M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1858-04-08
9gtitQItHral,
From The Country Gentleman.


upon poulry-hou covcr.ngas much
ground as possible. to afford room tor
the fowls to walk about under cover
in bad weather. But it is rot neccs-
sarv that it should be very hjgh, either
for the nests or rOosts. Nests even
on the ground are preferable TO the
HIGH shelves often seen, which the
fowls are very apt to convert into
roosting places. And as tothe roo-ts
fowls are very easily satisfied with
roosts ola moderate hight, say tnur OF
five feet, if there is nothing higher to
attract them. Roosts ofthis hight are
much more convenient for the exam.
nation Of the poultry at night, to de-
tect sickness, or select fowls for the
table.
We prefer a house, the length Of
which is at least double its width
Ours is twenty four feet long and
eight feet wide, in the form Of Il shed,
eight feet high in the froat and about
five in the rear, so that all the water
is carried of'at the rcaE into a gutter.
1t is situated on a slope fronting the
south, and dug somewhat into the
hill behind, for the purpose Of bank,
ing it well, to keep outthe frost. The
whole Of the front is composed Of glass
windows, sliding by each other in Il
horizontal frame, with the exception
of four or five feet partitioned of at
one end for nests. The expense ofth,
glass is trihing in comparison with
the benefit derived to the poultry,
from having sunshine ami light with.
out exposure to the weather
Let the root, with the northern au4
eastern sides, be per.cc,lyti-ht, to eX.
clude cold winds and driving rains,
but do not be tooparticu.ara.gU- uay.
ing the windows fit perfectly t.-.: ia
front, as ventilation is absolutely --.
cessary; and leaving tie windows
open in front all night, when ra.
weather is not severe. is much better
than having 2 little hole op.n'at eaaa
end Of the house to cause Il dra!. COM
pletely through, often directly upon
the heads Of the fowls, which is far
more injurious than entire exposure
The rooSt may run along the back OF
the LARGE room about two feet from
the wall, and, ifnot more than three
feet from the ground, will require no
lalIer.
Ifyou have, as you should have, a
high yard around your poultry.honse,
for the purpose Of restraining the
range Oft fowls when desired, then
in pleasant weathcrthe whole iroutoi
the house can be .-:t open a- night
without danger tryu. t...9-s, e..l-r
two or four-!egg-I.
Now. as to fixtures, l., there be ah-
solutely none, exceg, movable ones.
which eau be taken out il lew N D.
u,es. so as % allow every crevice and
corner to be visited occasionally w.,u
boiling hot wh.t-wasA to drive away
ycrmin. 1t the reo.t be, i possible.
one plain, long pole, set ia brackets az
each end, 50 that it can he removed
and cleaned, OF burnt up and another
substituted. The floor must by all
means be bare ground, well covered
with a mixture OF mortar and ashes
trodden perfectly hard, except u hole
in the corner filled with ground pIas-
ter and ashes for the fowls to dust
themselves in. Silt occasj0naliya l.t-
tie ground plaster or ashes over the
whole floor, and also over the shelves
on which the nests or boxes are placed.
as this will allow ofthe droppiuLs be-
ing more easily removed. IN the
spring you canremove the whole floor,
to TIE depth oi two Or three inches, to
your garden, and replace it with an
other. BY this plan YOU can easily
detect rat-hoIcs, and avoid the coiiyc-
tion of filth and yermin beneath a
board or brick floor.
The end partitioned of for nests
may have two stories, SO contrlyeI
that when hens commence setting on
the ground floor, the laying hens can
be diverted to the second story, say
four feet above the other. The boxes
for nests should be from fifteen inches
to two feet square and about nine
inches, with the middle hall Of ono
side sawed ont half way down, 10 al
low the hen to pass out and in with
out injury to the eggs. They must
have no idstenings whatever, bnL b,
made of sufficiently thick boards 70
stand firmly by their own weight
Make them as ii git as possible, and
pour a little turpentinein the croyices;
then cover the bottom with wood ashes,
and make the nests Of clean straw,
which is not SO favorable to the pro-
duction of vermin as hay. Such a
house as has been described will, when
whitewashed thoroughly, within and
without, probably combine the essen,
tials of room, cleanliness and protcc:
tion for twenty-five or.thirty fowls, at
as little expense as any other, and far
less than same We have seen. with all