BOV’S POULTRY-HOUSE.-THE GAPES, OR PIP. 
97 
Bogs’ ^Department. 
Boy’s Poultry-House. The cheapest alFair for a 
poultry-house, and the most easily constructed, is 
given by Mr. Ames in the Farmer’s Library. Any 
handy lad, he says, can make one in a few hours, 
and the cost is very trifling. 
“ First, let a convenient and suitable place be cho¬ 
sen for the fowl-yard ; not in a dark, shady corner, 
but in a light, airy situation ; and, considering the 
number of fowls intended to be kept, mark its size : 
it is not well to have too many together, as the cocks 
will disagree. A stock of 25, containing 2 or 3 
cocks, is sufficient for one house; if more are to be 
kept, erect another pen in a different direction; ac¬ 
cordingly, mark out a place in the form of a circle of 
18 or 24 feet in diameter. [Fifty feet would be bet¬ 
ter, so as to allow the sun to shine within more 
freely.] On the outside of this circle cut a trench 3 
or 4 inches wide and deep, and plant poles 12 or 18 
inches into the ground every 2 feet. These poles 
should be as thick as a man’s arm, and 8 or 10 feet 
high, thus forming a circle of poles standing on end. 
Boy’s Poultry-House. —Fig 20. 
Choose a space to the south, between two of the 
poles, for the purpose of a door, and the poles on 
each side of this space should be straight, and a little 
stouter than the rest; then go to the swamp or brush¬ 
wood, and cut a good parcel of it, leaves, small 
twigs, and burrs, all just as it stands. It ought to 
be 6 feet long, that it may reach three of the poles, 
and if longer all the better; then having conveyed it 
• o the standing poles, commence by lacing some of 
the stout and straight ones round the poles in the 
trench, alternately in and out, like basket-work, going 
the whole round, the door-way of course excepted. 
When you have got it 8 or 10 inches high, stamp it 
well down, making all tight and firm, that the small¬ 
est chicken may not be able to pass through it. Go 
on thus till you get it 5 feet high, then pass the cir¬ 
cle of brush over door-way and all, to make it firmer 
and stronger, continuing it up to the height of 8 or 10 
feet; the upper may be lighter and not braided so 
close; braid sometimes on one, and then on the other 
side of the uprights. Upon this principle a yard may 
be made of any size, and in any situation, for really 
nothing. Any boy can make a door for this, and fix 
, it with hinges from the sole leather of an old shoe. 
' s Then comes the fowl-house; this should be 
placed in the centre of the circle, that no vermin may 
get at it, and that the fowls may find shade and shel¬ 
ter all around, as the wind or sun may happen to be. 
A few stakes, a little more brush, and an arm-full of 
straw for thatch or roof, will make this answer; but 
one formed of boards with a good tight straw thatch, 
would be far preferable. Mind, I say, ‘ straiv thatch ’ 
for root, as it is far the best thing; and if properly 
done, it will last twenty years. The sun, rain, and 
snow, have no effect on it. It is very warm in win¬ 
ter, and lets no heat through in summer. It should 
be formed of good, clean, long straw, clean-threshed, 
and as little broken a3 possible ; wheat or rye is pre¬ 
ferable : put it on 10 or 12 inches thick; I have 
seen it 18 inches. Tie it closely and securely with 
strips of white oak or hickory bark well twisted • 
but this every one knows how to perform. Mini 
and let the roof have a good pitch, or in other words, 
be very steep, that snow and rain may be quickly 
thrown off. To make this warmer in winter, the 
sides, either outside or within, may be laid with 
cedar brush and salt hay tacked up to the boards; 
or made of brush wicker-work, and then plastered 
outside and in with clay and short salt hay; and 
when dry, a good coat of lime white-wash. This 
gives a neat, pretty look, and is warm and cheap.” 
The Gapes, or Pip. —Mr. Bement, in his Poulte¬ 
rer’s Companion, has gathered together all the sup¬ 
posed causes of this fatal disease in chickens, which 
we shall condense in a few lines for the benefit of 
our young readers. 1. It is attributed to catarrh, 
similar to the influenza in human beings; producing 
a thickened state of the membrane lining the nostrils, 
mouth, and tongue. 2. Small red worms in the wind¬ 
pipe. 3 . Breeding from old cocks [which is doubt¬ 
less an old woman’s notion]. 4. Scanting the chick¬ 
ens in their food. 5. Giving them too much Indian 
meal pudding. 6. Want of pure water. 
The symptoms of the gapes are so various, that 
we have no doubt they should be classed as distinct 
diseases, the same as physicians do those of the hu¬ 
man family. It would be quite absurd to say that a 
child was affected with scarlet fever, when it only 
had a cold; or that it was suffering with worms, 
when gasping for breath with the croup; and yet 
these diseases do not seem at all more distinct to our 
comprehension, than those mentioned above under 
the head of “ Gapes or Pip.” It would be well 
worth while for some skilful surgeon to investigate 
these diseases, and write a work upon the subject. 
The remedy for the catarrh, is to tear off the scale 
on the tongue with the nails of the forefinger and 
thumb, and then push down the throat a large lump 
of fresh butter which has previously been well mix¬ 
ed with Scotch snuff. But we think two or three 
teaspoonfuls of gravy, made of equal parts of butter, 
honey, and vinegar, would be better. To remove 
the worms, hold the chicken with his mouth wide 
open over tobacco smoke from one to two minutes; 
or what is better and more humane, tie the wings and 
legs of the chicken to prevent its struggling, take a 
small hen’s feather, ana strip it clean excepting a tuft 
o.f about an inch at the end, wet this slightly in spirits 
of turpentine, draw the neck of the chicken out 
straight, open its mouth wide, seize the tongue gently 
with a piece of muslin between the fingers to prevent 
its slipping, and then push the feather lightly down 
its windpipe two or three inches and twist it round. 
