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Old Chicken Keeping Photos

The ninth plate is a lovely black and white photo of a child with some chicks from another book in the collection and the last plate shows a DIY chicken coop made from old piano boxes.

Some time ago I downloaded some books on chicken keeping from the late 1800s. I thought some of the information in there was worth reproducing here. The illustrations are beautiful in their own right so - just enjoy!

The first illustration is from Making a Poultry House by M Roberts Conover, published in 1912 in New York by McBride, Nast & Company. The second illustration is from 200 Eggs a Year, Per Hen: How to Get Them by Edgar Warren which was published in 1912 in the USA.

Plate Nine

Child with Hen and Chicks

I just thought this was so cute and the little girl would probably be nearly 100 years old if she's still around. I wonder what happened to her.

Child with Hen and Chicks

Plate Ten

"Three Dollar Poultry Houses Constructed from Old Piano Boxes"

In those days before radio, never mind the internet, people sat around the piano, which meant a lot of pianos. They had to be delivered in boxes and the boxes became chicken coops!

Ramshackle poultry coops