CHAPTER III.
THE FOWL-YARD.
The scarcity of poultry in this country partly arises from all gallinaceous birds requiring warmth and dryness to keep them in perfect health, while the climate of Great Britain is naturally moist and cold.
"The warmest and driest soils," says Mowbray, "are the best adapted to the breeding and rearing of gallinaceous fowls, more particularly chickens. A wet soil is the worst, since, however ill affected fowls are by cold, they endure it better than moisture. Land proper for sheep is generally also adapted to the successful keeping of poultry and rabbits."
But poultry may be reared and kept successfully even on bad soils with good drainage and attention. The "Henwife" says: "I do not consider any one soil necessary for success in rearing poultry. Some think a chalk soil essential for Dorkings, but I have proved the fallacy of this opinion by bringing up, during three years, many hundreds of these soi disant delicate birds on the strong blue clay of the Carse of Gowrie, doubtless thoroughly drained, that system being well understood and universally practised by the farmers of the district. A coating of gravel and sand once a year is all that is requisite to secure the necessary dryness in the runs." The best soil for a poultry-yard is gravel, or sand resting on chalk or gravel. When the soil is clayey, or damp from any other cause, it should be thoroughly drained, and the whole or a good portion of the ground should be raised by the addition of twelve inches of chalk, or bricklayer's rubbish, over which should be spread a few inches of sand. Cramp, roup, and some other diseases, more frequently arise from stagnant wet in the soil than from any other cause.
The yard should be sheltered from the north and east winds, and where this is effected by the position of a shrubbery or plantation in which the fowls may be allowed to run, it will afford the advantage of protection, not only from wind and cold, but also shelter from the rain and the burning sun. It also furnishes harbourage for insects, which will find them both food and exercise in picking up. Indeed, for all these purposes a few bushes may be advantageously planted in or adjoining any poultry-yard. When a tree can be enclosed in a run, it forms an agreeable object for the eye, and affords shelter to the fowls.
A covered run or shed for shelter in wet or hot weather is a great advantage, especially if chickens are reared. It may be constructed with a few rough poles supporting a roof of patent felt, thatch, or rough board, plain or painted for preservation, and may be made of any length and width, from four feet upwards, and of any height from four feet at the back and three feet in the front, to eight feet at the back and six feet in the front. The shed should, if possible, adjoin the fowl-house. It should be wholly or partly enclosed with wire-work, which should be boarded for a foot from the ground to keep out the wet and snow, and to keep in small chickens. The roof should project a foot beyond the uprights which support it, in order to throw the rain well off, and have a gutter-shoot to carry it away and prevent it from being blown in upon the enclosed space. The floor should be a little higher than the level of the yard, both in order to keep it dry and the easier to keep it clean; and it should be higher at the back than in the front, which will keep it drained if any wet should be blown in or water upset. If preferred, moveable netting may be used, so that the fowls can be allowed their liberty in fine weather, and be confined in wet weather. But the boarding must be retained to keep out the wet. The ground may be left in its natural state for the fowls to scratch in, in which case the surface should be dug up from time to time and replaced with fresh earth pressed down moderately hard. If the house is large and has a good window, a shed is not absolutely necessary, especially for a few fowls only, but it is a valuable addition, and is also very useful to shelter the coops of the mother hens and their young birds in wet, windy, or hot weather.