i6 



Housing of Poultry. 



APRIL, 



trap wires. The roosting and laying compartments are at the 

 back, and the scratching shed in front. 



Roosting compartments in scratching shed houses are bedded 

 out with earth or peat-moss litter, but the scratching sheds 

 should have a thick bed of gravel or sand, well beaten down 

 and levelled. During very unfavourable weather the fowls can 

 be kept entirely under cover. In North America oiled muslin 

 curtains are fitted to frames, which are hung up against the 

 roof when not in use, and suspended in front during snow 



Fig. 4— Roosting Place with Scratching Shed. 



storms, but such an arrangement is seldom necessary in this 

 country. In front of the house is an open yard, 20 ft. 

 long, and as many feet wide as the house is long, that is, 

 18 ft, 12 ft, or 9 ft. respectively. It is entirely enclosed, and 

 if there is a range of houses the fences should be boarded up 

 2 ft. The ground in the run is covered with gravel or ashes 

 or sand, the first named preferred, and it is swept out daily to 

 remove all manure. Beyond this is a grass run, which may be 

 used by two or three of the houses in common, allowing each 

 lot of fowls access to it in rotation. The stretch of grass 

 should be 100 ft. in length, and 36 ft. in width for two of the 

 larger or three of the second-sized houses, while 27 ft. is 

 sufficient for the third size. Under such arrangements it will 

 be found that the bulk of manure produced will fall in the 

 house or open yard, whence it can be removed, and that the 

 grass in outer runs can be kept in good heart, even though 



