The ease with which the premises may be kept reasonably free from litter and filth is largely a matter of convenient arrangement.  The handiest plan from this view-point is the colony system.  In this the houses are moved to new locations when the ground becomes soiled.  If the chicken-house is a stationary structure it should be built away from other buildings, scrap-piles, fence corners, etc., so that the ground can be frequently freshened by plowing and sowing in oats, rye or rape.  The ground should be well sloped, so that the water draining from the surface may wash away much of the filth that on level ground would accumulate.

Cleanliness indoors can be simplified by proper arrangement.  First, the house must be dry.  Poultry droppings, when dry, are not a source of danger if kept out of the feed.  They should be removed often enough to prevent foul odors.  Drinking vessels should be rinsed out when refilled and not allowed to accumulate a coat of slime.  If a mash is fed, feed-boards should be scraped off and dried in the sun.  Sunshine is a cheap and efficient disinfectant.

The advice on the control of lice and the method of handling sick chickens that has been given in the main section of the book, will apply as well on the farm as on the commercial poultry plant.  Certainly the farmer’s time is too valuable to fool with the details of poultry therapeutics.

Farm Chicken Houses.

The following notes on poultry houses apply to Iowa and Nebraska, where the winters are severe, and similar climates.  Farther south and east the farmer should use the same style of houses as recommended for egg farms.  A chicken house just high enough for a man to walk erectly and a floor space of about 3 square feet per hen is advisable.  This requires a house 12 by 24 for 100 hens, or 10 by 16 for 50.

Lands sloping to south or southeast, and that which dries quickly after a rain, will prove the most suitable for chickens.  A gumbo patch should not be selected as a location for poultry.  Hogs and hens should not occupy the same quarters, in fact, should be some distance apart, especially if heavy breeds of chickens are kept.  Hens should be removed from the garden, but may be near an orchard.  Chicken-houses should be separated from tool-houses, stables, and other outbuildings.

Grading for chicken-houses is not commonly practiced, but this is the easiest means of preventing dampness in the house and is necessary in heavy soils.  The ground-level may be raised with a plow and scraper, or the foundation of the house may be built and filled with dirt.

A stone foundation is best, but where stone is expensive may be replaced by cedar, hemlock or Osage orange posts, deeply set in the ground.  Small houses can be built on runners as described for colony houses for an egg farm.