POULTRY LORE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 931, 3 January 1890, Page 19

POULTRY LORE.

PREPARING' AND SHIPPING LIVE POULTRY. Poultry Bbipped alive to market should be •well-fattened, healthy and free from blemish. It is mostly used by the city people who will not take or use any fowl or animal that is in any way deformed ; but for unblemished and well-fattened fowls they are willing to pay the highest price. Before putting them in the coops, give plenty of feed and drink. Feed grain only ; meal sours. Do not overcrowd the coop, os it causes excessive heat and makes the fowls feverish and sickly. If Bent by express the coop should be as

small and light as is compatible with suffioieat strength to brar rough handling. Freight is Charged On weight oc coop, as well as of poultry, Old rdostera Usually sell at half the price of fowls, atad yoiing roosters are rated the same as chickens. Small and ncaf-by lots are best Sent by express, arid the coops will be rCfcdruecl free of charge: The&e chn be made smaller and lighter thaii those Which are sent by freight. A gbod and cofivenieht size for express coops for fowls, chickehs, and dtieks, is as follows i Boards for ends and middle, two feet ldng, one foot wide, and five-eighths of an irich thick, free from shakes or splits, and of light dry wood. For the bottom use boards four feet long and three eighths of an inch thick. For sides and ton. goo-*, clear, straight-grained plasterer’s lath is the best and cheapest. Make the bottom of boards tho same length as the laths and of full width of the end and middle p-ece3. Nail the lower laths close against the bottom boards, on both sides, to prevent the fowls from getting their feet or legs out. Leave interstices of a' out two inches between the laths on the sides, but only one-and-a-half on top. This prevents the fowls from sticking their heads through and being injured or killed, one coop is placed on another. Do not nail the two middle laths on top of the coop but use seiews, so they can be easily removed. Nail a piece of thin, light hoopiron all round the ends and middle. For small spring chickens and pigeons make coops of the same dimensions, but only eight inches high, as only strong healthy pigeons are used for trap shooting. Do not put squealers or young ones in, or any with clipped wings, as they will be thrown out when sold. Kor geese the coops should be fourteen, and for turkeys sixteen inches high. For snipping by freight or long distance, make as follows : Five feet six inches long, three feet wide, and -one foot high for chickens, fowls, and ducks ; for geese fourteen inches high j and for turkeys sixteen. The coop is divid-d by a partition across the middle. Use posts two inches square for the corners and middle. The slats on each side next to the bottom should be three feet five inches long, the others at each end three feet long. The five inches extension beyond the end of the coop is to hold a feed trough. The long slats and bottom boards are five feet six inches long—all three-eighths of an inch thick. The slats are from two-and-a-half to three inches wide, free from knots, and straight-grained. A V-shaped notch is cut in the projecting ends of the lower slats to hold the feed trough outside of the coop, put the Blats on the sides and ends, about two inches apart; but "closer on top to prevent the fowls getting their heads through. Make a feed trough of two pieces of board, four or five inches wide, and the length of the coop with end blocks in, and nail well in the notches of the bottom end pieces and to the side slat. The best feed to use is craoked corn thoroughly soaked, as it holds the moisture and will not sour.—American Agriculturist. A