that it was 

 impossible for any hen, no matter how housed, to do 

 well in such a restricted space. At times, some vision- 

 ary writer pictured a flock in one house, of what 

 was then considered an enormous size. One Pro- 

 fessor of poultry went so far as to state that he 

 had successfully kept some three hundred hens in one 

 flock, and had obtained most satisfactory results. 

 Thi§ statement, however, was denied by others, and 

 the Professor wrote an article in which he set forth 



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