The bee., 1911-04-11

yards can be placed In an open shed
facing south. The yards are built in
sections four feed wide, two feet high
and Is feet long.
One or 20 sections can be placed
end to end and the length OK the
yard is only limited by your boundary
or whatever else there is to restrict
you. A grass and clover field is the
best, but when / started my yards
they were on corn stubble and fine
grassy yard has grown without seed
ing in two years, writes r. Thomas
In Rural New Yorker. The materials
are kept in all lumber yards. Six
arbor laths 1x2x16 white pine finished
and free from knots and other weak
spots, cost about 20 cents each, will
make the frame. The sides, ends and
top can be made up Of plaster laths
nailed one inch apart for small chick
ems and Ia to inches for adult
fowls. Porch lattice strips are nearer,
better and a little more expensiveI
but II painted would make a neater
appearance and be more lasting. The
end section should be closed at the
ends with a sliding door to shut all
birds in when moving yards; inter!
mediate sections are braced on the
ends and left open otherwise.
The top of each section should have
four feet closed with light lumber or
a sheet OF galvanized iron which will
furnish shade for the fowls on warm
days. For broder yards these sections
should have the whole top covered
with galvanized iron or light lumber
and 1t will save much loss from sud-
den showers, but make them light
enough to move easily The roosting
room should be four feet square and
two feet high with two roosts and
open at the top like a box These
coops are easy to move by just drag
ging them along. They will hold 12
or IA Leghorns and have roosting
coops enough to accommodate your
flock Laying houses are the same
size with four nests on each side
opened at the top. These houses
should be closed at the evening feed
ing time TO stop birds from roosting
in the house or nests. Dry mash hops
pers are Kept in another house of the
same pattern and each house should
have one or more sections between
them.
These yards make ideal Leghorn
yards (they ere always in their own
place and not scratching at your
neighbor's garden), which is their
greatest recommendation. am a
trucker and my neighbor's chickens
do me more harm than all the bugs.
Each morning little grain is thrown
in the end section, and when all the
birds are in close the side and then
move each section over sideways till
all are on the clean grass, then move
the end section, birds and ALL taking
care not to pinch their toes, but they
are usually too eager for the new
grass to get their toes pinched.
Roasting houses should have no bot
tom. Laying houses have only wire
netting on bottom Of the nests to
keep in the straw when moving the
house The dry mash feeding house
should have a wood floor. Water.
grit, shells and charcoal can be kept
in tomato cans or lard pals on the
outside of the yards where the birds
can reach them easily by putting their
heads through the Slated sides of the
yards. and the feeder can see at a
glance II each pail is full. The water.
grit, etc, will always be free from
droppings, which is never the case
when these utensils are kept inside
poultry house. The ground will have
grown up to grass in about two weeks
time when you can move the yards
back to their original place and move
over daily, task that will but take
about two minutes per section at the
most.
Every two years the plot should be
plowed and used for garden and a
new piece seeded to blue grass and
white clover the year previous to be-
ing used as poultry plot. There will
be no waste Of fertilizer in those
droppings on the living sod. In the
cut details of this plan are shown.