The situation of the poultry-yard should be open and airy, but at the same time thoroughly sheltered from the prevailing winds of the locality, and, in England, more especially, from the north, north-east, and north-west. In general, the best situation is one which slopes to the south-east, with the poultry-houses in the upper part, with water for the aquatic fowls in the lower part, and a lofty open shed, in a central position, for feeding the poultry under during rain, and for the peacocks, peahens, and Guinea fowls to roost under in severe weather. This shed should also he so far extended as to include in it a few square yards of surface, to be dug out to the depth of a foot or more, and filled up with dry sand, for the fowls to take what may be called a sand bath, which is the principal means they have of ridding themselves of the body vermin with which they are infested. In addition to this shed, the poultry-yard, if it be large, may contain two or three trees, as well to afford shade and shelter to the common fowls, as for a roosting-place to the pea fowls and Guinea fowls during summer, and to harmonise the poultry-yard with the woody scenery of the place.

There ought also to be, in a proper situation, a covered tank for receiving the washings of the poultry-houses, and retaining the liquid till it ferments and thus becomes fit for manure. The soil is, perhaps, of more consequence than even the situation; for, unless that be naturally quite dry, or rendered thoroughly so by art, however suitable the situation and treatment of the fowls may be in every other respect, nothing can be more certain than that they will not thrive. The poultry-yard should, of course, vary in size according to the number of fowls which it is intended to keep; but more still according to the extent of ground which the fowls are allowed to run over, beyond the limits of the enclosure. If the fowls are never to be allowed to go beyond the poultry-yard, then we should say that the very smallest space in which the common hen can be kept in perfect health, and so as to lay wholesome eggs, even though the poultry consisted of not more than a dozen fowls, is the sixth part of an acre. The reason why so much space is required for so few birds is, that, to be maintained in health, they require a good deal of exercise, and they also require to eat grass, and different other kinds of green food, and to pick up insects and sand, and other objects.

Now, though all these articles might be supplied to them in the poultry-house, or in an enclosure in front of it, of a few yards square, yet it is certain that the fowls, when so confined, would not keep their health. The criterion of the size of the poultry-yard, therefore, where the poultry are never to go beyond it, is the growth of the herbage on its surface; for, unless this be produced in a certain degree of vigour, it will neither support insects nor snails, and, consequently, the fowls will be deprived of their animal food; and every cultivator knows that grass and other herbage will not grow with vigour where it is much trodden on by fowls. Where different kinds of poultry are kept, for the supply of even a moderate-sized family, the poultry-yard, where there was no other range allowed for the fowls, would require to be two or three acres in extent; but, as this would be expensive, and in many cases inconvenient, the poultry-yard ought always, if possible, to be so contrived as to have a free communication with the open fields, or even with the nearest public road.

There is never any danger of losing the fowls, unless by thieves; for not only will they return home every night, at roosting-time, but at any time during the day, on the appearance of rain or thunder, or at any hour at which they are accustomed to be fed. When the poultry-yard is at some distance from a field or the public road, and a place intervenes into which the poultry cannot be admitted to run at large, a pathway through it may be fenced off, with open lattice-work on each side, and with a projecting roof to throw off the rain; or, if the distance does not exceed a few yards, a dry tunnel may be made under ground, or an enclosed way over a wall, or through any out-building. We have frequently seen tunnels of this tort under barn floors, to admit fowls from the farm-yard to the rick-yard, without entering the barn; and we conceive an enclosed gangway fixed to a garden wall, or to the fence of a frame-ground (such as is shown in several of Mr. Rutger's designs, in preceding pages of this work), would answer the purpose of conducting the fowls from the poultry-yard to the public road.

438. All poultry-houses should have the following particulars attended to in their construction. They should all face the south or south-east; and all should have walls hollow, or of sufficient thickness to exclude extreme cold in winter, and excessive heat in summer. A 9-inch brick wall, like that employed in England, is not sufficiently warm, even for the climate of London, unless the bricks be kept so far apart as to form a vacuity of at least 2 in. in the interior of the wall. The height of the side walls should not be less than 7 or 8 feet; but 9 or 10 feet would be preferable, as admitting more perfect ventilation by openings, covered with latticework or wire, immediately under the roof. The side walls should be plastered with cement, or with sound lime and sand, so as not to harbour insects, and to admit of being washed to destroy their eggs, if any should have been deposited on them. The ceilings should, in general, be treated in the same manner, and the floors should be laid with smooth pavement, so as to admit of being washed out as clean as any kitchen floor. In every poultry-house there ought to be a window, with the sill about 3 or 4 feet from the ground; the sashes being glazed» and constructed so as to slide past each other in grooves.

There should be inside shutters to these windows, for use during winter; and outside abutters, luffer-boarded, to close during summer, when the sashes are kept open all night Close under the eaves, there ought to be an opening for ventilation, exactly over the window, of the same breadth, and a foot in depth, with a wire grating, and a shutter on the inside, to slide in grooves, and which should have a cord attached to each end, hanging down within reach, so as to draw it on or off at pleasure. The roofs of all poultry-houses should project sufficiently to protect from rain the side-walls, and the outside stair or ladder, which is made for the fowls to get up to their roost; and there ought always to be gutters, to collect the water from the roof, so as to keep the ground immediately in front of the poultry-house doors as dry as possible. Each kind of poultry should have two apartments: one for roosting in, and the other for laying and sitting in; and, in large establishments, there may be two or three other houses, for fattening in, for confining individuals rendered unfit to be at large from their pugnacity or from disease, and also for rearing young chickens, unless there should be plenty of room for this purpose in the laying-houses.