The Barrel Coop

Everybody knows what a nuisance it is to have a hen in a commou barrel coop, and there is a possibility that the chicks do not think much more of it than we do. There are dangers with the round barrel. If not looked after, especially when there is a high wind, there is a likelihood that the breeze will try to use the coop as a f ootball. Again the excrement of the hen and chicks gathers in the barrel, and with the straw that is usually thrown into it forms a fine breeding place for vermin, from which they can go forth in armies to conquer their incubators, the chicks. But barrels may be made into coops that will prove efficiënt. Each barrel should be divided into two coops, sawing the barrel lengthwise. To do this is an easy matter. Take a pencil or piece of chalk and mark the hoops just where you propose to cut them, which should of course be where two staves meet. Care should be taken also to cut the barrel the right way of the head so that the saw will have to be used only to cut the hoops. Now it is desirable that the hoops should remain to keep the staves in place, and to do this some nailing will be necessary before the hoops are cut. Having marked where the hoops are to be cut, nail the hoops to the staves on either side of the mark. It may be necessary to nail into some of the other staves to insure a firin, permanent coop. The advantage of this coop is that the hen and her chicks have the ground under them, and their sleeping place may be kept clean by rernoving the coop from place to place, while in the other case, the coop if moved carries all its ref use with it. There are other advantages which the user will discover. -