The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-09-12
POULTRY YARDS AND FENCES

l Breeding stock, and especially grow
 ling chickens. should have an abundance 1 of range, while hens kept solely for
 the production of eggs may be kept on
 a small area with good results. In rural districts the yarding of poultry is some times unnecessary and in such cases
 colony houses are used to advantage.
 Under this system it is easy to keep the
 birds healthy and their food bill is re-
 duced, as they are able to get a good
 par, of their feed from the range, l These houses, which hold about
 100 hens, are placed from 200 to 25o
 place as new range is needed
 When poultry fences are needed, as is
 the case in keeping poultry in towns
 and cities and in some rural sections,
 as few fences as possible should be
 erected, as they increase the cost of 1 equipment, labor and maintenance. | When very much land is available the lroultry yard can often be kept in sod l On good soil this can be done by allow ing 200 to 250 square feet of land per bird (217 to 174 birds to the acre) while
 more space is necessary on poor or | light land. A large number of fowls are usually kept to the acre where dou- ble yards are used and the land is fre- quently cultivated.
 Plymouth Rocks and the heavy meat breeds in small yards require fences 1 five to six feet high. while fence six to seven feet high is necessary for Leg horns. The upper two feet of the fence for the latter may be inclined inward at an angle of 30 degrees, or a strand or two of barbed wire may be used on top of the regular wire to help keep | them confined, while it is sometimes necessary to clip the wing feathers of one wing of those birds which persist In getting out Posts may be set or driven into the ground. They should be set eight to 10 feet apart with common poultry net ting, or Is to~20 feet with woven wire. Corner posts should be about eight inches in diameter and be set four feet in the ground, while intervening posts may be four or five inches in diameter and set three feet in the ground That part of the post which is set in the ground may be charred or treated with some wood preservative to advantage,
 while corner posts should be firmly braced or set in cement.
 GREEN FEED FOR POULTRY If the poultry yard is fairly large. it can be divided into two parts and green crops, such as oats, wheat. rye or dwarf essex rape, allowed to start in one yard while the hens are confined to the other. The green crops should be sown very
 thick. and the following quantities win be found satisfactory for a yard 25 by 30 feet: Wheat. 2st pounds; oats, 1h pounds: rye 3A pounds; rape, ounces. When the growing stuff reaches height ot two or three inches the hens can be turned upon it and the other yard be similarly sown.
 Where it is inadvisable to divide the yard. it is possible to keep a supply of green stuff growing by using a wooden frame two or three inches high, covered with one-inch mesh wire. A frame made of 2x4 lumber six feet long and three feet wide, with an additional piece across
 the center to support the wire when the
 hens stand on it, will be found desirable
 for a small yard. A part of the yard as
 large as this frame is spaded up and
 sown, the frame placed over it, and the
 material allowed to grow. As soon as
 the green sprouts reach the wire the
 hens will begin to,piclS them off, but since
 they cannot eat them down to the roots
 the sprouts will continue to grow ana
 supply green material. This frame can
 be moved from place to place in the
 yard, and in this way different parts cul-
 tivated