Two or three good coats of paint will finish the wood-work, and with the addition of a chain fastened to a staple-plate this dog-kennel will be ready for occupancy.
This dog-hut in Fig 15 is built against the side of a house or barn, and is forty inches long, twenty-four wide, and twenty-eight inches high at the outer side, and thirty-six inches high next the house or barn. The floor frame is thirty-eight inches long, twenty-two inches wide, and made like Fig. 13. Stakes are driven in the ground, one under each corner, and to these the floor frame is spiked fast.
When constructed against a building a strip is fastened to the siding of the building on which to nail the roof boards and to the upper edges of the front, back, and side boards battens are made fast to strengthen the hut.
The wall or side of the building may, in such a "lean-to," be used as a fourth side of the dog-hut. A ventilator is cut in the upper corner of the back and at the front a swinging door can be hung in the doorway or opening. This is a weather-door and is made an inch narrower on each side than the width of the doorway. It is hung on screw-eyes and staples so that it will act as a flap and can be pushed in or out by the dog when entering or leaving the hut. In the winter-time, and when it is raining, this door will keep out snow and water and also protect a dog from strong winds.
Guinea-pig Houses
When making houses or huts for guinea-pigs it will be necessary to make at least one-third of the coop dark, or nearly so, as the little pigs like darkened places in which to spend a portion of their time.
The illustration of the guinea-pig house in Fig. 16 shows how this can be done by partitioning off a portion of the house and making ventilating holes or small windows near the top.
A substantial double-decked house, similar to the one shown in the illustration, should be thirty-six inches long, twenty-four inches wide, twenty-four inches high to the roof eaves and thirty-two inches to the peak. A small dry-goods case can be adapted to this use, and the floor nailed in midway between the top and bottom.
The darkened compartment is fourteen inches wide and extends up on both floors. Holes three by four inches made in the sidings will permit the pigs to have access to the open and closed compartments. A door at one side is made high enough to open into both upper and lower compartments; this is swung on hinges, and for safety it may be provided with a hasp and padlock.
The open compartments are to be screened with square-mesh galvanized wire cloth substantially heavy to prevent the pigs escaping or dogs from entering and molesting them. This wire cloth can be purchased at a hardware store and attached to the wood with galvanized wire staples.
A guinea-pig house should not be placed on the ground, but attached to the tops of posts from twenty-four to thirty-six inches above the ground. Locust posts about four inches in diameter are the best for this purpose as they are tough and will not decay in the ground as quickly as other wood.
The guinea-pig hut shown in Fig. 17 has but one floor and it is much longer than the house, the floor plan being forty-two inches long and eighteen inches wide. The ends are fifteen inches high at the front, twelve at the back, and eighteen at the peak. The dark compartment is fifteen inches wide and the door at the front is six by eight inches, hung on hinges and fastened with a hasp and padlock.
At the front the roof extends over for six inches to shade the open compartment, and at both ends and the back it overhangs about two inches.
This hut is held up on sticks implanted in the ground, and braced so that the wind will not blow it over.
Chicken-coops
In the spring-time when little chickens are hatched, and it is not possible to let the hen wander about at random to scratch up the garden or the flower beds, some small coops and shelters should be constructed and placed in a corner of the back yard, or in some other vacant space, where the little chicks can run without being molested by the larger fowls, as they would be if put in the big chicken-coop or runway.
The easiest coop to make is shown in the illustration of the young chicken shelter (Fig. 18). It consists of a pitched roof mounted on three boards six inches high. This shelter may be three feet wide and two feet deep, and from the ground to the peak the distance is twenty-four inches. Slats are nailed across the front to prevent the hen from getting out, although not so close as to prevent the chicks from squeezing through. A coat or two of paint will improve the appearance of this shelter, and each mother-hen should be provided with a separate coop for her family.
In the illustration of the young chicken coop (Fig. 19) a little more care is taken with the construction, and a canopy fly is arranged at the front to keep off rain and to shade the interior of the coop. This coop is three feet long, two feet wide, and thirty inches high at the front, but at the back it need not be more than twenty-four inches high.
It may be constructed from boards with matched edges, or perhaps from a dry-goods case, and if it is raised from the ground an inch or two, and a few holes bored in the bottom, it will insure a dry floor. The cross rail at the bottom to which the upright slats are nailed is three inches above the floor; and if made two inches wide and the slats one inch and a half in width, they will be heavy enough to resist dogs and cats, if they should try to disturb mother-hen and her brood.
Outriggers may be nailed at each end so that about fifteen inches of the wood projects beyond the sides. A strip of lath should be fastened between the ends, and light canvas or muslin may then be tacked fast to the roof and to the strip to serve as an awning.
Rabbit-hutches
Among animal pets rabbits seem to be general favorites all over the country, perhaps because they are such beautiful and harmless little creatures and so prettily marked. They are worthy of a comfortable home, and the boy who is fortunate enough to have some good rabbits should take pleasure in building a substantial hutch in which they can live and thrive.
In Fig. 20 a double-floored rabbit-hutch is shown, and if it is made large enough quite a family of rabbits can live in it, the larger ones down-stairs and the smaller ones upstairs. An inclined plane will make it possible for the friends and relatives to visit each other.
This hutch should be from four to five feet long, twenty-four inches wide, and twenty-four inches high. The second floor is arranged so that it will be midway between the top and bottom, and at the rear an opening five inches wide and ten inches long will receive an inclined board, across which short sticks have been nailed to prevent the rabbits slipping when going up or coming down the stairs.
At one end a compartment is made eighteen inches wide, and provided with a door six inches wide hung on hinges and fastened with a hasp and lock. Openings five inches wide and six inches high are cut in the side of this compartment, so that the rabbits may enter it from either floor. A drop front, on hinges, will permit the hutch to be partially closed in very severe weather, but when it is pleasant the front should be raised and propped up with a stick, in the ends of which hooks are arranged that will fit into screw-eyes driven into the lid and along the side of the compartment, as shown in the illustration.
In the end of the hutch, opposite the bottom of the stairway, a feeding-doorway six inches square should be cut with a compass saw, and a door hung on hinges. This hutch should be supported on stout sticks or posts embedded in the ground for at least two feet, and it should be thirty to forty inches above the ground. Across the open runs, galvanized wire cloth, with half to three-quarter inch meshes, is to be nailed fast with staples. With a few coats of paint on the outside, this hutch will present a very good appearance.
The rabbit-house (Fig. 21) is a large, one-story structure, in which a family of rabbits can live very comfortably. It is thirty-six inches long, twenty-four inches wide, eighteen inches high at the back and twenty-two at the front. At one side a compartment is made twelve inches wide, and at the outer side a door seven by nine inches is hung and fastened with a lock. This house is supported on four posts, two or three feet above the ground, and when painted it should look very homelike to a rabbit's eyes.
A house of this same description, but larger, may be made for a monkey, a fox, an opossum, a raccoon, or even for bear cubs. For the latter, bars will have to be used instead of the wire cloth, for the bears would soon tear away the lighter material.
Squirrel Cages
For squirrels, chipmunks, and white rats very good cages can be made from wire cloth, tin boxes, and wood, and in the illustration of a squirrel cage (Fig. 22) a simple house is shown.
To make it, a base-board is cut twenty-eight inches long, fifteen inches wide, and one inch and a quarter thick. Ten inches from one end the edges of the board are sawed off so that the end will be six inches wide. Eleven inches from the small end a square piece of wood is mounted on the base-board to form the back to the square compartment. This is covered with tin on the inside, so that the rodents cannot gnaw the wood away at the edges or about the hole that leads into the cylinder.
A wedge-shaped piece of wood, six inches broad at the bottom and two inches at the top, is attached to the small end of the base-board, and from the top of this piece to the top of the back-board a connection strip is nailed fast. From thick wire or quarter-inch...
