CHAPTER VI 



COOPS FOR CHICKENS 



So far as we know, old silk hats have not yet been 

 used as chicken coops, but almost every other possi- 

 bility has been accounted for: boxes, barrels, kegs, 

 tubs, old bureaus, sewer pipe, tin bread-boxes, and 

 fifty-seven other objects may be seen serving as a 

 shelter for chickens. It is possible that many such 

 quick-and-easy coops may at times bring the flock 

 through to a successful maturity, but let us under- 

 stand at once that there are more failures and 

 disappointments in poultry ventures at this stage 

 than reason gives any excuse for, and many of 

 them are caused by faulty coops. 



The easy way most books and poultry papers 

 speak of these coops is delightful. They are prob- 

 ably jokes anyway to the writers, who handle 

 chicks by thousands in brooder houses. "If 

 troubled by rats to any extent," says one, "make 



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