96 POULTRY CULTURE 



advantage of the possibilities of the common wire poultry fencing. 

 The desire to keep a number of varieties of the same kind of 

 poultry also necessitates yards with fences so high and substantial 

 that the different kinds cannot mingle, when if a single variety 

 were kept on a farm, or in a community, it would not be so neces- 

 sary to insure complete separation of flocks. A fence may serve 

 to separate different flocks, or to keep poultry from places where 

 they are not wanted, or to protect them. The amount and kind of 

 fence used should depend on the needs of each case. Though 

 commonly done, it is absurd to construct a fence to serve several 

 purposes when there is occasion only for a fence that serves one, 

 or where there is no need to fence at all. 



Necessary height of fence. The height of fence required varies 

 directly according to the kind of poultry kept, and inversely accord- 

 ing to the area of the yard. It is not practicable to construct a fence 

 high enough to keep turkeys and some of the lighter breeds of 

 fowls in small, bare yards. The same birds at liberty might rarely 

 attempt to cross a fence 3 or 4 feet high. Any of the medium- 

 weight ^ and heavy-weight breeds of fowls may be confined by 

 a fence of wire netting 3 feet high if the inclosure is large enough 

 to enable them to gratify in a measure, if not fully, their natural 

 propensity to forage. For ducks and geese at any age, and for 

 small chickens, very low fences will answer. Adult ducks of the 

 heavier breeds will rarely go over a fence 18 inches high. Young 

 ducks and goslings may be kept in for some time in inclosures 

 surrounded by boards 8, 10, or 12 inches wide, set on edge and 

 kept in place with small stakes or pegs driven into the ground. 

 Netting 12 inches wide will answer the same purpose, but when 

 netting is used, 18-inch widths, which will serve until the birds 

 are grown, are preferred. For fences to be moved often, it is 

 advisable to use netting which, when new, is a little wider than 



1 It is stated on good authority that Leghorns may be kept in large yards with 

 3-foot netting if the stakes used are from 6 to 8 feet high and pointed at the top, 

 offering them no inducement to fly over. The author has kept Silver Gray Dork- 

 ings that could easily fly over a 6-foot fence if so inclined, in yards fenced with 

 3-foot netting on low stakes and never had them break out. In Beverly, Massa- 

 chusetts, at one time, a Mr. Fassett had a large flock of Leghorns on a vacant 

 town lot some rods from his home, inclosed in part by an old stone wall and in 

 part by a low wire fence, and the fowls gave no trouble by straying beyond bounds. 



