The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-09-13

The size or the nock VIII oepSnu first of all upon the space, and, sec ondIy, upon the amount of table scraps or other waste available for feed. It Is a mistake to try to over stock the available space. Better re- suits will be obtained from a few hens in small yard than from a larger number. The backyard poultry flock rarely will consist of over 20 or 25 hens and in many cases of not more than or 10, or occasionally of only B or f. For a flock of 20 to 25 hens g. space of not less than 25 by 30 feet should be available. Where less space Is available, the size of the flock should be reduced, allowing on the average 20 to 30 square feet per bird.
 The best way for the city poultry keeper to procure hens is to purchase them in the fall An effort should be made to obtain bullets rather than older hens, and the bullets selected should be well matured, so that they will begin to lay before the cold weather sets in. The purchasing of bullets in the fall is preferable in most cases to purchasing day-old chicks or to matching chicks in the spring. If chicks are raised they must be fed throughout the summer and no return will be obtained until the outlets be- gin to lay in the fall, except that the males can be eaten or sold.
 When bullets are to be purchased, 1t is we'll if possible to go to some farmer or poultryman who may be known to the purchaser. In some cases it may pay to make arrange | Al,z EN tI1A desired number of bullets at an agreed price. The householder can often pick them out among the live poultry hippd to the city to be marketed, but the advice of one who knows poultry should be sought in making such purchase, to make sure that bullets or young hens are obtained, and that the stock is healthy.
 | The flock should be comfortably but not expensively housed. A house which provides a floor space of three or four square feet per bird is ample, and fowls are often successfully kept with an allowance of three square feet. Houses must be dry and free from draft, but must allow ventila tfon. The front of the poultry house should face the south, if possible, so that the sun will shine into it. Per fectly satisfactory houses can be made cheaply from piano boxes or other packing cases. Two piano boxes with the backs removed can be nailed to- gether, door cut in the end, and the whole covered with a roofing paper. Where there is board fence it is sometimes possible to build the pOul- try house in the corner and make the fence itself wit the cracks covered by strips or ibattened, serve as the back and one side.
 When the soil is well drained and consequently will remain dry no floor need be used in the house, the ground itself serving as the floor. Often a slight da1npness can be corrected by filling the floor several inches above the outside ground with sand, cinders, gravel, pr dry dirt. Three or four inches of the surfce of the floor, and of the run if very small run is used, should be removed and replaced with fresh dirt two or three times a year If the ground is so damp that this , condition cannot be corrected by fill . ing it is best to provide a board floor. This will help to keep the house dry
 
 promote the general health of the 3 hens A house with board floor \ should be set on posts 12 inches above r the ground, as rats are not so likely = to take refuge under 1t.
 To keep the flock clean and sani : tary dropping boards should be pro 0 vided and roosts above them. Thi, e makes it easy to remove the dropping @ each morning and keeps the house
 free from odors. A little sand O. 7 ashes sprinkled on the dropping = board after each cleaning will mak t cleaning easier.
 e The droping boards and roost l should be placed against the bacl @ wall Here they are out of the wa. h and are least likely to be reached D, }, drafts. The dropipng boards shoul s be 30 inches from the floor. Thi ,, gives space under them, the hen o have room to exercise and is not to T high for the heavier hens to fly up tc If more than a single roost is useG s they should be on the same level = otherwise all the hens will try IL crowd upon the highest roost. A pole
 or even a piece of board two or thre
 
 ' lowance of seven to ten inches C " roost space per fowl, according the size of the birds, should be mad' . If more than one roost Is used, the
 should be placed IS inches apart. ] Nests must be provided and may
 very simple. Any box about one fot
 square and five or six inches deep
 suitable. An ordinary orange bo @ with the partition in the midd
 serves well for two nests. Nests ca
 be fasteud against the walls or s'
 on the 6Dr. One nest should be pro
 vided for each four or five hens.
 The straw in the nest should 1
 kept clean and not allowed to get {
 low that the eggs will strike the bo
 tom of the nest, as this will brea
 them and start the hens to eatir
 eggs, a very troublesome habit, diff
 cult to break up.
 A litter of straw or the leaves abo7
 three or four inches deep should
 used on the floor of the house. Tn
 provides means of feeding grain
 that the hens are obliged to exerci
 by scratching for 1t,
 When hens become broody tn,
 should be broken up" as quickly
 possible, for the sooner this is doi
 the sooner they will resume layin
 Rs break a heR of bFoodiness sl
 should be eeaaned to a small coo
 preferably with slat bottom, Gi
 her plenty of water to drink; S
 may be fed CT not as desired. N
 much difference will be found in t
 time required to break her, wheth
 she is fed or made to fast. Usual