Part 6

THE RUN

The runs are essentially a part of the problem of housing. Fowls need plenty of exercise, yet they are entirely too meddlesome to be given full liberty where one has a garden, a good lawn, and flowers. While hens may be kept in buildings and, with proper care, still retain their health, the average owner of a small flock can keep the birds more economically if he gives them the natural advantages of outdoor exercise.

The most useful run is the divided pen, each section to be used alternately.

For the active-laying breeds, three runs, about ten by forty feet, to be used alternately by the flock of forty hens, are advisable. Where two are used the dimensions should be greater--say ten by sixty.

A yard inclosure for large birds requires two-inch meshed poultry wire, five and one-half or six feet in width, supported by posts set nine or ten feet apart. The wire is attached to the posts by staples about four inches apart. A wooden strip or any other finish along the top of the fence is an objection. The lower edge of the wire requires a board or strip to which it is tacked. Boards six inches wide may be used for this.

SOME HINTS ON UPKEEP

The poultry house, no matter how carefully built, is not a fit place for poultry, if it is neglected. Cobwebs draped across the corners hold dust and disease germs. Neglected perches become mite-infested and are thereafter a menace to the health of the poultry. Grooves and crevices in walls harbor mites, lice, and disease. Burlap curtains that become dusty do not readily admit pure air, or else convey a cloud of dust directly back to the fowls. Floors that are covered with an accumulation of dirt become damp and cold, aside from the danger of contamination.

Window panes that are cloudy with dirt do not admit sunlight properly.

The proper care of the poultry house means work, and the place seems hopelessly unlovely when the task has been ignored from day to day, and one's sins of omission are seen in the aggregate. The proper way to perform such work is daily, when but a few minutes will serve to keep the building sanitary.

The litter of straw should be changed frequently, say, every third day--the floor swept and fresh litter spread upon it.

The droppings should be removed daily. A little fine dry sand acts as an absorbent if sprinkled over the cleaned surface.

Walls should be swept down once a week, giving attention to corners, under and behind nests, perches, etc. For this purpose a splint broom, such as is used around stables, is most useful.

For thorough cleansing after all loose dirt has been swept away nothing is superior to whitewashing. It makes the room lighter, sweetens the air, and is a "cold shoulder" to all vermin. A sprinkling of dilute carbolic acid is a safeguard against disease. Perches are best cleaned by washing with some liquid insecticide, and then allowing them to dry in the sun. A good wash is made by dissolving half a cake of any laundry soap in ten quarts of water and adding five tablespoonfuls of kerosene oil.

Transcriber's note:

Italics is represented with underscore _, small caps with ALL CAPS and underlining with tilde ~. Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained and illustrations moved to paragraph breaks.

The following corrections have been made:

p. 11 are 14 in. long., -> removed period after long

p. 11 to 5-in. height -> removed hyphen after 5

Everything else has been retained as printed.