A Good Shipping' Coop.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 419, 13 November 1889, Page 3

A Good Shipping ' Coop.

BY a " shipping " coop in the States ib meant a coop in which fowls are sent either by road, rail, or water considerable distances. Goods of any kind forwarded by train are said to be " shipped " in America, the term nob being confined, as with us, to the forwarding by ship or steamer. As the phrase is convenient, we will adopt it, and observe that in sending fowls long distances it id most important that they should be conveyed in a shipping coop which will afford them every chance of aniving at their destination in the best possible condition. This applies with equal force whether the fowls shipped are travelling to a poultry show, to market, or to a distant purchaser. The latter is not so likely to grumble afc the birds? he receives as not up to description or expectation if they reach him wich unruffled plumage and healthy condition. Our poultry breeding readers

will be only Loo well acquainted with the growling tendency of customers who have ordered sto k from a distance. They are, as a rule, only 100 ready to find fault and complain, reason or no reason, without giving them a plausible excu&e for fault-Hi. ding by not taking due ore that the birds sent to them on order shall reach them looking as well as it is possible they should look after a long journey either by land or sea. Therefore we give some directions, with illustrations, how to make a good shipping coop by a thoroughly practical authority. "Three features aie desirable in a shipping coop — lightness, strength, neatness. Lightness may be Fecured by using light wood, and combining this with burlap or strong cotton cloth ; to secure strength it is only necessary to properly arrange the material ; neatness will be secured by using clean, new rnatetial. " I give two illustrations showing how a good and convenient shipping coop may be constructed • " 1. Let the dimensions be 24 x 18 inches and 15 inches high. First take two strips Ix 2 inches, 18 inches long ; nail on these $ inch boards : this will answer for the bottom of coop : placing the bottom with the stripe up, nail on each corner four uprights of the desired height ; these uprights .should be let in their own thickness ; common lath will be heavy enough for this purpose. Now take two strips Ix 2 inches of the proper length and nail between the uprights, at right angles with the bottom strip's : on these strip 3 the slats for the top are to be nailed ; slats 3 or 4 inches by j^-inch are sufficiently heavy for the top ; two of these plats, one on each side, should now be put on to complete the framework ; burlap may now be tacked on the four sides ; when this is done strips of plastering lath should be nailed diagonally across each side to brace and strengthen the whole ; a few slats on the top, and the coop is complete. It may be added that it is well to have an odd number of slats on

the top, the middle one being stouter than the rest, and so shaped to form a convenient handle. " 2. Let the dimensions be 24 x 12 inches and J8 inches high. Take a board $ or q inch nliick ; cub off two feot for the bottom, and two lengths 18 inches each for the ends ; nail together and put two slats on the top, as in the above plan ; tack burlap on the sides, and brace with lath as before, and the coop is done. " Of course, coops of any dimensions may be made on the same general plan. Increased strength may be secured by the use of heaviei material, or by a little extra bracinp-."— "The New Zealand Farmer."