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“RELIABLE POULTRY JOURNAL PUB.CO.

' QUINCY, ILL.

POUL TRY

Houses and Fixtures

SEVENTH EDITION

The Plans and Details for Constructing Closed Front, Scratching Shed,
Curtain Front, Fresh Air and Portable Poultry Houses
and Appliances for House and Yard

Pawo (limi. Glieiniirs

PUBLISHED JOINTLY BY

American Poultry Publishing Company, Buffalo, New York
AND

Reliable Poultry Journal Publishing Company, Quincy, Illinois
Copyright 1910

BY
Reliable Poultry Journal Publishing Company

HOUSES AND FIXTURES FOR STANDARD-BRED FOWLS

425675

€a

Determining the Type of House

The Governing Influences of Location, Soil and Climate The Merits of Continuous and Colony Houses

OULTRY houses and fixtures are among the first con-
siderations of a person about to begin breeding
poultry. If the buildings are commenced in a hap-
hazard kind of a way disappointments and loss of

time are bound to ensue. It will, therefore, be the endeavor
in this book to assist the breeder in avoiding the difficulties
which arise with a first attempt at poultry house building, in
addition to which we will place before the already experienced
poultryman plans which his fellow-breeders adopt. We pre-
sent illustrations and descriptions of houses for the city and
village fancier and for the professional breeder who intends
establishing a large plant. The farmer, also, will find plans
suited to his requirements.

There are important considerations which may not be
mentioned in the detailed building instructions that follow,
but which must not be overlooked, so it will be well to draw
the attention of the reader to these at once.

The Location of the House

Location and surrounding of the poultry houses should
be the first thought. A house suitable for one locality may
be unsuited to another; a house adapted to a fifty-foot lot
may not be the thing for a ten acre establishment. Hills
and hollows, flat lands and swamps, sandy locations and
clay soils, all more or less affect the style and position of a
well-planned poultry house. Climate also has much to do
with it. ‘The southern fancier has an advantage in cost of
buildings over his northern brother. He has also obstacles
to contend with which are not met in cold climates. While
he is worried about providing sufficient fresh air and pro-
tection from the hot sun, and while he is waging continual
warfare against lice, his friend in the north is filling up all
the openings, double lining his walls and doing his utmost to
prevent the frost from penetrating his hen house.

Everybody agrees that an orchard is an ideal place
for poultry houses, but everybody is not blessed with an
orchard. The south side of a dense plantation or the south-
ern slope of a hill is a favorite position in the north; the
cold winter winds are thus broken and the snow disappears
quickly upon warm days, giving the fowls an opportunity
to wander forth in search of tidbits-and vigor. ‘‘ High and
dry ’’ applies particularly to fowls’ houses. It is a necessity.
To provide board flooring in a house that is built over a low
wet spot is not sufficient. No house should have stagnant

water underneath, even though its effect is not visible on
the inside floor. It is unhealthy. If there is no other choice
of location, such spots must be filled in with earth and
raised above the surrounding ground, so that water will
drain away from the house. A sandy soil is much better
than clay. The latter is nearly always either damp and
sloppy, or baked so hard that the fowls can barely raise a
dust; the droppings from the fowls remain on the surface
and need frequent plowing under. Sand absorbs the drop-
pings, and so saves much labor, though of course it also
needs turning over occasionally.

Continuous and Colony Houses

Shall I build a continuous, or separated houses, is a
question the answer to which depends upon circumstances.
The continuous house is a labor-saver, and therefore a
favorite with large establishments, where the main object
is egg production or market poultry, where a few minutes’
additional labor in each pen means hours lost every day.
Many prominent breeders of fancy poultry adopt this plan
for like reasons.

The colony plan is adopted by those who are of the
opinion that fowls do not thrive when housed together in
large numbers. Their preference is the house which accom-
modates not more than fifty fowls. These houses are dotted
over the farm at such intervals as convenience directs, some
having yards adjoining, while others are separated entirely.

The scratching shed plan is a ‘‘ go-between’’ the contin-
uous house and the colony plan. It may be in a way a con-
tinuous house, and the attendant may be under cover at all
times while passing from house to house; again they may be
built in pairs. They are simply open sheds alternated
with closed houses. This plan is becoming quite popular,
especially with breeders of exhibition who desire
vigor and fertile eggs rather than enforced egg-production
and infertility. At first glance the expenditure appears to
be increased on account of the extra sheds, but it must be
remembered. that the closed portions of the buildings are
in great part used only for a roosting and laying house,
and are not November-to-March habitations, such as com-
bine dining room and sleeping apartments. Six square feet
of floor space per fowl would be little enough in such a
house, but where the fowls spend most of the day in an-
other apartment—the scratching shed—then the

”

fowls,

closed

4 POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

room need only be slightly larger than they require for
roosting and nesting purposes; that is to say, it must be
three square feet per hen instead of six square feet.

It will be understood that increased flosr space is
desirable, but generally poultrymen wish to evonomize
and we are keeping that in view. It is a great mistake
to economize unduly in the construction of houses. Es-
timates should be made as to the cost of construction
and material, then the number of fowls to be kept
should be governed by the amount to be expended in
the buildings.

Fresh-Air Houses

“God lent His creatures light and air and waters open to the skies;
Man locks him in a stifling lair and wonders why his brother dies.”
—DrR. OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.

Dr. Holmes’ poem from which the above lines are
‘quoted was written many years ago. That distinguished
physician and brilliant author well knew and taught his
students the priccless value of pure fresh open air.

In spite of the fact that there were many
practical and striking examples of successful poul-
try keeping in open or semi-open houses, poultrymen
generally have been afraid of cold air methods and
“fresh-air houses.” The great majofity have continued
to lock their poultry “in a stifling lair” and have won-
dered why their fowls sickened and died. With the foul
air, dampness and excess of filthy dust to be found in
most closed poultry buildings it is not at all strange
that fowls are commonly afflicted with a multitude of
diseases, chief among them being roupy catarrhal colds
and fungoid diseases of the respiratory organs.

It is only within the past few years that anything
has been done to push the general adoption of fresh-air
methods of poultry housing with a view to improving the
health and productivity of our flocks. Possibly Mr. A. F.
Hunter and others started the movement in the right
direction by booming the ‘“scratching-shed”. house. Mr.
Haywood, of New Hampshire, has for a number of years
been using a tent shaped low cost house with a partly
open front. Editor J. H. Robinson about 1902 published
plans of a cheap convertible “cold” poultry house, having
large doors in south front that made an open-front shed
of the building when thrown wide open. Dr. Bricault and
Dr. Nottage each published plans of convertible houses,
the last named gentleman having a building of the con-
tinuous “semi-monitor top” type. All of these houses
provided for an abundance of fresh open air by day
but took no account of the night supply, when the house
was tightly closed in cold weather. They marked a de-
‘cided step forward, a step in the right direction toward
fresh air, better ventilated houses and less damp, stag-
nant air and dust. Fresh air, however, is needed quite
as much, if not more, at night, as it is during the day.

It remained for Mr. Joseph Tolman to take the
really radical step in favor of fresh-air housing of poul-
try. In 1904, on advice of the writer that his fowls
needed more fresh air, Mr. Tolman built his first fresh-
air house, a deep, low building with an entirely open
front. This house was a success from the start. The
writer built two of them later and still likes them im-
mensely after using them for four winters. It speaks
well of this open-front building that when the first plans
were published it received a warm welcome from pro-
gressive poultrymen, in spite of the fact that, with the
exception of R. P. J., the leading poultry journals were
most of them either opposed or indifferent to this rad-

ical departure from the conventional poultry house.
Gradually this open-front building has won its way to
public favor, chiefly on its practical merits, and today it
is generally conceded by the leading authorities that the
“open-front poultry house has come to stay” and that
it means “better poultry and more of it.”

Regarding the Construction

Elaborate poultry houses earry with them no ad-
vantage aside from appearances; in fact, there are dis-
advantages connected with them which do not exist in
plainly constructed buildings. There should be as few
nooks and ornaments as possible. Start in with the
knowledge that every little nook, corner and crack will
be a ready made breeding spot for lice, and shun them.
Most poultry houses are built of rough boards (or barn
siding as they are sometimes called) battened on the
outside and lined with building or tar paper on the in-
side. In cold climates a second wall or boarding is built
upon the inside face of the uprights, forming a space of
four inches between walls. This space is sometimes
filled with sawdust, ashes, earth, shavings or other ma-
terial, but often remains unfilled. Some people prefer
the natural earth for a floor, while others like boards.
The main object should be to have a dry floor.

Windows should be of medium size. Large windows
attract the heat of the sun during the day and release
it after sundown, thereby causing extremes of tempera-
ture; they afford heat when the fowls, by exercise, can
do without it, and withdraw it when they are at rest
and need it.

Ventilation should be by open doors or windows.
Attempts at ventilation by a system of pipes and traps
are nearly always futile, frequently cause drafts and
disease, and at the same time fail to carry off the foul
air.

Nests, droppings boards and roosts should be so
made that they can be easily removed and thoroughly
cleaned, leaving no corners that are difficult to get at
with the whitewash brush. The droppings boards are a
necessity. They prevent an accumulation of manure on
the floor, where it would be scratched around among the
grain, and they render cleanliness less difficult of accom-
plishment than it would be if there were none.

There will be found in the following pages illustra-
tions of the various styles of houses we have mentioned,
with a full description of each. We have omitted esti-
mates, because the prices of material vary greatly in
different localities, and the cost therefore will differ ac-
cordingly; besides in many cases the owner of the house
will be his own carpenter, thus saving the labor bill.

The best styles of houses that have come to the at-
tention of the editor of the Reliable Poultry Journal,
both at his desk and during his extensive travels among
the successful poultrymen of the country, are repre-
sented, and we trust the reader will be able to find
therein a style of house suited to his needs. Numerous
handy fixtures for the poultry house and yard are illus-
trated and described, and many labor-saving devices are
also given.

The smaller houses of necessity lack many conven-
iences which will be found in the larger ones, but there
are many which may be adapted to all styles of houses,
and the reader is recommended to study all the plans
before commencing operations. He has our best wishes
for his success.

Building a Poultry Bouse

A Presentation of the Facts that Should be Considered by the Poultryman before the Construction of the
House is Commenced—How to Arrive at an Economical Labor-Saving

Plan of a House and Yards

James E: Rice

The four
corner stones upon which success rests are:

(1) Suitable buildings properly located.

(2) The right foods skillfully fed.

(3) Good fowls carefully bred.

(4) Facility and ability to hatch and rear chickens.

Pose: keeping is an exacting business.

The Location of the House

The location should be dry. If the ground is not dry
naturally, it should be made so by drainage. Damp ground
means cold ground, because rapid evaporation cools the soil.
It also means unhealthful soil because the air and sunshine
cannot penetrate to purify it.

Air drainage is as important as soil drainage. Cold air
settles in low places. A low place though more sheltered
from the wind may be many degrees colder than a higher
spot a few rods distant. Therefore avoid locating poultry
houses where cold stratas of air can settle. Secure warmth
by building in the lee of a windbreak, or in front of farm
buildings, or a hill. Buildings that face the south will get
the largest amount of exposure to the sun’s rays. Other
things being equal they will be warmer and dryer and more
cheerful. An eastern exposure is usually preferable to a
western exposure, barring prevailing winds from the east,
because, like ‘flowers, hens prefer morning to afternoon sun.

The form and location of poultry houses have much to
do with their convenience. Time is money. Therefore a
poultry plant should be built with a view to saving steps.
With this point in mind a man would have to walk 1320 feet
to go the rounds of the 16 houses shown in Ill. 2. Most
men feed their fowls three times, water once, gather the
eggs once and
clean house once
daily, making 6
trips a day which
would require the
attendant to walk
7920 feet a day or
547 miles a year.
Walking 4 miles
an hour, it would
take 136 hours,
and at 124% cents
an hour would cost
$17. If the six-
teen houses are
brought together
into one continu-
ous house, Ill. 3.
“the attendant would make the round by walking 540 feet.
Six trips a day would make 3240 feet a day or 223 miles
a year, taking 55 hours and costing $6.97 per year, a
saving of 324 miles, of 81 hours and of $10 a year. A

horse and cart to carry the food and water, eggs, litter,
cleanings, etc., in case of the colony plan, and a trolley
through the continuous house, could be made to save 2 or 3
trips a day—reducing the amount of travel proportionately.

The Type Influences the Cost of Construction

Houses built
on the colony or
separate plan, cost
more to build thang
a continuous house
of the same capac-
ity. Ills. 3.

One end of each
house is saved by
bringing them to-
gether. Suppos-
ing the buildings
to be 15 feet wide
and 6 feet high on
the sides, the lum-
ber saved would
amount to 127 feet
6 inches for one
house equal to 2040
sq. ft. for 16 houses, and if double boarded would require 4080
feet besides other materials and cost of building. The colo-
ny houses are much cooler because more exposed.

300° .

SOUTH YARD

ALL ONE YARD

500-

16x/54240'

NORTH YARD

Fencing the Yards

To fence sepa-
rate yards for the
pens Ill. 2. would
require 2734 rods
of fence which
would cost about
$20. Every timea
division fence is
taken out each
flock has twice as
much liberty as it
had before. When
all the division
fences are remoy-
ed each flock en-
joys sixteen times
as much liberty as

4 it had before. The

labor of cultivat-

ing and seeding sixteen yards is greater than it would be if

all were in one field. Again one would have to open and

shut about 100 gates a day in caring for the stock in build-
ings arranged as in Ill. 2.

6 POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

Features of Large and Small Yards

Asarulemake
them long and
narrow. Double
yards are desirable
(Ill. 5). They
allow one to rotate
green crops. This
practice converts
the filth which
would become a
source of danger
into a valuable
food crop. Where
several breeds are
kept or many small
breeding pens are
desired the follow-
ing plans are sug-
gested to save
steps:

The shape of the fields, and slope of land and location
of the other farm buildings will have much to do with the
FS shape of the yards

162
A aroung

6175+ 450 59H and mode of ac-
Le cess to the build-
ings. Two rods wide and
eight rods long is a good size
for forty or fifty hens although
og +more room would be better. This
permits a row of fruit trees in the
res center for shade, which is a necessity.
crud If the nearest point of access should
be from the.north (Ill. 5) it would
6 be better to have the houses on the
west at B instead of at A.

L1Sb4* ASO 50.7. B

/ORFS* F-50590 Cea

WAX SB $5 O39 tt D

Small Flocks Lay Best

Ordinarilly we expect to get more eggs from a small
flock than from a large one. But every time we double a
flock we divide the labor. Forty to fifty seems to be about
as large as it is safe and economical to keep together. If
more are together the weaker are crowded and the individual
is lost sight of.

Construction of Houses—The Working Unit

A safe working rule is to allow about 5 to 6 sq. ft. floor
space, and 8 to 10 sq. ft. air space for every fowl. The
lighter breeds, because more active and restless, require
about as much room as larger breeds.

Foundation walls should be built deep enough to prevent
heaving by the frost, and high enough to prevent surface
water from entering. Sometimes grout walls may be made
with gravel or small stones where large stones are scarce; or
the building may be set upon posts in the absence of foun-
dation materials.

Square Houses Economize Lumber

The nearer square a house is—other things being equal—
the less lumber it will require. (Ill. 6.) It is 72 feet
further around house A than it is around house E, having
the same number sq. ft. floor space. If the sides of the
house are 6 feet high then one thickness of boards would
take 6x72 =432 ft. If the house is double boarded it would
be twice as great, 7. e., 864 feet, besides the extra material

required for 72 feet of framework, building ‘paper, nails,
labor, foundation, etc. The long narrow house is colder be-
cause it has 432 sq. ft. more of exposed surface.

Cost and Value Affected by Form of Roof

The shape of the roof affects the value of a poultry house.
It takes the same amount of material to build-a gable roof—
a one pitch roof or
a combination
roof, if the pitch
of the roof and the

ground plan are .2-------> 12-= ae
similar. (Ill. 7). i a! ;
The shape of the sae
roof influences the
cost of the sides
of ithe house, salt) » aeons poem
we assume that the 7
window is 6 feet
high in a building
15 feet wide, it would be necessary with a gable roof to have
both sides of the house the same height, which makes more
interior air space than is necessary and requires the rear
wall 1 foot 6 inches higher, than would be needed with a one
pitch or combina-
tion roof. A one
slope roof will cost
the extra lumber
to build 3 feet
higher in front
than is required
by the combina-
tion house. If an
Le alleyway should be
8 desired along the
rear side of the
house, or if a large garret space is desired, the gable roof
style of house will be the most economical to build.

In order to build the three styles of houses, each taking
the same amount of material and having the same area of
roof and floor space, they would be as seen in Ills. 8, 9, 10,
which would make
the one pitch roof
too low in the rear Pee ee regs a 00
for convenience. ears j
The steeper the aa
pitch, the greater
the comparative
expense of build-
ing a shed roof
house, as compar-
ed with the gable
or combination
roof house. The steeper the roof the greater the cost for
roofing and the longer it will last. Most roofs can be one-
fourth pitch. Shingle roofs should generally be one-third pitch.

Total Ref

Each Form of Roof Has Its Advantage and Disadvantage

The single span roof is the easiest to build. It gives the
highest vertical front exposed to the sun’s rays which are re-
flected back, drying the ground and making a warm shelter.
It throws all the rain water to the rear, lessening the length
of eaves-trough one-half and keeping the front of the house
dry where no eaves-troughs are used. It allows the win-
dows to be placed high up. A tarred paper roof will last

- pen

BUILDING A POULTRY HOUSE

many years Jonger if the slope is toward the north It is

cooler in summer ;

if not exposed to

the vertical rays Reet

ae

of the sun. The ee |

gable roof provides a s
ae Me)

for a large garret '

space which can
be stuffed with
straw, making the
house warmer and
drier. The com-
bination house
shares in the advantages and disadvantages of each of the
others.

Alleyways are Expensive and do not Always
Economize Labor

They occupy one-fourth to one-fifth the entire space of
the house, which would accommodate one-fourth to one-fifth
more hens or would give the regular: number of hens one-
fourth to one-fifth more room. Twenty to twenty-five per
cent of the total area of a building is too much to pay for a
free passage-way.

Every time one enters the pen from the alleyway he
opens and shuts twice as many doors, as he would in a sim-
ilar house without an alleyway, ii one passes from pen to
and returns outside (except in the case of a long sec-
tion scratching-shed house). (Ill. 11.) If alleyways are
boarded up tight: one cannot see the fowls without open-
ing the doors. If they are not tight they encourage draughts.

The nesting and roosting conveniences can be so arranged
- that most of the work may be done from the alleyway, which
might be a saving of labor. But in so doing one would not
be among his fowls, which would be a decid-
ed disadvantage.

Long houses should always be divided
by’ tight partitidns either cloth or board,
between every two pens at least to avoid
draughts. Otherwise cold and dangerous air
currents will be formed whenever windows,
doors or ventilators are open.

Sunlight is a Necessity

It carries good cheer and tends to arrest,
or prevent disease. Too much glass makes
a house too cold at night and too warm
during the daytime, because glass gives off
heat at night as readily as it collects it in the
daytime. Much glass makes construction expensive. Allow
1 sq. ft. glass surface to about 16 sq. ft. floor space
if windows are properly placed. The windows should
be high and placed up and down rather than horizon-
tally and low. (Ill. 12.) In the former the sunlight
passes over the entire floor during the day from west
to east, drying and purifying practically the whole
interior. The time when sunshine is most needed is when
the sun is lowest, 7. e. from Sept. 2Ist to Mar. 21st.
The arrows in Ill. 12 represent the extreme points which
the sunshine reaches during this period with the top of a 4
foot window placed 4 feet, 6 feet and 7 feet high, respect-
ively. With the highest point of the window at4 feet, the
direct sun’s rays would never reach further back than 9 feet;
at 6 feet it would shine 13 feet 6 inches back and at 7 feet it
would strike the rear side of the house 1 foot above the floor.
Window sash with small glass seriously obstruct the light.

-2

Very large lights break too easily and are more expensive;
8 by 10 is a good sized glass to be used in a 12 light sash,
making it about 3 feet 9 inches high, by 2 feet 5 inches wide.
Use two of these for a house about 15 feet square. Single
sash are usually less expensive than double sash of the same
size, and the cost for window frame is less. Single sash
may swing from the side or top, or be made to slide to one
side. They can be opened and closed quickly and complete-
ly, and are against the wall where least apt to be broken.
With double sash this is more difficult. Whitewashing the
inside of a house makes it as much lighter as an extra
window.

Extreme Temperature May Be Modified by
Careful Ventilation

It is as important that houses be kept cool in summer as it
is that they be kept warm in winter. Therefore remove win-
dows in hot weather. Curtains over windows, though. add-
ing to trouble and expense, can be used to advantage during
night time in the coldest weather, and during the daytime in
the hottest season. Hens must be kept comfortably warm.
This is particularly true at night when the body is less active.
The great difference between summer, when hens naturally
lay most eggs, and winter when they always lay the least
eggs, is a difference in temperature and sunshine. Therefore
we must build our poultry houses so that we can as far as
possible, consistent with cost, overcome this condition.

A Low House is Warmed Easier Than a High One

Solid walls radiate heat rapidly. The best way to make
a poultry house warm is to build it as low as possible with-
out danger of bumping heads. There will then be ample air
space for as many fowls as the floor space will accommodate.

losed

Too much air space makes ahouse cold. It cannot be warm-
ed up by the heat given off by the fowls.

With the house as seen in (Ill. 13) 15 by 15 by 6 ft.,
there would be 1912 cu. ft. of air space, which with 40 hens
weighing five Ibs. each, would allow 94%, cu. ft. to each
pound live weight. This is eight times greater than is rec-
ommended for each pound live weight for other animals.
The gable roof alone has 562 cu. ft. air space or 2,8, cu. ft.

air space to each pound live weight.

The Walls Should Furnish Insulation

Matched lumber is cheaper in the end than unmatched
with battened sides. Planed lumber will pay for extra cost
in the saving of paint and brushes. For durability, painting
buildings may not pay, but for appearance’s sake it is de-
sirable. Line with tough building paper, always making the

8 POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

laps tight.
with straw rather than have a so-called dead air space, or

Make the walls double with the space stuffed

the same material built solid together (Ill. 13). With
the solid wall, heat passes through rapidly. The same is
true of a dead air space where the air becomes as cold as the
outside boarding and in turn, by direct contact cools off the
inside boarding. This occurs less quickly when the space is
stuffed with non-conducting material. Stuffed walls will not
be necessary over the entire house except in the very coldest
sections; or the coldest sides in the milder section, and not
at all further south. It costs about the same to build a
double battened wall with unmatched boards solid together
with paper between, as it does to make two single walls of

matched boards with one lining of paper and the space
stuffed with straw. With vertical boarding every board
serves as studding and saves expense.

Dampness is Fatal in Poultry Houses—Drain to
Promote Dryness

Better by far to have a cold, dry house than a warm
damp house. The warmer the air the more moisture it will
hold. When this moist air comes in contact with a cold
surface, condensation takes place, which is often converted
into hoar-frost. The remedy therefore, is to remove the
moisture supply as far as possible, by first cutting off the
water from below which comes up from the soil. The water
table is the same under a poultry house as it is out doors.
Dirt floors are therefore damp. Stone-filling covered with

Sun’s rays from
April 21st to

soil is hard to clean, and only partially keeps
out dampness. Board floors are short-lived if

Sept. 21st ets
the air is not allowed to circulate under the
house. If the foundation walls are not tight
Sun’s rays the floors are cold. In any case they harbor
at Dec. 21st rats. A good cement floor is nearly as cheap

as a good matched board floor,

lumber, sleepers, nails, time, etc.
When once properly made it is good for all time. It
is practically rat proof, easily cleaned and _ perfectly dry,
cutting off absolutely all the water from below. If covered
with a little soil, or straw or both, as all kinds of floors
should be, it will be a warm floor. Make cement floors by
filling in with small stones or coarse gravel, if possible,
for drainage. Then work in and smooth off about
one to two inches of mortar, made by mixing thoroughly
while dry, one part good cement to three parts sharp
sand, then wetting and thoroughly mixing again and again
and again. Other things that can be done to keep dampness
out of the air is to use absorbents like dry dust, or land
plaster, or South Carolina rock on the droppings, which
should be frequently removed; and by keeping plenty of dry
straw or buckwheat hulls on the floor for litter or overhead.

counting

When Air is Warmed It Expands and Rises—Cooling
Has the Opposite Effect

Damp air may be removed by ventilators, which wil
necessarily make the house a little cooler. Warm air rises.
Therefore the best ventilator is one that has an outtake near
the floor, with a tight galvanized iron shaft leading up
through the warm air of the house to the roof and out at the
peak. The metal being more quickly affected by heat will
cause currents of air in the shaft to rise more quickly. (Ill.
13.) The intake air should be received from the bottom on
the outside and conducted to the ceiling before being allowed
to enter the room. This avoids direct draughts and
causes a circulation necessary to the removal of the moisture.
The less the difference between the inside and outside tem-
peratures and the quieter the air, the more difficult it is to
ventilate. The tighter and warmer buildings are made, the
easier they are to ventilate. The larger the amount of air
space the less need there will be for ventilators, provided
there is a change of air through windows or doors during the
day. (Consult King on Ventilation.) Stuffing the sides and
roof of the house with straw to prevent condensation of
moisture will help to keep the moisture in the air so that it
can be removed by ventilation.

Pure air is as necessary to good health and good egg
production as pure food and pure water. It will require a
perfect system of ventilation and considerable personal at-
tention to keep the air in a poultry house as pure as it would
be out doors. It will therefore often be found advisable to
adopt the scratching shed plan of house, which allows fowls.
some discretion in choosing an open air temperature.

Exercise is Necessary to Insure Health; Scratching
Pens Provide for This

Hens do not like confinement. The fact. that hens can
go in and out freely from house to shed, seems to be a de-
ceptive form of liberty which they crave and which is not
provided in a single close compartment house. The fact of
having been in the cooler air during the daytime seems to
make the fowls less affected by the cold of night.. In practice
they are generally found to be more healthy and to lay more
eggs in a year when proper scratching sheds are provided.

BUILDING A POULTRY HOUSE 9

The relative size of the shed and closed compartment will
depend upon the location. The further south, the larger the
scratching shed and the smaller the closed pen, even to the
extent of having all open sheds with cloth fronts and with
hooded roosts. Such houses are far warmer than is gener-
ally supposed. The further north one goes, the smaller the
scratching shed and the larger the closed compartment
should be, until in very cold sections the open sheds might
be entirely undesirable. Ordinarily they should be about
equally divided.

There are several ways to provide scratching sheds, each
one possessing some advantage over the other. Ill. 11,
shows three styles. Plan C has the advantage of a scratch-
ing shed as deep as the house which is thus better sheltered
from the wind: It has the disadvantage of having more
doors to open and close in passing through a long house.
Plan D does away with two doors thus saving time, and is
no more expensive to build, but is more exposed to the wind
and will make a somewhat dark corner unless a window is
placed at the back of the scratching shed. Plan E 1s all
scratching shed except a small warm roosting room. This
would be a little cheaper to build but would not be adapted
to the coldest sections. The fronts of the open sheds should
generally be provided with heavy cotton cloth doors to keep
out sleet and snow during heavy storms. They may be hung
at the top and raised by a pulley, or sliding doors with cloth
windows can be used. Hens are easily frightened. Any-

thing that causes uncertainty or suggests danger retards egg
production. Therefore every house should providea retreat.
This is done by placing the opening through which the fowls
pass toand from the shed and the house, in the house, at
the rear side instead of the front side of the partition. When
any person or animal approaches the shed the hens
retreat without alarm to the house, or to the shed, if the
alarm were to come from the other direction. Placing the
opening at the rear side also prevents the wind from blow-
ing into the house. It should be raised 3 inches above the
floor to prevent the litter from being scratched out.

A Dust Bath is Essential to a Fowl’s Health and Happiness

By it they scour off the scurf and scales from the skin
and rid themselves of vermin. The finer, lighter, dryer the
dust the better, because the dust must be light and
fine to get into the breathing pores of the lice to kill them.
Sandy loam is often better than sand or some kinds of road
dust which are cold and heavy. Wood ashes and coal ashes
lighten it up. The best place for the dust bath is in the open
air of the scratching shed. Here the dust quickly settles and
the hens that are not dusting are not compelled to breathe
it. Fowls are apt to stand upon the edge of a dust box and
befoul it. The interior arrangement of a poultry house
should not occupy the floor space. The hens need it all.
The floors are more easily cleaned.

Practical Feeder and Water Fountain

This feeder is made of galvanized sheet steel 13 inches in diameter,18 inches high and weighs 5 pounds. The top and bottom are connected with No.
'8 galvanized wires, the top of the feed tray being 8 inches from the floor and 3 inches deep, or just right for fowls to eat with ease and still high enough
to prevent scratching litter intothe same, The feeder has a bail and cover like a pail and it can be filled outside and simply taken in and set down in
the pen. The drinking fountain is also made of galvanized sheet steel, the body being 444 by 8 by 9inches high and will hold five quarts, ane pam is 1%

NS ees er

Z 7
n og 77 Ww

WA

inches wider than the main body, giving
ample room for the fowls to drink. The
pan is hinged to the back of the main
fountain and has an automatic catch
in front, so that when the fountain is
filled and the bottom isup you simply
close the pan over the body and the
catch snaps in place and cannot be
emptied until released by operation of
the catch. The water remains in the
pan the same as in any other fountain,

]

Details of Construction

The Practical Advice of a Qualified Architect Concerning the Foundation, Floor, Walls, Roof and Interior
Fixtures of Poultry Houses—The Acquisition of Desirable Features
and the Avoidance of Errors

R. P. I’s Architect

than would be supposed by the uninitiated. It

should be simple, practical and convenient. It

should be comfortable for both attendant and fowl.
It requires to be built substantially and to be adapted to the
purpose for which it is intended,

The foundation should be strong and well made. It
may be built of concrete, rock or brick, or may consist of
wood only. It should extend below the frost line so that
cold weather will not injure it by causing it to settle, which
would certainly be the case if not made sufficiently deep.

“Excavate trench below frost line, 15 inches wide.
Grade bottom to drain to lowest point of surface. Lay two-
inch tile in bottom; carefully fill in stone around and over
tile, using large flat stones to cover the tile. Fill trench
to within 6 inches of surface with
small stones. Then set up 12-inch
wide boards edgeways, 12 inches
apart inside, having top edge per-
fectly level; fill in layer of small
stones 3 inches deep, nicely fitted
in on outer sides, and then run in
grout composed of cement 1 part
and sharp coarse sand 3 parts.
Then tamp until the mass becomes
jelly-like under the rammer and un-
til the water begins to ooze out. Re-
peat until walls are filled even with

A N IDEAL poultry house has many requirements, more

14—A SERVICEABLE

ION 5
ROUNDAR top of boards, which can be removy-
ed when grout is set. The wall
will then project 6 inches above ground. (Ill. 14.)

When using concrete, cement must be added to insure a
thorough job. Without it the mixture would soon lose
life and crumble away. Portland cement is best for under-
ground work. It is advisable also to use cement in the mor-
tar, if foundation is made of stone or brick, as it greatly
adds to the durability of foundation.

Another very good and more economical foundation
suggested was to take glazed drain-
age tiles of proper size; place them
in an upright position, sufficiently
deep, and fill the inside of tile with
concrete, making a post that will
never wear out or decay.

Wood Foundation

If wood foundation is used, cedar
posts will be found the most desir-
able, as they will outlast any other.
These should be placed at least 3
feet into the ground and be not over 8 feet apart to prevent
building from sagging. Two-inch planks should then be
nailed to the posts in a horizontal position. These boards
should be at least 6 inches above grade at the lowest
corner and should extend below the ground for some
distance, not less than 12 inches, the deeper the better. The

15CONSTRUCTION OF
CORNER

main purpose of this is to keep out rats, ete. (Ill. 15.) Ii
the boards were covered with small wire netting it would be
still better, but the wire must be well galvanized. Cheap wire
would not do. To prevent posts and lumber from rotting,
especially below.ground line, apply hot tar, avenarius carbo-
lineum or some creosote preparation.

Stone and Wooden Floors

Floors should be raised above the surrounding ground
A very good floor,

to insure dryness, which is essential.
quite frequently recommended, is
composed of large stones laid on the
ground about 6 inches high. These
were covered with 3 inches of
smaller stones, then gravel and
topped off with 2 inches of coarse
sand, making a moisture absorbing
floor about 1 foot above ‘grade.
Wood floors can also be advanta-
geously used. They should be raised
some distance, say about 6 or 8
inches above the ground, and have
ventilation underneath. Small holes

at each corner ofthe foundation be-
low the floor line will answer very
well. (Ill. 16.) This will allow air
to enter under the floor and keep it dry. All joists, tim-
bers and the lower side of the floor might also be treated
with taror other preservatives above referred to. One of the
main purposes of the foundation and floor 1s to prevent rats
and other rodents from entering the poultry house. Floors
constructed as stated above will go a long ways towards
accomplishing this.

16—SECTION THROUGH
WOODEN FLOOR *

Constructing the Walls

Walls must be weather-tight. A great variety of walls
have been suggested, some of boards only, others of boards
covered with paper; some single, others
double, and so on to the most elaborate
one, built as follows: (Ill. 17.)

On the outside of the studs nail sheath-
ing; cover with paper or sheathing quilt;
then with drop siding or weather boards.
On the inside studs fasten building paper and
board up with matched flooring or ceiling.

This gives us two thicknesses of paper,
three of boards and an air space between,
and forms an absolutely warm and air tight
wall, better than many dwellings.

A good wall can be made of
boards papered outside and in,
(Ill. 18.)

All walls should be constructed to exclude
vermin, lice, dampness and draft and should be free from
cracks, crevices or holes.

matched
17—AIR-TIGHT at low cost.

WALL

DETAILS OF CONSTRUCTION Mi

The Roof

Roofs should also be air tight, and of sufficient pitch
to shed water freely. They should extend over the building
to protect it from the weather. If shingles are used on
the roof, omit paper under them, for the paper absorbs and
retains moisture, causing them to rot from below in a short
time. All houses ought to have eaves troughs or gutters
to carry away the water. (Ill. 19.) While not essential,
they are desirable, for they not only protect the foundation,
but also the walls, and prevent washing away of the
ground, in districts where severe rain
storms are prevalent. Lofts filled with
hay, straw, leaves or other litter under
the roofs and above the roosting rooms
are used quite extensively and are advan-
tageous, not only adding to warmth
of house in winter and coolness in sum-
mer, but absorbing and holding mois-
ture arising from the fowls and so prevent-
ing drippings from walls and consequent
danger to the health of fowls. (Ill. 20.)

The Doors

Doors should be of sufficient size to
allow one to enter the building and pens
with ease; the outside door wide enough,
if the house contains more than two pens, to admit a wheel-
barrow. The doors, both exterior and interior, should be
located so as to save steps and as near the interior fixtures
as possible. This in a large house is of great importance.
Where there is no hallway, doors in the partitions should
swing on double acting hinges, and be of sufficient width for
eleaning house.

18—A SERVICE-
ABLE WALL

The Windows

Windows should be located properly, preferably on the
south side of the building, and of sufficient size to furnish
ample light and ventilation, and low enough to give light
in the front part of
the pens. They
should also be capa-
ble of being opened
for ventilation. The
most convenient way
is to have them slide

horizontally. This
allows them to be
opened partly or

wholly, with no dan-
ger from winds
slamming them and
breaking the glass. In
very long houses, as
shown by some of
LA the plans, the win-

I9-ROOF ANDEAVETROUGHS ‘dows can be placed on
small wheels and

fastened to a rope, thereby enabling the attendant to close
or open all, or a number of the windows, from one point.
If the windows are to be raised and lowered with a cord,
from the -hallway, they should be counter balanced. They
will then remain in position and can be more easily opera-
ted. High windows, as shown in some of the plans for
lighting roosting rooms, or for other special purposes, are
not only unnecessary, but detrimental. Sufficient light can
be had from the south windows for all purposes, and any

further openings are
only sources of heat,
cold and. expense.
Too much glass is
nearly as objection-
able as too little. On
bright days too much
sunlight passes
through it, making
pens uncomfortably
warm; at night the
heat escapes very rap-
idly. This not only creates a cold house when fowls are
roosting and should have warmth, but also condenses the
moisture in the building, causing dampness, which promotes
decay. Some plans err greatly in having a super-abundance
of sash. They might be good hot houses, but are poor
poultry pens.

The same with skylights. Being in the highest part of
the building, they allow more warmth to escape in winter,
and during warm weather produce extreme heat, more so
than side windows.

A number of competitors have discarded glass entirely in
their poultry houses, and recommend muslin covered frames
in place of sash, with good results. These would be very
desirable also where glass is used, for then the admission of
heat and light would be under perfect control.

20—LITTER-FILLED LOFT

“Ventilators are Superfluous”

Ventilators are entirely superfluous. Thorough ventila-
tion may be obtained from doors and windows if properly
located, and any further ‘‘unique”’ or ‘‘ideal’’ systems of ven-
tilation are generally worse than useless in poultry houses.

Fixtures Should be Simple and Detachable

All roosts, droppings boards, nests, feed boxes, water
fountains, etc., should be removable, for the purpose of
Parasites will not thrive when ex-

cleaning and airing.
posed to sunlight;
therefore all fixtures
should frequently be
given a sun bath,
after being thor-
oughly cleaned.
When fastening fix-
tures avoid unneces-
sary cleats, slides,
notches, pegs, etc.,
since eyery one of
these affords a loaf-
ing place for vermin.
Droppings boards
should be of first class material and as free from joints as
possible, and spread with earth to facilitate cleaning. In
cold climates the roosting place may be enclosed by curtains
on frames hinged to the ceiling to be dropped at night during
severe weather, or by having curtains hung by rings on wire
to be drawn over the roost at night. (Ills. 21-22.) All
fixtures should be raised sufficiently high above. the floor to
allow fowls to freely run under them, thereby giving an
unencumbered floor space for exercise. This also makes it
more convenient for attendant when refilling or cleaning
these accessories. Feed and grit boxes or troughs, water
fountains, nests, etc., should be so placed that no unneces-
sary steps need be taken when replenishing them. The larger
the house the more important is this, for saving steps mean

21—COVERED FRAMES IN FRONT
OF ROOSTS

12 POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

saving time, and it is surprising how much may be wasted
in a. year.

Unnecessary Expense
When building a poultry house be economical, whether
a cheap house or an expensive one.

Use nothing that is
not needed to in-
sure strength,
comfort and con-
venience; not only
on account of cost,
but on account of
time occupied in
eleaning. In look-
ing over plans a
great many items
are found that are
superfluous and therefore wasteful. Among them are the
following:

i1—Feed rooms in buildings containing only two or
three pens.

2—Passage-ways or halls that are not fully utilized.
Passage-ways are not
only convenient, but

22—CURTAIN IN FRONT OF ROOST

necessary in long
houses, and if the
house is properly

constructed most la-
por can be done from

5 them; if not fully

utilized they are

43 simply so much
[ waste space that

might otherwise be
occupied by the
fowls. Separate nest
rooms are unnecessary; the nests could as well be placed
on the walls of pens.
3—Unnecessarily large timbers in construction of
buildings, such as the use of 4 by 4s where 2 by 4s would
suffice, is wasteful. Lumber is frequently cut to waste,
as for instance by
having walls 6 feet
and 6 inches high,
when they might as
well be 7 feet with-
- out additional ex-
pense and with ad-
ded convenience,
since 14 foot lum-
ber must be used in
either case.
4—Foundations if
not below frost line
are an uncalled for

23—A CORNER
OF SILL

expense, for they
will not properly
earry the building

nor prevent the ad-
mission of rodents.
5—Roofs when

shingled and not
having sufficient
piteh cause premature decay and should be avoided.

6—Too many doors in buildings are absurd;
two-pen houses have five or six.

7—Upper rows of windows, skylights and ventilators
are seldom necessary; generally troublesome.

8—Arrangements of interior fixtures so as to be dif-

24 -OVERHEAD TROLLY

some

ficult of access, create loss of time, consequently waste
of money.

This list might be continued indefinitely, but enough
has been said to indicate where expense can be avoided.

Excellent Features in Poultry Houses
Besides those already mentioned, some of the best
suggestions follow:
i—Rock founda-
tions laid in ce-
ment. (Ill. 14.)
2—Floors of pas-
sageway lower than
floors of pens in
continuous houses,
avoiding the neces-
sity of stooping and
facilitating the la-
bor which is all
done from the hall-
way.
3—Passageway
running across a
two or four pen
building, thereby
saving space by al-
lowing attention to
two pens from one
point.
4—Boards and pa-
per on both sides of

25 PASSAGEWAY OUTSIDE HOUSE.

studs; space between filled with sawdust or finely
chopped hay.
5—Alternate partitions between pens removable;

when remoyed doubling size of pens.

6—Partitions covered with muslin in place of wire;
this allows air to circulate without allowing draft, and
should be a good plan in very long houses.

7—The front of scratching shed hinged on top, to.
swing in and to be fastened to roof in warm weather,
the fowls being confined by a wire netting partition.

8—Sectional houses, fastened with bolts only, making:
them convenient for removal.

9—Sills made of 2 by 4s to 2 by 8s doubled, according:

26—GATES ADJOINING THE HOUSE

to the size of the house, for houses built on posts, thus
giving strength and durability. (Ill. 23.)

10—Cars running on rails in long continuous house
for ease of carrying mash, food and water, and for clean-
ing droppings board, gathering eggs, ete. This would be
cheaper if overhead barn door hangers and track were
used. (Ill. 24.)

11—Fitting or exhibition coops (which also may be
used for broody hens or extra cockerels for fattening)
placed about 3 feet from the floor; they take up no floor:
space and admirably serve the purpose for which they
are intended.

12—A clever feature, though not belonging to the
house proper, is the building of gates, the width of runs:

DETAILS OF CONSTRUCTION 13

and adjoining the building. These gates when opened not
only form an enclosure for fowls in the yards, but also
form an alley the full Jength of the building, wide enough
for driving through, when cleaning the floors of pens, or
removing litter. (Ill. 26.)

13—Passage-way along outside of building being
formed of raised walk for barrow to be used when feed-

ing, cleaning, ete. (Tl. 25.)

Many minor improvements, such as wind-breaks, steel
roofs, newspapers in place of building paper, and others
too numerous to mention, are spoken of by different
builders, and the persistent reader, after seeing the plans
and specifications which are published herein, will cer-
tainly be able to erect a poultry house to his entire satis-
faction, one that will be practical, economical and ser-

viceable.

ees, Ty

a

Law

PIANO BOX POULTRY HOUSE

(For description see page 24)

losed Front Houses

QA PFive-PBen Laving House

A Simple Practical House Economically Built on the Shed-Roof Plan with a View to the Comfort of
the Fowls, and a Saving of Labor for Their Attendant

Arthur Davis

E WILLtry to tell you in plain terms how we built
W poultry house, the plans of which we send you.

Neither my father nor myself is a carpenter, but

we have built a poultry house which I think comes
very near filling the requirements.

I will commence with the floor plan, which is 60 by 15
feet inside, with a three-foot passageway on the north. This
gives a man room to walk and carry a pail or push a wheel-
barrow and still clear the shelf containing feed pans and
drinking fountains. The building is supported by posts set
below the frost line—about 3 feet below the surface. These
posts are 4 feet long, thus raising the building about 12 inches
off the ground. In all there are 18 posts, 6 for the north and
6 for the south wall, with 6 to support the center. The inside
posts, with the exception of the end ones, are set directly
under the partitions and with the help of the partition posts
support the roof, which will not sag.

The building is divided into 5 pens 12 feet square,’and
accommodates 15 fowls to the pen nicely. The door may be
at either end of the building and the gates to the pens may
be at either side, the interior fixtures being arranged to suit.
Two by six scantlings are used for sills, and 16 foot, 2 by 4’s
are used for stringers. The floor will never sag with this
support. The stringers are 2 feet apart anda 2 by 4 rests
edgeways on top of posts—running lengthways of the build-
ing to support the stringers. On the outside walls stringers
are spiked to the 2 by 6, even with the top of the latter. On
the under side of 2 by 4 stringers light strips are nailed, run-
ning lengthwise of the building and 4 feet apart to support
any kind of light lumber or strips laid on them between the
stringers. This is simply to hold up building paper which is
cut in strips and laid between the stringers and tacked to
each 2 by 4 with laths.

The floor proper is then laid. This makes a perfectly
tight double floor with 1 set of stringers. If paper was put
on top of stringers and then floor laid, it would sag down in

time from dampness. By being laid this way it can stretch
and shrink and will not tear loose.

I believe in a floor in a poultry house, as it saves grain
and is always dry, no matter where located, and rats or other
vermin will not work under a building set off the ground
as this is.

The south elevation is 5 feet 6 inches inside. Ten feet
scantling 2 by 4 will cut to make this height, with the addi-
tion of the 2 by 4 plate spiked to upper ends. The lower
ends are toe-nailed to the 2 by 6 sill flush with the outside.
Studs are set 3 feet apart, or so as to accommodate the win-
dow. Our windows are 3 by 5 feet, with 6 lights. These
windows are hinged to swing inward, with wire screen frames
on outside of opening. I would not advise a smaller win-
dow, as that would make it dark in the passageway and the
hens could not see well enough to eat.

Side elevation is self-explanatory; any one can nail that
together. Studs are 3 feet apart. On the end where the
door is, the first stud can be set to accommodate door frame.
A 6 foot or 6 foot 6 inch door can be put in here nicely.

The north side is perfectly plain—no windows are neces-
sary. -

Interior fixtures: The partitions between pens are board-
ed up solid with light stuff to a height of 3 feet from the floor.
The gate is hung to the 2 by 4 in passage partition. There
are 4 partitions between pens. These prevent fighting among
the fowls and they will not dash themselves against this par-
tition at feeding time as they would if the partitions were
composed wholly of wire netting.

The illustrations of a section looking from pen towards
the passage show a very convenient and labor saving arrange-
ment of fixtures, the construction of which is shown on the
cross section. No. 1 shows the rousts; 2—droppings board;
3—nests; 4—nest platform; 5—brace for same; 6—leg to sup-
port droppings board; 7—door through which to clean same;
8—door for gathering eggs; 9-—slats for feeding through;

CLOSED FRONT HOUSES 15

10—shelf for holding feed pan, water, etc.; 11—board run-
ning whole length to keep litter from being scratched into pas-
sage-way. It is plainly seen how much labor and food this
arrangement saves. Understand that these fixtures are next
to the partition which is boarded up 3 feet, consequently no
fowls are roosting near those of tHe next pen. The droppings
board can be hinged to the board partition, or the passage
partition, so that it can be
raised up and hooked to allow
free access to nests for clean-
ing. Roasts are simply set on
this platform—not nailed. A 4 inch board is nailed to the
inside of droppings board to prevent scattering of droppings.
Nest boxes have no top or bottoms. They are simply 5

boards 14 inches square fastened on the back with a 6 inch

TEL Ie Lie:
Ear aa!
Tee (sy Coo

DHOPY. BOAFD.

The slats are 7 inches long, that is, the space between the
strips running across pen and top of litter board is 7 inches.
From the nest platform to the droppings board is 14 inches,
and with an inch or two added for clearance, will make roost
platform abeut 3 feet from floor, or a little less. Platform
is 5 feet square. Under it there is room for 4 nests 14 inches
or 5 nests 12 inches wide. Nearly all breeds of fowls can fly
to roost without inconvenience, except possibly Brahmas or
Cochins. In that case a ladder could be made to hook on to
platform to aid them. These nest boxes under platforms are
dark enough to prevent hens getting bad habits.

Our poultry house is ceiled inside, except overhead,
with building paper between. The roof is matched stuff and
covered with three-ply tar roofing. painted with tar paint.
This house has withstood all kinds of weather and has never

DP0P. BeAaPrn.

PLAN, AND SECTIONAL VIEWS OF 5-PEN LAYING HOUSE DESIGNED BY ARTHUR DAVIS

board and on the front witha+ inch board. After the
droppings board is raised the nest boxes may be lifted off in
one piece, leaving all nesting material on platform which can
be swept onto the floor. ?

The leg (No. 6) is hinged so that when the droppings
board is raised it lays back against the same out of the way.
All these fixtures are made of % by 1% or 2 inch strip, com-
monly known as roof lath, with the exception of the drop-
pings board and nest platform, which are ; or 4 inch sheath-
ing. The nest boxes can be made of 4 inch poplar or any
light stuff. The distance from floor to top of feed shelf is 10
inches. Our pans are 2 inches deep and 7 feet long. The top
of this pan is just even with the top of the 12 inch board.

been so cold as to admit frost sufficient to freeze a comb on
a Plymouth Rock.

Architect’s Comment

This is in general a simple, practical and convenient
house. It has many desirable labor saving features, allow-
ing the attendant to take care of many fowls, more, prob-
ably, than by any other plan. It is, everything considered,
a very economical building, in which hardly anything could
be omitted, except by sacrificing either ease of access and
convenience for attendant, or comfort and warmth for both
attendant and fowl.

16 POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

Posts are set below the frost line, thus avoiding a mis-
‘take too generally made in buildings of this kind. They
project one foot above ground, insuring a dry floor, not
liable to decay, and protecting building and fowls alike from
rats and other vermin.

Sills are 2 by 6 inches.
where it is most needed.
are insufficient. ‘

An unusual feature is paper laid on strips that are
tacked underneath the stringers, to form an air space be-
neath the floor for warmth and prevention of moisture from
the ground. This could probably be done far easier if paper
were laid on top of stringers, and might answer as well,
though the designer gives a debatable reason for his method.

Walls being doubled (that is, boards on either side of
studs), form an air space, keep out cold and prevent heat
from escaping. It is presumed that the paper is next to the
outer boards, which prevents the outer air from entering air
space, and so keeps the house warmer in winter and cooler
in summer.

Roof is made of matched stuff, covered with three-ply
tarred paper. Being a shed roof, it is more economical than
a hipped roof, and being highest on north side, it leaves
sufficient height in passageway, where practically all of the
work is performed.

Passageway partition is very conviently arranged, allow-
ing attendant to do feeding, watering, egg gathering, clean-
ing, etc., from it. In fact, all work can be done from the
passage except the removal of litter from floor of pen. It
would be more desirable if shelf for feed pan would not pro-
ject into the hallway. To a slight degree it obstructs the
passage of wheelbarrow, when cleaning droppings board, as
the barrow cannot be brought up close to wall. Some of the
droppings would likely fall into the passageway, or still
worse, into the feed trough.

Feed troughs, water fountains, nests, etc., being along
‘partition of passageway, leaves all of the floor space entirely
clear, so that it is really a scratching shed. There ought to
be a dust box somewhere on the floor, of which nothing is
said by our friend, perhaps unintentionally, for we suppose
ihe has provided it for his fowls.

Droppings boardis 5 feet square. It might be narrower
‘and still be sufficiently wide for the number of fowls men-
tioned. It is quite inconvenient to clean off a board 5 feet
wide from passageway.

As stated before, the building is very convenient and
well adapted for its purpose. It could be shortened or ex-
tended and still retain all of its good features. With a few
alterations it would be very near what we are looking for, a
perfect, well adapted and practical house for fowls.

This insures strength at a place
Many builders use 2 by 4’s; these

DOUBLE POULTRY HOUSE

Plans, Detail of Construction and Bill of Material for
a Poultry House, Together with Description
of the Interior Equipment

William N. Hill

; HIS house is designed to be either double or continuous.
| Ths plans show it double, but it can be extended to

any length. The house shown is 12 by 24 feet, divid-

ed into two pens 12 by 12 feet, each of which will ac-
commodate 20 to 25 fowls. There is no inside walk, but as
the house should face south, the yards will run north, leaving
the front of the house free from fences. Thus when one

wants to go into a particular pen, there is only one door to
open instead of a number of gates or doors, to say nothing
of the freedom from chickens in the path. It is a good plan
to put a row of netting along the lower edge of the roof in-
clining outward, in order to keep the fowls from flying onto
the roof and so getting out.

A narrow trench should be dug 18 inches or more deep
to receive the foundation. Then broken stone or brick and
mortar are put in, in layers, and thoroughly rammed. This
should be brought up level with the ground; on this lay 3

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28—PLAN, SECTIONAL VIEW AND PERSPECTIVE, OF HOUSE
DESIGNED BY W.N. HILL

courses of brick, and bed the wall plate on them in mortar.

Twelve-foot 2 by 4s are then cut in lengths of 4 feet 6
inches and 7 feet 6 inches for studding and set at 24 inch
centers. A 2 by 4 inch wall plate should then be spiked and
set on top to supportthe roof. Use 14 foot 2 by 4s for rafters,
placed at 24 inch centers. Board up tight and cover with a
good quality of roofing felt or other material. Use good
matched German siding for outside walls. Inside walls to
be lathed and plastered 1 coat, so as not to leave any cracks
to harbor lice or let in draughts.

Two standard sized windows are placed side by side in
each pen and hinged on the inside at the top so that they can
be swung up out of the way. The outside of the windows to
be covered with netting. Place a good sized stop in the win-
dow frame so that the sash will shut up tight against it.
The doors, one to each pen, made of matched lumber dress-

CLOSED FRONT HOUSES 1%

ed on both sides. Size, 2 feet 6 inches by 6 feet 3 inches,
and hinged to swing outward.

Make the droppings boards of matched lumber 2 feet
wide, their length to be governed by the width of the
pen. Set them 28 or 30 inches from the floor level. The
roost consists of a 2 by 4 scantling set flat, with the corners
rounded, about 6 inches above the droppings boards and 1
foot from the outside edge. The nests are placed under the
droppings boards. They are 12 inch cubit, a 12 inch board
forming the bottom and boards 1 foot square the partitions.
A4inch board is nailed along the lower side to keep the
straw in the nests, leaving 8 inches forthe hen to get on or off
the nest. This side should face the partition wall. The back
of the nest is closed by a 12 inch board hinged at the bottom
so as to admit of gathering the eggs. The whole to be
securely nailed to the under side of the droppings boards so
as to letthe droppings boards project an inch or more beyond
the nests. This plan of nests prevents egg eating, as the
nests are always dark. It is easy to gather the eggs and the
nests are easy to clean. The roost, droppings boards and
nests are shown in detail in the plan. Place two supports
under the nests 4 feet from each end.

The floors should be of natural earth at least 6 inches
higher than the natural ground level. If the ground is
inclined to be damp, put a layer of pounded clay in first,
then fill in with sand or loam. In case the foundation is to

be omitted, set posts 6 feet apart and use 4 by 4 inch wall
plates. A good plan is to take 6 inch glazed tile and set
them in the ground, large end down, and then fill up with
concrete. This makes a post that will never rot.

Bill of Material

72 feet 2 by 4s for plates

25 12-foot 2 by 4s, studding.

12 14-foot 2 by 4s, rafters.

420 square feet German siding.

350 square feet roof boards.

100 feet 4-inch boards.

325 brick. |

4 windows 2 feet’ 6 inches by 3 feet.

1,300 lath.

90 yards plaster, 1 coat.

90 square feet matched lumber.

6 1 by 12 foot boards for nests.

375 square feet roofing felt.

72 cubic feet rough masonry

By placing the roosts, roost platforms and nests against
the back wall instead of next the partition and building a
door in the partition the care-taker would be able to pass
from one pen to the other without going outdoors, thereby
making it more convenient.

House for Laving Hens

Specifications and Plans for a Poultry House Ninety Feet Long Divided into Six Pens for Forty

Fowls Each—Interior Appurtenances; How they are Made and Arranged

C. S. Green

ered is the site. It should be located on land which is

well drained; a slope to the south or east preferable. The

house should always face the south or east, and in windy
places a wind break is advisable.

A trench should be dug for the foundation, deep enough
to prevent the frost affecting the wall. A good wall should
be laid of stone or brick and mortar, extending about one
foot above the surface of the ground.

The house described is 90 feet long by 15 feet wide, and has
proved to be a practical house for 250 laying hens. Of course
the length can be made greater or less as conditions require.

On the foundation 2 by 5 inch sills are laid, halved and
nailed together at the joints. Next 2 by 4 studs are set up
2 feet 6 inches apart and toe-nailed to the sills. Plates of 2
by 4s double thick, nailed together, making them 4 by 4 in
all, are nailed on top. Then 2 by 4 posts are set up through
the center of the house 7 feet 6 inches apart, and a3 by 5
center piece nailed on top of these. This of course is set on
edge to support the rafters, which are 2 by 4, 10 feet long,
spliced on the center piate, making them 16 feet 6)4 inches
long. Thislength allows for cornice of 6 inches. This com-
pletes the frame work. (Rafters are 2 feet 6 inches apart.)

On the outside of the studs building paper is applied,
and clap boards or any good siding is nailed over that. The
roof boards are 1 inch thick laid close together and covered
with tar building paper on which is laid a steel roof or roof-
ing paper. The inside of the house, roof included, is ceiled
with planed % inch thick hemlock and the intervening space
of 4 inches is stuffed with straw or fine shavings as the ceil-
ing is applied, pounding it in well.

In very cold mates where the mercury goes to 40 de-

| BUILDING a poultry house the first thing to be consid-

grees below zero it may be necessary to make the walls 6
inches thick instead of 4 inches, and in very warm climates
like Georgia and Alabama, of course one thickness of board is
enough for the sides, but the roof should be thick enough to
prevent the sun making the house too warm in hot weather.

The house is divided into six pens, each 15 feet square.
First a 2 by 4 is set in place where each partition comes 2
feet 6 inches from the one under the center plate, making a
support for the partition and also leaving a space 2 feet 6
inches wide for the door. (See ‘‘a’’ Figs. 3 and 4, Ill. 29).

The flooris laid by filling in with loose stones nearly up to
tue bottom of the sills, finishing with gravel on top just level
with the bottom of the sills, and a cement floor laid on this
about 1 inch thick. The cement is mixed by using 2% bush-
els of sand to 1 bushel of Portland cement. This makes a
floor that is rat proof and will last indefinitely.

The center partition is solid to prevent draughts. (Ill.
29.) The other four are boarded up 3 feet high and finished
with 2 inch mesh wire netting. [Figure 4 shows the
boarding, but the netting which should appear above it was
by mistake omitted.—Ed. ]

The bottom of each inside door is 10 inches above the
floor to prevent it hitting the scratching material in the pens;
a board 8 inches wide being nailed to the floor and a 2-inch
space between the door and _ board, except in the center
door, which is boarded tight.

The front of each pen contains a double window 4 feet 6
inches by 5 feet and 2 feet 6 inches from the floor. Each
window contains 12 panes of 9 by 12 inch glass and is hung
on hinges, swinging in. In the front of each pen under the
window is a hole 1 foot square fitted with a slide door, for
the hens to go through.

FIG.!

PLAN AND DETAILS OF HOUSE DESIGNED BY C. S. GREEN

CLOSED FRONT HOUSES 19

Fig. 1 shows the front elevation 9 feet high; also the ar-
rangement of the windows and the doors for hens to pass

through. (This shows only 3 of the 6 pens.)

Fig. 2 shows the ground plan of 3 pens. A.A.A. are
dust boxes 1 foot high and 3 by 4 feet on the floor. D.D.D.
are doors 2 feet 6 inches by 5 feet 6 inches inches. Those

between pens are hung on double action spring hinges. W.
Water pans. R. Roosts arranged along the back of house.

Fig. 3 shows the rear elevation, which is 5 feet high.

Fig. 5 shows the front view of roost platform, roosts,
nest boxes, lid, and bench on which nests rest.

First the platform is built 2 feet 6 inches above the floor,
as long as the pen, and 3 feet wide. It is furred in front 2
inches high to keep the droppings on. There are 2 roosts 2
by 2 inches and 14 feet 4 inches long nailed to 3 cross-arms
2 by 3 inches, 3 feet long, hinged to the back wall, so that
the roosts will be 1 foot above the platform. Three posts 1
foot long are nailed to the front ends of the cross-arms, rest-
ing on the platform when the roosts are in position, the
whole frame being raised and hooked to the wall for clean-
ing. The roosts are arranged on the cross-arms so that the
first one is 13 inches from the wall, and the second one 14
inches from the first.

On the floor under the roost platform is a loose bench
(Figs. 5 and 6) 1 foot high, 18 inches wide and 8 feet 6 inches
long. The top and supports are all made of 1-inch boards.
On this bench the nests are set. They are made of 2 1-inch
boards 8 feet long and 8 inches wide, and 9 pieces of 1-inch
boards 8 by 10 inches. (See Fig. 7.) This makes 8 nests 10
by 11 inches without top or bottom, but as they are set on
the bench this forms the bottom, making them very easy to
clean.

A board 11 inches wide and 10 feet long is hinged to the
front of the platform so that when it hangs down it comes
down 1 inch over the front side of nest boxes, and is raised to
gather the eggs. The hens enter the ends and jump up on
the bench and so on to the nests, which being darkened
make an ideal place for hens to lay.

Fig. 6 shows the end view of the roosting platform and
nest arrangment, all the dimensions of which have been
given. ‘‘6’’ is a post under the center of the roost platform.

Fig. 8 shows a frame 26 inches long and 15 inches wide
on which the water pan sets. The water pan isa common
12 quart milk pan. This rack is made of 2 sticks 1 by 2
inches, and 26 inches long and 4 sticks 4 by 244 inches and
15 inches long nailed together as shown. It is set 18 inches
high for Leghorns and 14 inches for the larger breed of fowls.
One side of it is fastened to the side of the pen and the
other side is held up by a post in the center of the front side
extending to the floor. The pan rests on the two center cross
pieces and the hens jump up on the two outside cross pieces,
standing there to drink. To keep the hens out of the pan
and keep the water clean a cover is hung over the center of
the pan and fastened to the wall, leaving a space 2 or 3
inches wide and 2114 inches long, which when in position
sets at half pitch over the pan. (Figs. 10 and 11.) It is
nailed to two triangular pieces of 34-inch stuff (Fig. 9 shows
one of the pieces) made by sawing a board 15 inches square
through the center diagonally. The long edges of the two
pieces are then nailed to the 2 edges of the cover correspond-
ing in length. It is then ready to be nailed to the wall }¢
inch above the pan so it can be easily taken out to be clean-
ed and filled. The cover being slanting prevents the fowls
from standing on it and the 2 side pieces make it impossible
for the hens to get into the pan. Fig. 11 shows the rear view
of cover ready to place in position.

Each pen is also equipped with a coop 2 by 3 feet hung

at the side of the pen in a convenient place, 4 feet from the
floor and the sides extending to the roof so that hens cannot
stand on top of it. The coop has a slat front and is used for
broody hens, male birds, etc.

For a simple, practical, economical house this plan is
hard to beat. It is equally well adapted for use on small
and large plants for housing exhibition breeding stock and
and fowls kept for egg production, or other market purposes.

It provides a liberal amount of room for the fowls ata
reasonable cost for construction and is well arranged to facil-
itate the work to be performed by the care-taker. It should
prove satisfactory to any poultryman favoring a closed house.

Material to be Used

2,400 pounds cement (Portland), 3 tons sharp sand.

14 sticks 2 by 5-16 feet long for sills, 187 feet.

10 sticks 2 by 4-8 feet long for posts, 40 sticks 2 by 4
5 feet long for studs, 50 sticks 2 by 4-9 feet long for plates, 6
sticks 3 by 5-16 feet long for plates, 1,340 feet.

%-inch ceiling planed but not matched, 2,830 feet.

1-inch roof boards, 1,547 feet.

16-inch siding, 1,836.

Material for interior fixtures, including window frames,
900 feet.

Building paper, 3,103 square feet

Roofing material 1,547 feet.

Total amount of lumber, 8,640 feet; no allowance being
made for doors and windows.

A SATISFACTORY HOUSE

After Due Consideration the Plan Described and
Illustrated is Said to be Satisfactory to
the Birds and Builder

Fred W. Carmen

HE never ending subject of poultry houses seems to be
| in order at any and all times. There is hardly a
month goes by but an article on poultry houses ap-
pears in some of the poultry papers, and some of them

are good ones, too.

I was particularly interested in the one described in a
recent article by Dr. Bricault; not so much because his
idea is a good one, but for the fact that I had infringed to
a certain extent on his idea of the double or two-part door.
I did so unintentionally, the only difference between his
door and mine being that I used a piece of an old piano
cover and tacked it to a frame, which I hinged on the out-
side of the building, instead of using oiled muslin.

There are as many different styles of poultry houses as
there are different breeds of fowls, and of course different
breeders have their own ideas as to which is the best. The
one that we are about to consider is intended for laying stock,
but can be used for cockerels and young stock as well.

The open front scratching shed house seems to be very
popular, and is used a great deal, but what I dislike about
it is that in stormy weather when the curtains are drawn it
makes the pen too dark unless there is a sash fixed in one-
half of the opening. Another objection I have to them is
that one really has to build two houses to get one, as the floor
space in the roosting room is used but very little, because
there is not a great deal of light in there. I don’t care what
some of them say, the more light and sun you can get into
the pen the more the chickens will enjoy it. And you will

20 POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

need the windows low so that the sun may reach clear back
to the rear wall of the house in the winter time.

The long house with the hall in the rear is another popu-
lar plan and is a good idea where the building is intended
for a brooder house. In the contest held by the R. P. J. I
submitted a pencil drawing of a house intended to be used
both ways, but when I came to build one for laying hens I
found it too complicated, and it cost too much to build.
After I had tried many different plans

each side of them to fit in. They are placed 6 inches above
the platform, the rear one being 14 inches away from the back
of the building, and the front one 18 inches from the back
one.

That is about all there is to explain. Asregards the cost
and amount of material, of course that varies in different
localities. Here on Long Island a single house like this plan
would cost about $22 without labor, and as it will house 25

I hit upon the one I enclose, and _ it

has given me satisfaction. I have
found the simpler and plainer you
make your house the less trouble you
will have to keep it clean and free
from vermin. Another thing I dis-
covered is that where you close up
15 or 20 fowls in a small roosting
room, say 4 by 7, they do not do so
well, but where the roost is placed in
one corner of a pen 14 by 10 and left

; L
4 +s ROOST POLES HUNG on BRACKETS.
open in the front they will do all ESE
FoOOST PLATFORM TO SLIDE IN on
CLEATS TOBE EASY TOREMOVE CLEA

ROOST PLATFORM 4FTA7FT

right.

I will now try to give as clear a
description of the enclosed plan as I
can and [invite the readers to pass
their opinions on it.

In the first place, select the site
on ground that is a little higher than
the surrounding land; then your
house will be free from dampness,
which, if in a low spot, would be
bound to affect it and adamp house
is worse than none at all. Face the
building to the south if possible.

The house is 14 feet long, 10 feet wide, 7 feet high in
front and 6 feet in the rear and of a shed roof style. It can
be built singly, or two or more ina row. The frame is made
of 2 by 4 hemlock and the siding, drop boards, etc., are of
N. C. pine 8 inches wide. The back, sides and roof are coy-
ered with tarred paper, and the roof has an extra covering
of Neponset roofing paper. Give the floor a good layer of
sand and then put about 6 inches deep of hay or straw on
that. In the front of the building on the west side 18 inches
above the floor is a dust box three feet wide, six feet long
and 8 inches deep. Eighteen inches of this box projects be-
yond the front of the building, and when the sash is in posi-
tion the whole thing forms a sort of a bay window. You
would be surprised to see how the chickens enjoy a dust bath
in this window. Under the part that comes in the building
build six nest boxes about 12 by 14 inches. Over the dust
box (with the top hinged to the building and the bottom
resting on the outer edge of the box) is a hot bed sash 3 feet
by 6 feet. This sash can be raisedin warm weather, and with
a cover over it or a sunshade, it is a fine, cool place for
biddy. The door to the pen is in the front near the east
side and is divided into two equal parts, top and bottom;
each part 3 feet by 3 feet. A curtain 3 feetsquare is used for
the upper half and is hinged on the outside.

This curtain is very useful on stormy days’ when the wind
blows hard. The roost platform is 2 feet from the ground
and is 4 feet wide and seven feet long. To make the plat-
form we batten 6 pieces of 8-inch boards together and board
up where the end of the roost comes, allowing the boards
on this end to go two inches below the roost platform so the
platform has a cleat to slide on, and in that way it is an
easy matter to remove and clean. Make the roost poles of
2 by 3 material and round the upper edges. Secure them at
the ends by patent brackets or notch out a block and nail on

DOOR TO NEXT PEM

DvsT BATHBO* Ste Tr
Rrcre> Deer

14 FEET

GNEST UNDER Dust BATH

END © OPEN IM FRONT

s a
FROOST_PLATFORI

— 10 Feer

"Two Sté“Door
OPErING To YARD

OUTLET FOR
FOwLS vonrn

30—PLAN, FRONT AND END VIEWS OF HOUSE DESIGNED BY F. W. CARMEN |

fowls comfortably it makes a cheap building. It will take
about 600 square feet of boards, 15 wall strips 14 feet long, 6
rolls of tar paper and 3 rolls of Neponset roofing paper, be-
sides one hot bed sash 3 by 6 and four pairs of hinges,
nails, ete.

By carefully looking at the plan, any point-that TI have
not covered in this explanation may be understood.

If it is desired to build a long house of this description,
in which a walk, or passage, is proyided at the rear, it can
be accomplished by adding sufficient width and covering
the house with a double-pitch roof.

POULTRY HOUSE WITH HALLWAY

A Double-slant House with a Convenient Arrange-
ment of the Interior Fixtures—The Bill
of Material Required

R. H. Thomas

HE poultry house illustrated herewith is 14 feet wide,

32 feet long and 8 feet high at the highest point,

measured 4 feet in from the back wall. This forms

a two-slant roof. The back wall is 6 feet high.

The front is the sarne height. This house contains four breed-

ing pens. There is a window in each pen, 2 feet 4 inches.

by 3 feet 10inches, containing twelve 8 by 10-inch lights. The

hallway is + feet wide, thus making the pens each about 8

by 10 feet. The distance from the floor to the landing place

in front of the nests is 3 feet, and as this may be considered

too much of a jump for the heavier breeds a slanting board

with slats nailed on may be used for them to walk up. It
will extend from the floor to the landing mentioned.

CLOSED FRONT HOUSES 21

The following is the mode of
construction and dimensions of the
lumber.

1,530 feet of hemlock boards for
sheathing and floor.

520 feet of white pine for siding.

4 pieces 4x4x16 for bottom beam
sills.

2 pieces 4x4x14 for bottom beam
sills.

14 pieces 2x6x14 for floor joists.

16 pieces 2x4x12 for studdings.

24 pieces 2x4x10 for rafters.

9 pieces 2x4x16 for interior stud-
dings.

16 pieces 1x6x8; 8 pieces 1x8x8
for nest and drop board supports.

24 pieces 15 inches by 2 feet for
nest division.

8 2x4x1 foot 6 inches to support
nest and drop board.

1 bundlé of laths.

145 square feet matched boards
for drop boards and nest bottoms.

68 lineal feet 1x3 for doors.

8 pieces 2x2x8, half-round, for perches.

24 feet 2-inch wire mesh for doors.

24 feet 2-inch wire mesh for pen divisions.

22 feet 2-inch wire mesh for’space from drop boards up.

5 rolls 3-ply roofing paper.

4 pieces 1x12x8 for partitions.

24 hinges.

Mode of constructing interior is as follows: First divide
the house 4 feet from back by placing nine pieces 2 by 4s spaced

1

32—ARRANGEMENTS OF UPRIGHTS IN HALLWAY OF
R. H. THOMAS’ HOUSE

in as in Ill. 32. Nail on 4 pieces 1 by 6 by 8 (see A.,
Til. 33). The ends of nests marked G, in Ill. 33 (size 1 by 15
inches by 2 feet) must be nailed on; the bottom edge being
18 inches above the floor. Nail strip marked H, Ill. 33, (size
1 by 3 by 8) on the front and a similar one on the back
marked D, Ill. 34. Nail on bottom of nests made of matched
boards cut in 30-inch lengths. This will allow bottom to ex-

|

33—PROVISION FOR NESTS IN R. H. THOMAS’ HOUSE

31—INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT OF HOUSE DESIGNED BY R. H. THOMAS

tend about 6 inches in front of nests. Then divide into &
nests, using divisions same as ends. Nail on strips (1 by 3
by 8) marked D, Ill. 34, at back of nests, and also strip (1 by
3 by 8) marked I, Ill. 33, on top. Then nail on drop boards
cut in 2-foot lengths on top of strips marked D and I, Ill.
33. Now nail on top of drop boards two strips of wood
(1 by 6 by 2) standing on edge, one at each ‘end of drop
boards, and nail on these two strips of half-round (2 by 2 by 8):
for perches, and space them 16 inches apart. Next nail on
strip marked F, Ill. 34, (size 1 by 3 by 8) 6 inches above strip
D. Hinge board E. Ill. 34, (size 1 by 6 by 8) to board F, Ill.
34. This makes door back of drop boards for cleaning-
Next hinge a board C, Ill. 34, (size 1 by 6 by 8) to

‘>

SSSI

SSSI SSIS
SE CS

34—HALLWAY CONVENIENCES IN R.H. THOMAS’ POULTRY HOUSE.

strip D, thus making door at back of nests through which to
gather eggs. Nail laths from A to B spaced 4 inches apart.
Next two strips 2 by 4, 18 inches long, marked J, to support
nests and drop boards (see Ill. 34). Now make light frame
door 6 feet 6 inches by 2 feet 6 inches, of 1 by 3 boards and
cover with 2-inch wire mesh. Hinge the door to open in-
Then nail on wire mesh from above drop boards up to roof,.
and the pen is completed. Proceed with the other pens in:
like manner.

Although the house I have described is but 52 feet long,
there is no reason why one built on the same plan cannot be
constructed as long as the owner desires. In a very long,
house build solid partitions every 100 feet to cut off drafts-

Poultry on a City Lot

The Rear of a City Lot Can be Made to Yield Profit and Pleasure When Devoted to Poultry and Fruit—
The Author's Methods and Arrangement of Yards and House Described

In Detail—Advice to the Beginner

Dwight L. Stoddard

DO not expect this article to be of special benefit
to the extensive poultry breeder, but if it is of
benefit to the thousands of families who

are trying to raise chickens in the towns, I will
be glad indeed that I have taken the time to
write it. Never in my life did I have as good
suecess in the poultry business as I am _ having
and all the ground that is devoted to it is 40 by

small

today,

SS tl
mee ES
, A e SEN
‘’
‘ ® 1
e 4
ele
35—ARRANGEMENT OF YARD
70 feet, with even a corner of that cut off. I do not ad-

voeate small pens for the poultry business when larger
ones can be secured, as I believe there is no danger of
wide range if the fowls can be properly cared for.

Plan of the Yard

The yard should be fenced in to suit your space and
poultry. If it is small it may be hard to get the fence
high enough if you have an active breed and they have
been accustomed to a free range. A low fence will do
for the larger breeds, especially if it is poultry netting
and you do not place any rail at the top. With a rail
they know just where to fly and may go over. A wire
they cannot see as well, so they seldom try to find the
top, although it may not be very far from the ground.

Illustration 35 is the plan of my yard and shows
what you may think is a queer arrangement, but you
will note that each yard has three fruit trees in it,
which not only increase the value of the rear of the lot
but are valuable to my poultry as well. You will also
see how I arrange the front end so as to have the water
dish for each yard close together, and handy for throw-
ing any scraps over the fence. The back end of the main
litter as the fowls
greatly enjoy scratching in it and it gives them exercise.

When I built my poultry house I made the two
rooms square and intended when I needed more pens to
build on one or two more. I found in the late fall that
I did not need the room I had and as I wanted a place to
store some coke I partitioned off with boards about
three feet high, the pen I now use to set my hens in.
Above the boards is poultry netting. I have my coke
used about Christmas and then I’m ready to set the
first hen. I have my little chicks in the hallway and di-
vide the rest of the house so that I can have breeding
and laying pens—or, in fact, I divide them up as circum-
stances demand. If I can get along without one of the
yards, I sow it with oats, and the fowls that are lucky
enough to eat the young oats are, indeed, happy.

Around the house on the east and south sides I have
gravel. The fowls can pick all they wish and it makes
the house drier and warmer in the cold months.

To secure shade as soon as possible I first planted
peach trees which grow rapidly but are not very long
lived. My peaches are all gone and I have plum and
cherry trees which are well suited for the chicken yard.
While the first trees were small,-I planted sunflowers
The vines also com

yard I try to keep covered with

by the fence and also grape vines.
pletely cover the fence at this time so that I am receiy-
ing an income from the rear of the lot outside of what
the chickens bring in.

Construction of the House

The house should be tight and warm, especially on
the north side. Tlustration 35a shows my wall, which is
6-inch boards, batten and tarred paper on the outside of
the studs, and tarred paper and flooring on the inside.
The flooring was as cheap and pitchey as possible and
when I put it up 1 varnished each tongue and groove as
I went along. Each year I give it a coat of varnish thin-

BOUWLERY (ON, A :CPDygoT 23

ned down with turpentine. I thin the varnish so that it
will dry quickly and it makes a cheap finish that the in-
sects do not like. In fact, so far they have positively re-
fused to have anything to do with it.

eee aes

35-A—CONSTRUCTION OF WALL

In lllustration 36 is shown the south front of my
house. I believe that this wall should be open as much
as possible to let the fresh air and sunlight in. You will
note that the place where I raise my little chicks is
nearly all glass. This gives good light all through the

house, as the partitions are made of poultry netting.
There is no flooring on the inside of these studs as on
the other sides of the house.

While the doors are made

36-SOUTH FRONT HOUSE

solid yet they are seldom closed—practically never, ex-
cept on the very ‘coldest and stormy days. The open
spaces are all covered with screen wire; the windows
can be opened over to the doors, which with the open
doors, give plenty of fresh air. As the ventilation comes
from the one side, there is no objectionable draught.

The east end of the house should be well lighted and
may be ventilated also, but I never open the window in
the east except in the hottest weather. Illustration 36-a
shows my plan which | think is fairly good. It looks
better and is really cheaper than a shed roof, for with
, the same pitch of
roof there would be
just that much more
front, and this is
not necessary. There
is no roof equal to
the shingle roof, for
it makes a_ good,
dry roof and leaves
openings for ven-
tilation. Concrete
makes the best and
cheapest poultry
house floor that it
is possible to con-
struct.

Illustration 36-b
is my way of con-
structing the doors.

36-A—EAST END OF HOUSE

Each door consists of a solid door that is seldom shut—
yet nevertheless, very necessary at times—and a screen
door hinged to the other door. The screen door is shut
when the solid door is open, and when the solid door is
closed a square-turned hook is simply turned over the
screen door. This fastens it completely to the solid
door and then the sereen door is absolutely nothing,
Unless you look for it you would not realize it was any-
where. The swinging of the doors makes them both
shut in the same place and fasten with the same fasten-
er. When the solid door is shut and the screen door
fastened to it, it comes back, as you will notice, and the
screen door comes
clear of the rabbet.
H = Of course the screen
doors on our dwell-
ing houses
Ps from the outside of
the jamb while the
solid door swings
\ from the inside, but
the
4s south

swing

wall on the
side of my
chicken house is too
thin to afford a
door jamb, Again, 1
do not want any of
my chicken house
doors swinging out
in the wind.

36-B—DOOR PLAN

Tn illustration 36-¢c is shown my plan of roost which is
very simple and easy to handle. You will notice that there
are two light trestles sitting on the conerete floor. On
them are two 1 by
4’s covered with ¥,
inch lumber which
make a nice, light
_—! drop board. Above

> —_~

that are two boards
10 inches wide and
, the roosts are nail-
| ed to them. All ean

| be taken out quick-
ly, and easily and
thoroughly cleaned,
though as each time
I clean the drop

——————————

boards I sprinkle on
fresh lime and fresh
dirt, I do not find it
necessary to take them out often. Above the roosts
are loose flooring boards which I cover with straw in
the winter and remove them in summer. Early hatched
i chicks should have a

36-C—ROOST PLAN

ri

chick pen from 2 to
4 feet wide, accord-
ing to the number of
chicks. Illustration
36-d presents the
plan of one which
is nothing but a box
with a loose parti-
tion in it. The par-
tition should be re-
movable so that it
ean be readily clean-
ed. It should be there

36-D—CHICK PEN also so as to make

94 POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

a room to eat and another to sleep in. Illustration 36-e
shows the construction of the roof over the brood cham-
ber. The roof should be solid and can be easily made
from flooring nailed together with a cleat. The roof
over the exercising pen should be a window sash hinged
to the roof of the brooding chamber. Just below the
glass there should be a screen so that you can give the
needed ventilation and yet prevent any rodents from mo-
lesting the chicks.

Illustration 36-f shows my style of nests. They are
simply four boards about 15 inches long with a top on
them and a little piece at the bottom to keep the eggs
from falling out. This latter board is independent of the
bottom part so that the nests can be quickly removed and
cleaned. These three large nests are sufficient for any
small pen.

Illustration 36-g¢ is the rear view of my nests. By
looking at the plan of my house and yard (Ill. 35) you
will note that one side of the nests—the nest side—opens
into laying pen, while the other side opens into the
ehick hall. I think you can plainly see how easily the
slat doors can be taken out and how they are arranged.
The nests are above,
and below there are
accommodations for
two hens and their
chicks.

Destruction of Vermin

You have prob-
ably heard of the
man who burned his
‘barn to get rid of the rats, but I find that concreting
the floor is better. I like one of the liquid lice killers
er kerosene and carbolic acid for painting around the
roosts, and occasionally dry lime and sulphur. Wet
lime (which is commonly called whitewash) is a good
‘thing, indeed, in the beginning, but to keep it up and let
it get dry and full of filth, and then continue to cover it
up is too filthy for me. The above and many other ways
are satisfactory to keep the building free from lice. I
know of nothing as reliable as insect powder or dry
Jice killer for the poultry proper.

36-E— ROOF PLAN

The Value of Poultry

To a resident of the city that has to purchase every
-article he eats and much of it greatly adulterated, the
walue and pleasure it is to know that you always have

absolutely new-laid eggs; fine fryers and all other sizes
always at your command can never be known or appre-
ciated. A man in the
city spends hun-
dreds of dollars
taking his children
out in the fresh air
and to places of
amusement and en-
| joyment, and unless
| it is carried to the
, extreme it is money
well invested. I sup-
pose my children
are much like ali
others, still there is nothing they enjoy as much as to
go out and take a peep at the little chicks just out of the
shell—although they have seen the same thing hundreds
of times, yet they enjoy my poultry from the baby chick
to the cock o’ the walk. The fowls are not only an en-
joyment to myself and family, but an education to my
children, and there is nothing more valuable than prac-
tical education. There is far more value in raising poul-
try on a city lot than the mere dollars and cents you re-
alize from it in a direct way.

36-F—NEST PLAN

Commence right by having nothing but healthy fowls
in your house, keep it clean of filth and free from vermin,
feed as good variety of all poultry foods as you can easily
secure, don’t forget the green food and above all don’t
neglect giving your fowls plenty to eat, plenty of fresh
water to drink and plenty of exercise. On your city lot
keep the birds on the run from the time they come out
of the shell until they are ready for the market, dispose
of them as soon as
you can, thin out
the large ones and
fil up with more
chicks and you will
be surprised how
many you can
handle in a small
space. Don’t make
the mistake of try-
ing to keep too
many by filling the
main pens too full.

This method has turned thousands of good eggs into
healthy, full grown chickens for me, and a similar
method will undoubtedly. do the same for anyone who is
in love with the work—whether on a city lot, a few acres
or a farm.

36-G—REAR OF NESTS

PIANO BOX POULTRY HOUSE

(For Illustration see page 13.)

This house is made by removing the backs and tops
of two piano boxes of the same size. Two pieces 6 inches
wide and 20 inches long are ripped diagonally across
from corner to corner and fastened to the top of both
boxes at each end to give a sufficient pitch to the roof.
Then a door 4 feet, 6 inches high and 16 inches wide is
eut out of one of the boxes. Place the boxes back to
back and fasten them together with two upright strips
about 4 inches wide and 4 feet, 6 inches long; each
fastened with four screws 114 inches long. Then the top
boards are nailed down and a strip of 2 or 3 inches wide
as nailed around the edge of the roof to give it projec-

tion. The roof is then covered with a layer of tarred felt.

A small window is then cut out near the top and
contains an 8 by 10-inch sliding glass. The other window
contains four 8 by 10-inch panes. Both have iron bars
across, made from old buggy tires. There will be plenty
of lumber left from the backs of the boxes to make
dropping board, roost, window casing, corner casing, ete.

The total cost of this house to me was $1.85, as fol-
lows: Paint, (two coats) 80 cents; padlock, 25 cents;
hasp, 10 cents; hinges, 10 cents; roofing, 35 cents; win-
dow, 25 cents.

HARRY B. PHIPPS.

rn

CLOSED FRONT HOUSES a5

CHEAP HOUSE FOR SMALL FLOCK

A Simply Built and Convenient Low-Cost Poultry
House with Maximum Amount of Floor Space

and Heathful Method of Ventilation

A. F. Almendinger

HE house illustrated is 8 by 8 feet in size. The front
wall is 6 ft. 2in. high, the rear wall 5feet high. The
window is 2 ft. 6 in. square; the door, 2 ft. 6in. by
6ft.6in. This house has a shed roof and is covered,

roof and sides, first with good sheathing paper, then with
Neponset Red Rope Roofing, secured by strips % by %
inches, placed 18 inches apart. Make the sills and plates by
halving 2 by 4’s and place in position, using no studs, but
nailing boards right to sills and plates.

I have used four of these houses for the past five years and
do not believe they can be improved on for comfort and health
of both fowls and
their keepers.
They face south
and rest on stones
at each corner,
thereby being rais-
ed 6 inches above
the ground. They
are filled up inside
with 1 foot of dry
earth and sifted
coal ashes. The
ground outside is
graded so that the
water will run at
away from the ae Wee SSNS
building. The floor re
inside is of earth 37—A SIMPLE, CONVENIENT POULTRY
and is perfectly HOUSE DESIGNED BY A. F. ALMENDINGER
dry and they need
no dust box, for the whole floor is a dust heap. Floors are
covered with 6 inches of straw, into which all grain is
thrown, and the hens have to work or starve. The window
i hinged at the top and swings in. The window and
door in winter, no maiter how cold the weather, are
always opened at 9 a. m. (except in a driving snow
storm) and closed at+ p.m. I have never had a Plymouth
Rock or a Wyan-
dotte freeze a comb
under these con-
ditions, and _ al-
though water
would freeze solid
in the watering
pans, I always got
plenty of eggs
during the coldest
weather, and the
eggs gathered be-
fore being chilled
were almost all
fertile. This year
T have covered the
window with mus-
lin and shall never close it except at night in the coldest
weather. J think that with a house of this kind a scratching
shed is unnecessary.

The droppings boards are along the north wall, made ot

o
NAC"

NMOS FS 2

Ec —_
‘

38—SECTIONAL VIEW OF POULTRY HOUSE
DESIGNED BY A. F. ALMENDINGER

matched boards 20 inches wide and 8 feet long, with a 1 by
3 piece nailed to the front to strengthen it, and to prevent
the droppings from falling off. Cleats are nailed to the side
and rear walls on which the droppings boards rest 2 feet
from the floor. The droppings boards are not fastened, so
they can be easily removed. The roost, is 3 by 3 inches, 8
feet long, having the upper edges rounded. It is 9 inches
above the droppings boards and held in place by cleats
nailed‘ to side walls and notched to hold it firm. It can be
quickly and easily removed.

A double nest is hung by hooks to each side wall, 2 feet-
from the floor. A piece of common sacking nailed to the top
at front and hanging down to within an inch of bottom, serves:
as a curtain and darkens the nests. When trap nests are
used these curtains are taken off and trap doors hinged to
the front: Nests placed so are much easier to handle than
when under droppings boards and do not take up any floor
space.

For a water vessel I use in winter a porcelain-lined gran-
ite pan 14 inches in diame-
ter and 4 inches deep,
placed on a shelf near the
door, 9 inches from the
floor. These pans are high
priced, but are easily clean-
ed and will last. In sum-
mer I use a low one gallon
butter jar. I use a four
compartment — grit-hopper
for grit, oyster shell, char-
coal and dry ground bones.
My feed tray for mash is 4
feet long, 6 inches wide, 4
inches from the floor, with
14% inch strips on sides to
keep mash in. Its ends are
10 inches wide at bottom,
narrowing at top to 2 inches.
It is 10 inches high. A 2 inch strip 4 feet long is nailed
to tops to keep fowls from soiling their food.

Scraper for cleaning droppings board isa piece of gal
vanized iron 12 by 12 inches, turned up two inches on one
end and a 1 by 2 piece of wood nailed to it. Sides turned
up 1] inch with ends cut to a point similar to a dust pan.

If I were to build a long house it would be exactly on
this plan, making pens 8 feet square, with a window and a
door in the front of each pen. Solid partitions between all
pens with doors connecting pens, swinging both ways and
placed near the front of the pens.

39—PLAN OF POULTRY HOUSE
DESIGNED BY A. F. ALMENDINGER’

Material Required

6 pieces 2 by 4 in. 8 ft. long.
2 pieces 2 by 4 in. 8% ft. long.
264 ft. 1 inch rough hemlock.

“1 old sash.
155 ft. % by % strips to secure paper.
Matched boards § ft. long, 20 in. wide.
1 piece 3 by 3, 8 it. long for roost.
About 300 ft. sheathing paper.
About 300 ft. Red Rope Roofing.
2 pairs hinges.

Architect’s Comment

The main features which recommend this small house
are cheapness and simplicity. As wil! be seen by the de-
scription there is not one superfluous board or timber in the

26 POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

entire building. It is, however, sufficiently strong for the
purpose and is practical and convenient. All fixtures are
raised above ground, leaving the entire floor space for use as
a scratching shed.

This would make a satisfactory colony house. It is -not
so heavy but that it could be easily removed from place to
place.

The fixtures shown are simple and answer the purpose
well. ;

The building might be six inches higher in front without
additional cost, as the lumber now cuts to waste and this is
not necessary.

CLOSED FRONT HOUSE

A Cheaply Constructed, Convenient Poultry House
for Two Flocks

George Wolfrum

HIS plan is for building a small closed front house.

It is 20 feet long, 10 feet wide, 8 feet high in front

and 5 feet at the rear. To build the frame for this

house requires four pieces of 2 by 4, 20 feet long, two

pieces of 2 by 4, 10 feet long, three pieces 8 feet long, three

pieces 5 feet long and five pieces 12 feet long. It will require

200 feet of boards to cover the roof. The siding should be

nailed on up and down and 400 feet of tongued and grooved

hemlock siding and flooring will be

needed. Put single-ply tar paper, held

by caps and nails, on the sides of the

house to prevent drafts and dampness

and protect the fowls; it is water and

wind proof. It will take 2000 shingles
to cover the roof.

Doors 2 feet wide and 5 feet high
should be placed at each end of the
building near the front. The one in
the west end nay be closed and batten-
edin winter to keep out the wind. It
is well to put a small window, 24 by 30
inches, in the east end to admit more
light in the forenoon. Place two win-
dows on their sides on the sills of the
house in such a manner that the sashes

will overlap and will slide both ways to secure ventilation.
These windows may be of any size, but I prefer to have
them 30 by 48 inches, as that size admits plenty of light dur-
ing the day and does not radiate so much cold during winter
nights as larger ones. Build small doors near each window
through which the fowls can pass in and out; these can be
closed by dropping boards a little larger than the opening
into grooved uprights fastened to the inside of the boarding.

To ventilate this house place a 14-inch board, 2 feet long
on end at one side of each small door, so that the 14-inch
dimension will be at right angles to the front of the house.

. To the inner edge of this board nail a 16 inch board, 2 feet

long, so that it will be parallel to the front of the house and
prevent the wind blowing directly into and across the floors
of the building through the opening. If too much air enters
it may be regulated by placing a small board on top of the
14 and 16 inch boards. Then cut a4 by 12 inch opening in
the front side, 6 inches below the roof, to let out hot and foul
air. These openings can be closed at night by small doors.

Nail boards to the inside of the sills to fill the space from
the ground to the base of the building, which is supported
by bricks placed under the sills. Fill the space even with
the sills with dry earth.

Place tables 4 by 6 feet in size and 3 feet high in the
northwest and northeast corners of the building. A few
inches above these tables place two roosts of 2 by 4 material,
each 6 feet long and supported by pieces resting on the table.
Tack pieces of burlap to the under side of the roof to hang to
a point below the top of the tables and enclose the space in
which the fowls roost. The burlap in front can be rolled up

40—FRONT ELEVATION—MR. WOLFRUM’S POULTRY HOUSE

mez

:

Wallzr
Paln

Dropping board

Door
Door

41—PLAN SHOWING LOCATION OF INTERIOR FIXTURES—MR. WOLFRUM’S

POULTRY HOUSE

and fastened to the ceiling by strings
when not needed.

Build a partition across the mid-
dle of the house running from the
rear wall to within 2 feet of the front
wall. This partition should be built
of boards to the neight of 4 feet and

filled above the boards with poultry
netting. Hang a door 2 feet wide
and 5 feet high in the space left.
Hang grit, shell, charcoal and bran
boxes on each side of this partition,
12 inches from the floor. Cut a hole
in the partition, near the door, 4
inches high by 1!6 inches wide, and
place a board at the bottom of the
opening to form a shelf. On this
shelf place a sheet iron water pan
2 inches deep, 14 wide and 20 long.

Doe

CLOSED FRONT HOUSES at

This will contain water enough for the fowls in each pen.
If this shelf is built wide enough so that the birds will
perch upon it when drinking, less dirt will get into the pan.

We had 30 Single Comb White Leghorn pullets confined
in a closed house like this all winter and they have layed re-
markably well.

This would make a very good colony house in which to
house a large flock kept solely for egg production. The par-
tition could then be omitted and the boxes for grit, shells,
charcoal, bran, ete., could be hung on the walls.

A CONTINUOUS HOUSE

Description of House With Bill of Lumber Necessary
to Construct It

J. D. W. Hall

Y ILLUSTRATION shows the scratching-shed plan,
iv] with roosting room in connection. The roosting
room is protected by a muslin curtain that drops

down from the roof on cold nights. The front of

house can be entirely opened by doors swinging to roof and

WIRE Fetces
vais

ITLIGRTS
629"

DRinwing VESSERS
2 -QYART-TIN-CANS

Floor joist, 4 2x4 18 feet.

Rafters, 4 2x4 20 feet.

Rear studding, 4 2x4 5 feet.

Front studding, 4 2x4 7 feet.

Side studding, 2 2x4 54 feet.

Side studding, 2 2x4 6}¢ feet.

Plates for rafters, front and rear, 2 2x4 10 feet.

Floor joists, front and rear, 2 2x4 10. feet.

Matched boards, 375 feet.

Roof sheeting, 200 feet.

Flooring, 180 feet.

Two 6-light windows.

Droppings boards, 27 feet, barn boards.

Roosts, 18 feet 1x2 strips.

For continuous house plan, add inside doors on spring
hinges; partitions (boards 2 feet high, balance wire netting).
Wire netting is nailed to front of house to keep fowls inside
of pen when doors are fastened to roof. No wire is in front
of window. For continuous house the runs are opened up so
that a wagon and team can go the entire length of house to
haul out old litter and place fresh in pens.

This plan saves a great amount of labor. We use crack-
er boxes with end cut down half way, top fastened on with
hinges, for a cheap form of nest box.

FRonp-S 1 DE.-ViEW: OF
NEST: BoxE.S

MOVABLE -RoosTs- ay
NALEO- Te yz

foosts
2x STRIPS: Rownc
Blocns CoRNERD-

BRopPing Borrp-

ovsTet CHAR: Rovno|
SMELL COmy || Bone

PLAN

ELEVATION

CROSS: SECTION
ENOS- SHEETED-UP

42—PLANS OF CONTINUOUS HOUSE, DESIGNED BY J. D. W. HALL

hooked to screw-eye hooks. In warm weather the front is al-
ways left open, much to the enjoyment of the fowls; it is also
opened up on bright warm days in winter to dry the house.
This is very essential to the health of the fowls, and is the
best way to keep the walls dry after frosty nights.

Each pen has a run 10 by 100 feet on north and south sides.
Grit boxes are hung on screw-eye hooks to partitions. Nest
boxes are placed on the floor under the roost boards. Water
cans sit on a little elevated stand.

The plan can be used with floors or not. Floors are much
better for sanitary purposes as well as to protect fowls from
rodents. The floors are set 1 foot from the ground.

Our fox terrier resides under the floors.

Timber and Dimensions —

For one pen 10 by 18 feet, 5 feet high in rear, 7 feet in
front:

-

LOW COST POULTRY HOUSE

A Scratching Shed Colony House for Twenty Fowls
—Cost, Including Labor, Twenty Dollars

R. G. Buffintoo

WISH to describe one of my poultry houses. I have

| forty-one of these placed in a row; each is 14 feet long,

7 feet wide, 6 feet high in front and 4 feet in the rear,
with a shed roof.

The frame is of 2 by 4 spruce and the building, except a
space 4 feet long on the front side, is enclosed with hemlock
boards dressed on one side. It is covered with Neponset or
Rubberoid roofing and painted with tar paint. There is one
full window in the front (south) side. Ten feet of the length
of each house is floored with hemlock boards and partition-

28

ed off, dividing the house into a floored
room 10 feet long and a shed 4 feet long.
The door in this partition is 2 feet wide
with a 12 inch space in the top, covered
with wire netting. Two frames of 1 by 2
inch spruce each 2 by 6 feet in size, and
covered with oiled cotten cloth hung
together with hinges, form the front of the
shed. One of the frames is made fast and
the other serves as a door.

A roost platform 3 feet wide extends
across the far end of the 10 foot room and
two roosts are placed 10 inches above the
platform. In each house there is a feed
hopper with three compartments; one
compartment for the meal mixture, which
is fed dry, one for the whole grains and one for grit and shells.

In one of these houses I have successfully wintered
twenty hens of the larger breeds, or twenty-five of the small-
er breeds. The cost of construction, including the amount
paid for labor, was not far from $20 each.

~—

SUCCESSFUL SOUTHERN HOUSE

A Poultry Building that has Proved Satisfactory
in the South

M. Bock

HEN we have our young stock in winter quarters
we begin to look for a full egg basket, as eggs
are most valuable during the winter months.
Some people in this locality wonder why their

hens do not lay in winter. In many cases this is due to neg-
ject or bad housing, as the houses are of the ‘‘catch-a-cold’’
kind. The poultry breeder who cares for his fowls will build
them a proper kind of a house, such as can be made cool in
summer and warm in winter. I am a firm believer in fresh
air, but it should not be obtained through cracks or open
spaces all around the house.

The house I prefer is 16 feet long and 8 feet wide, 7 feet
high in front, 6 feet at rear and 9 feet at the peak, the roof
being made of the short front and long back style. The house
is built facing the south, there being two large windows in
front, each 4 feet 6 inches in height by 3 feet 10 inches wide.
‘These windows are divided in the center. The outside of

43—FRONT VIEW SHOWING ONE WINDOW THROWN OPEN FOR VENTILATION— -
SUCCESSFUL SOUTHERN POULTRY HOUSE

POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

45—PLAN SHOWING LOCATION OF ROOSTS, WATER DISHES, GRIT BOXES, ETC.

—SUCCESSFUL SOUTHERN POULTRY HOUSE

windows is covered with 1 inch mesh wire netting, to keep
out sparrows, minks and rats. In summer the windows are
left wide open, thus making the house equal to an open shed.
As winter approaches, the temperature is controlled by open-
ing or shutting the windows, as is thought best. As the
windows are large, they will admit plenty of sunlight in the
pens. The
house is divid-
ed into two
rooms, 8 by 8
feet square.
The droppings
boards are 3
feet 4 inches
wide and are
placed along
the rear wall,
3 feet from the

floor. The
roosts are
placed 1 foot
above the

platform, 1
foot from the
wall, and are
18 inches
apart. This
may be a little too high for the larger breeds, but is suitable
for our S. C. White Leghorns. Litter is placed on the floor,
which prevents them hurting their feet when jumping from
the roosts. Nest boxes, 12 by 12 inches in size, are placed
under the roost platform.

44—VIEW SHOWING PARTITION—SUCCESSFUL
SOUTHERN POULTRY HOUSE

A house such as I have described
can be built cheaply, and with a little
care, will last a lifetime. It is built
entirely of tongued and grooved lum-
ber, 1 inch thick. The sills are 4 by 6
inches, and the plates and rafters all of
2 by 4 pine. If the farmer would take
more pains to properly house and feed
his poultry there would not be so many
complaints of empty egg baskets. A
gentleman once boastingly remarked to
me that when he lived in the country
he raised plenty of chickens without
building a chicken house, allowing them
to roost in the trees and on fence tops,
and he said they were none the worse
for it. He fed them some whole corn
and they hunted for the rest of their
food. When I asked him if his hens
laid in winter he admitted that they

CLOSED FRONT HOUSES ‘

did not, but said he believed nobody's hens did. I told him
I gathered eggs all winter, but that I did not let my hens
roost in the trees. When I mentioned that I sold eggs at 40
cents a dozen from November to February, he said, ‘‘You
must have made money.’’ I said, ‘‘That’s just what I did.”

To be satisfactory in the warm weather which sometimes
prevails in the south, a poultry house
must be so constructed that it can be
transformed into what is very near an
open shed. This can best be accom-
plished by opening windows and doors.
If the house is simply a shed it will be
sufficient to protect the fowls housed in
it during the warm months, but is not
at all adequate for use during the cold,
rough weather that sometimes is experi-
enced in the winter season.

In the house I have described
enough air can be admitted to make
the fowls comfortable during the warm-
est nights. Thesame building may be
tightly closed when the colder and stormy weather of the
winter months makes better protection for the fowls neces-
sary. Very likely our southern fowls are more susceptible
to cold than those raised in the north and need as much pro-
tection as northern birds would in a lower temperature.

A BUSINESS POULTRY HOUSE

A House Well Lighted, Enclosed Scratching Shed
That Can Be Thoroughly Ventilated

Percy J. Trail :

HIS house will very likely secure the approval of poul-
trymen who do not like the ordinary open front

scratching shed, but would like to provide some place

other than the roosting room where the fowls can ex-

ercise and be protected in cold weather and where plenty of
air can be admitted in mild weather.

The house that I constructed from this plan is 48 feet

Passage 48flw3ht

Trough 2D
24/0 9°/4 Ov/4
»)
Dust Seratching Shed Scratching Shed
Dox |
ag od LS we w w w w. w
window — — = —r =< |
Gale Gale tole

46—PLAN SHOWING INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT AND LOCATION OF YARD—

A BUSINESS POULTRY HOUSE

long by 12 feet wide. It is 7 feet high at the peak, which is
directly above the partition between the walland pens. The
front posts are 5 feet high and the rear posts 6 feet high.
The passage, from which the pens are entered, occupies a
space 3 feet wide between the pens and the north side of the
house.

There are two roosting pens, each 9 by 10 feet, one at

Cale

te}

each end of the house, and each pen is lighted by a horizontal
window containing eight lights of glass.

The roosts and roost platform, instead of occupying a
position at the rear of the pen, as in most houses, are located
at the front of the pens extending at right angles to the front
wall. Both roosts and platform are hinged to the wall and

47—VIEW SHOWING END AND FRONT ELEVATION—A BUSINESS POULTRY HOUSE

may be turned up and hooked to the roof during the day.

The dust boxes are placed directly in front of the win-
dows, where they get the most benefit from the sun. The
food troughs occupy spaces in the bases of the rear parti-
tions, where they may be pushed far enough into the pens
when filled for the fowls to eat and drawn back into the walk
after they have finished. When the fowls are eating the back
of the trough fills the space in the partition and when it
is drawn back the front side closes the opening.

The nests are in the partitions above the feed troughs,
where the eggs can be gathered from the walk.

The scratching sheds are 9 by 14 feet. Every foot of floor
space is available forthe use of the fowls. Three full vertical
windows admit plenty of light when closed during storms or
very extreme weather and convert the pen into nearly an
open shed when thrown open in pleasant or mild weather.

Both the rvosting and scratching pens are entered from
the walk. There are no doors between the pens.

The yards extend forward from the front of the house,
two to each combined roosting and scratching pen, each 12
feet wide. By having two yards for each flock one can be
used while the other is sowed with grain
to furnish a green run when the green

i? food in the other is used up. By alter-
nating in that way the flock can have a
green yard at all times, unless it
95/0 includes more fowls than should be kept

Dust upon the area enclosed.
| Box. The partitions that enclose the
roosting room are tightly built of boards;
all other partitions are built 2 feet high
with boards and above that with wire

Cala

netting.

The fowls go from the roosting pens
through the scratching sheds (more
properly pens) to reach the yards;
there is no direct entrance from the
yard to the roosting pen.

Every yard fence has a gate 3 feet wide, just in front of
the house, through which a horse can be led to plow up the
yards if desired.

This house can be framed of 2 by 4 stuff, covered with
tongued and grooved boards and made water and wind proof
by covering with roofing fabrics.

*

30 POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

HOUSE FOR EIGHTY FOWLS

With Separate Scratching and Roosting Pens and
Includes Many New and Valuable Features
~—Comments by Architect

Ernest C. Bischoff

HE accompanying drawings show a poultry house for
two flocks of hens, forty in each flock. The building
faces the south, is 54 feet long, 12 feet wide, 7 feet
high in front and 4 feet high in the rear. It contains

two scratching pens, each 12 by 20 feet, and two roosting
pens 12 by7 feet. The scratching pens are lighted by two

48—ELEVATION OF HOUSE FOR TWO FLOCKS OF FORTY FOWLS USED BY

ERNEST C. BISCHOFF

large windows 3 by 6 feet, with separate doors 3 by 6 ft. lead-
ing into yard. The roosting pens each have a 3 by 6 ft. win-
dow, provided with outside shutters, which are closed on
winter nights. A 3 by 6 ft. double swinging door opens into
each scratching pen from the outside. A similar door opens
from scratching pen into roosting pen and from there into
the next roosting pen, and soon. This takes the place of
an alley and gives just that much more room for the hens,
besides saving lumber in constructing the house.

On the rear wall of scratching pen are three platforms,
each 2 feet wide and 4 feet long, witha
board on the outer edge, 12 inches high.
This will hold four nest boxes and they
may be darkened by hinging a cover to
the wall, 30 inches above platform.
Twelve nest boxes are sufficient for forty
fowls. Coops for holding extra males
may be placed on a side wall, also the
srit and feed boxes. Space under nest
boxes may be used for three good sized
dust boxes.

The scratching pen contains 240
square feet, allowing each fowl 6 square
feet. The door leading into the roosting
pen is placed near the rear wall so
as to provide an easy retreat in case they
are frightened and is raised 6 inches
from floor to prevent litter being scratch-

ed out. Thisscratching pen gives ample
room for poultry when the weather is

42 feet of perch room for forty fowls, and they are spaced 18
inches, except the end perches, which are 12 inches apart.
Computing the cubical contents of roosting pens, we have
462 cubic feet—11¥% cubic feet for each fowl.

The foundation walls of this house are made of concrete,
35 ft. 6 in. deep and 6 inches wide. The floor is also made of
concrete 2 or 3 inches thick and is proof against both rats and
dampness, besides giving a clean floor. Inthe roosting pen
this is a great advantage, as it does away with the droppings
boards, and the perches being remoyable, makes the clean-
ing an easy matter.

The partitions between the scratching and roosting pens
are built all the way up to the roof. We do not favor wire
netting partitions for the reason that they create drafts. The
outside walls should be built double, so
as to make the building warm. The
more air tight a house is built, the
easier it is to ventilate. There are two
3-inch galvanized iron ventilating pipes
in roosting pen, one opening outside at
the bottom, the other opening outside
at the top. A building such as herein
described may be made 108 feet in
length, so as to accommodate four flocks
of forty hens. We consider forty hens
to be about the right number toa flock, as a less number
requires the same amount of labor, with less profit. The
yards are 27 feet wide and 150 feet long.

Comment

This building 1s a very good one and shows considerable
thought. Some of the good features: Concrete foundation
and floor. Foundation is sufficiently deep to be below frost
line and also for preventing rodents from entering house.

inclement. The large windows admit
the sunlight and air, which helps to pre-
vent disease. These windows can be
removed in the summer and replaced by
wire netting, with half awnings to keep
out the hot sun during the heat of the
day.

The roosting pen contains absolutely
nothing except the perches. These are
7 feet long, made of 2 by 3 in. stuff set on
edge, and are raised 2 feet from the
floor. There are six of these, making

49—PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF THE HILLSIDE POULTRY HOUSE DESIGNED BY P. R. MOORE

CLOSED FRONT HOUSE 31

The walls are double, with air space,

presumably, insuring warmth. as well
as stability. The arrangement is good,
the larger portion of building being used
for scratching shed; however, the roost-
ing pen is ample.

Suggestions: All perches should be
18 inches apart, especially the one next
to the wall. As shown, this perch is
only 12 inches from the siding. This is
not sufficient room for fowls to turn
without damaging plumage, particularly
the tail.

Front windows would be better if only about 4 feet high.
Too much glass means cold surface in winter and hot in sum-
mer; also unnecessary expense.

Dust boxes would be of more advantage in front of build-
ing where they could get sunlight for purification; and also
because fowls prefer to dust themselves in the sun.

A curtain in front of perches, which could easily be sup-
plied, would add to warmth of fowls in winter.

A HILLSIDE POULTRY HOUSE

How a Satisfactory Poultry House with a Converti-
ble Shed was Constructed on a Hillside

Paul R. Moore

HEN one must build on a _ hillside, a house with a

W basement is the most satisfactory. When build-

ing my house I excavated a space in the hill,

making the bottom of the excavation level with

the place that I selected for the front of the house for the

floor of the basement to be constructed. In this space I

built a wall of stone and cement, 5 feet high, for the back

and both ends of a basement 10 by 14 feet; the front was
built of boards.

Over this basement was constructed a frame structure,
also 10 by 14 feet in size, with posts 9 feet high in front and
5 feet at the back. The sills and posts used were 3 by 4
inches in size, and the plates, rafters and joists were 2 by 4
inches. The building was covered with tongued and grooved
boards and the roof made water proof by an additional cov-
ering of tarred paper. :

The floor of the basement is of earth and is used wholly
as an exercising room; the floor of the house proper is of
wood. Two feet
above this floor is
a platform 5 feet
wide and as long
asthe house. One
foot above this are
the roosts, four in

Aooan number, also ex-
DRAR Foard, tending the full
length of the

house. Under the

platform is the run-
way by which the
chicks reach the
basement floor.

The nests are
placed at the front, 18 inches from the floor and directly
under the window-sills, as indicated on the illustration.

The upper and lower floors are each lighted by three

51-SECTION SHOWING POSITION OF ROOSTS
AND NESTS, AND MANNER OF OPENING
WINDOWS IN POULTRY HOUSE, DE-
SIGNED BY FRANK S. HORNER

50—PLAN OF HOUSE FOR EIGHTY FOWLS

windows, containing six lights of glass each. The sash in
the upper apartment should be arranged to slide to one side
to ventilate the house. Those in front of the lower room do
not slide, but the upper 3 feet of the front is hinged at the
top, to swing up, so that the room may be converted into
what is equivalent to an open shed.

The upper floor is reached from without by means of a
flight of steps at one end and at the opposite end another
flight leads down to the basement floor.

Nearly all the work of caring for the fowls is done on the
upper floor, but when whole or cracked grain is fed dry it is
buried in a deep litter of straw, hay, or leaves on the ground
floor. There the fowls work busily for hours scratching it
out and obtain needed exercise during cold weather when
they cannot be out of doors.

The house may be built any length desired.

The land must be dry and well drained, or the basement
will be damp, but where conditions are right this house is
convenient for the attendant and comfortable for the fowls.
The advantages of two-story poultry houses are many and
what few disadvantages they have are by no means serious.
They are not expensive to build.

A SIMPLE PRACTICAL HOUSE

A Satisfactory Poultry House, Without Sheds, Tat
is Not Expensive to Build—The Interior
Equipment and the Fencing

Frank S, Horner

HIS house is not expensive to build and is convenient

| and serviceable. It is a closed house, without scratch-

ing sheds but plenty of fresh air can be admitted. by
opening the windows.

It can be built to any length and width desired, but 12
feet is about the best width. A building 12 feet wide should
be 4 feet high at the back and 7 or § feet high at the front.
The frame can be constructed of 2 by 4 scantling and the
building covered with tongued and grooved barn boards.

To make it warm, and at the same time water proof, the
structure can be covered with some kind of roofing fabric,
or be shingled on the roof and clapboarded on the sides and
ends.

The house should rest on a stone foundation, standing a
foot above the ground and filled with dirt, or sand, level
with the top of the sills. This will make a dry, warm floor.
If a stone foundation seems too expensive, the house can be
built upon posts, to which planks are spiked to fill the space
between the sills and the ground. The space enclosed may
be filled in as suggested for the stone foundation. If the
house is 12 feet wide, it should be divided into pens 10 feet

Oo
oo

long. The partitions between the
pens are of boards for the first 2 feet
above the floor and the remaining
space to the roof is filled with wire
netting except that part that comes
between the roosts, which is boarded
tight to prevent fowls standing on
the roosts or roost platforms and
fighting through. In each partition
is a door 2 feet wide hinged to an
upright in the frame of the house
with double acting hinges so that it
will swing both ways. These doors
are made solid as high as the bards
in the partition.

Each pen has a roost platform
30 inches wide and as long as the
pen, placed 2 feet above the sill,
against the back wall of the house.

Eight inches above each plat-
form are two roosts, resting upon
supports from which they can be
easily removed, to be out of the way
when the platforms are cleaned,

The nests are on platforms 1 foot
below the roost platforms and are
entered from the rear. The space
occupied by the nests and the approach is enclosed by a
partition ‘dropped from near the front edge of the roost
platform to the floor, with an opening at one end through
which the hens pass when going to the nests. A board near
the top of this partition is hung on hinges to make a door
through which the eggs are collected and the nests cared for.

The house is lighted by a two-sash window in the mid-
dle of the front side of each pen. The top sash is hinged to
the lower one so that it can swing in, opening at the top, to
admit fresh air without permitting a draft to blow directly
on the fowls when on the floor or when on the roosts. The
windows may be arranged to slide to one side if preferred.

The troughs in which the mash is fed are hung on the
partitions (position shown in cut) and the boxes for grit,
shells and charcoal and the water dishes are attached to the
partitions on the opposite side of the pens.

POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

52—PLAN SHOWING LOCATION OF INTERIOR FIXTURES AND ARRANGEMENT OF YARDS
FOR POULTRY HOUSE DESIGNED BY FRANK S. HORNER

The yards are at the back of the house, their width cor-
responding to the length of the pens inside. The first 10
feet of each fence (next the house) is constructed as a gate
and can be opened so that a team may be driven to plow the
yards.

By having the gates 10 feet wide, plenty of room is pro-
vided through which to drive a pair of horses drawing plow
or harrow to work in the yards or attached to a wagon or
sled to supply or to take away material used in the houses.

It is not convenient to carry fresh scratching material
through a long line of pens occupied by fowls nor to remove
any considerable amount of the same material when it is no
longer useful. It is more convenient to load it into wagons
through a window or door.

This is a simple, practical house that should be very sat-
isfactory on large or small plants.

Continuous Brooding and Laying House

Durably Constructed and Planned for Many or Few Breeding or Brooding Pens—Economy of Labor a
Consideration—Liberal Floor Spaces, and Provision for Fresh Air, With Ample Protection from Cold

Jacob Abdenholder

of poultry’ for profit. It is only after several years of

experience that I have attempted this and it is a result

of hard study, both by day and by night. Any one
familiar with plans will at once see that the house is not the
cheapest affair that can be built, but will acknowledge that
it is to a great extent, labor-saving.

I have made this house to accommodate laying hens in
some of the pens and brooders in the others. The brooder
pens should be next to the attendant’s house so that the hot
water which heats them would not have to travel so far.

The laying hens’ pens can extend to the other end of the

| HAVE designed this poultry house with one object, that

house. Of course it can be used for either or both purposes
named.

A concrete or brick foundation will last a lifetime, with-
out the usual repairs which are necessary in the temporary
buildings that are generally erected. It will also be rat proof
and will not rust like wire netting, which is sometimes sunk
into the ground as a protection against rats. Wooden floors
rot in a short time. For this reason I say if you have the
means to begin in the poultry business on a reasonable scale,
put up your buildings right at the beginning and then you
will have time to attend to the business end, and not be
fretting about repairs every year. When the poultry houses

CLOSED FRONT HOUSES

33

small track for a car be laid in the
passageway, the food for any number of
fowls can be given in a few minutes
without entering the pens.

Two feet above the floor and under
the droppings boards are the nests.
The eggs can be gathered by pulling
the nest out like a drawer and putting

53—FRONT ELEVATION OF POULTRY HOUSE DESIGNED BY FRANK S. HORNER

are going to ruin, poultrymen frequently neglect either the
house or the fowls, because they cannot afford to pay for
extra help, or do not feel inclined to doso. This entails loss,
of course. The house may be made of any length, but the
plans I have sent you represent a house 159 feet long, being
144 feet of actual poultry house and 15 feet for the end build-
ing, or attendant’s room. The entire width is 24 feet. There
is an alley on the north side of the building. A trough of
heavy galvanized iron should run the entire length and if a

the eggs in a low box which is carried
upon your car. To clean the droppings
boards simply open the door which is
on hinges, and gvith a scraper pull the droppings into
the car. To facilitate this, I allow the droppings boards
to project about 1 inch into the passageway. The
droppings boards should be hinged in order to swing
them to a vertical position when a thorough cleaning and
whitewashing is deemed necessary. A wooden floor is laid
12 feet wide extending from the passage way towards the
front. This forms the floor of the house proper. In the
brooder pens wooden partitions with large lights are placed

2) sc

aa CA 7 FRCT.

SIALL

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SS SS

jo} {eh (Bh el

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OCPTAIN.

SDCAAT CHING SAL.

(See DLS

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PENS,

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Coverrlo
CUurTAin

54—CONTINUOUS BROODING AND LAYING

7

DPO?P BOARD IO07

NLS 7

MUTT 2 omnes _|
ge ee aL |

SEL TROUGH.

DOO*F

HOUSE DESIGNED BY JACOB ABDENHOLDER

34 POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

at the extremity of this floor to separate the house proper
from the scratching pens, which are in front of them. The
partitions between the house and the scratching pens for lay-
ing hens are formed by curtains, which can be raised and
fastened to the roof.

The windows should be made to slide in a horizontal di-
rection, so that a number of them may he attached to a rope
and opened or shut at the same time. To facilitate their
movements, it might be well to adjust little rollers to the
large sashes. Felt strips should be attached to the windows,
in order to make them draft proof.

Posts may be used under the partitiong, but better still,
brick pillars.

To insure a warm laying house without artificial heat, I
suggest a double boarded wall for the outside and matched
flooring for the inside, thus securing an air space. Between
the two layers of boards on the outside, tar paper or building
paper should be used. Matched flooring should be used
for the ceiling, thereby securing an air space between it and
the roof. This will prevent sudden changes in temperature
during cold spells.

To form brooding pens out of the laying pens, simply
measure 2 feet 6 inches to 3 feet from the alley for feeding
space, then from 16 to 18 inches for hovers to cover the hot
water system. The wooden partitions we have mentioned
take the place of curtains, but there should be plenty of glass.

Of course thé hover pipes alone would not be sufficient
to heat the entire brooder house, so additional sets of pipes
must be laid, and I suggest that 1 set should be placed in
the alley, beginning as low as the floor on the lower end,
while additional pipes might be put in the partition between
pens, if necessary, so that each set of partition pipes will heat
2pens. These partition pipes, however, may not be neces-
sary in such a well built house. A trial should be made with
those in the alley, but the firm which furnishes your furnace
and pipes will figure out for you readily how much piping
‘you will need to heat the place if you give the amount of air
‘space in the house and a description of the way it is built

On the main floor of the attendant’s house you may have
a shop, a shipping and plucking room, office and feed rooms,
while upstairs there will be 3 nice, large rooms for the atten-
dant and family, ifhe has any. In the basement is space
for a small furnace, coal pit and incubator room, with storage
room for eggs and vegetables.

Some readers may consider this house too wide, but it is

I design it to hold 50 fowls per pen.
To gain access to the outside runs, doors may be made
in .every third or fourth pen. With 50 fowls to the pen, I
suggest that the runs be 300 feet long, well planted with trees.
I do not favor extensive range for fowls that are kept for
profit. We must always have one point in view, and that is to
save time. If the yards are properly constructed there will
be no worrying as to where the fowls are. Under the condi-
tions I suggest, 1 man could attend to 5,000 fowls, while if
the place is in poor shape and poorly laid out, 200 fowls
might be too much for him. If you want to go into the
poultry business for profit, your motto should be, ‘‘profit in
everything.’’

As it requires 26 foot rafters for this building, it might
be made 10 or 12 inches wider than I have designated. I
hope my plans will not be denounced for making the build-
ing too wide, for I have seen in managing poultry plants that
it takes considerable space to accommodate 50 to 60 fowls in
a pen. I have had as many as 70 fowls in pens about 16 by
13 feet, and tell you in bad weather I always felt sorry for
them.

To water your fowls, the best plan and the cheapest, so
far as labor is concerned, is to have a tank if a windmill is

not.

at hand, or even if you have to pump the water yourself.
Place it a few feet above the ground and from thatrun a pipe
system into the poultry house where you can put up a foun-
tain in every second partition. There should be drainage
from each fountain to a waste pipe, then you can let the
water run slowly all day and so keep it fresh, but it should
be shut off at night.

Bill of Material

The following is a bill of material required for the poul-
try building, the attandant’s room to be figured separately.
It will be well to paint the building and it will then last a
lifetime and there is no time lost for repair.

Foundation

Concrete or brick.

Walls, if 2 feet deep and 9 inches wide, 504 cubic feet.

Walls, if 2 feet 6 inches deep and 9 inches wide, 630
cubic feet.

Walls, if 2 feet deep and 12 inches wide, 672 cubic feet.

Walls, if 2 feet 6 inches. deep and 12 inches wide, 840
cubic feet.

23 piers 12 by 12 inches by
cubic feet.

Posts 6 by 6, 4 feet long, could be substituted for piers,
though less durable.

2 feet 6 inches deep, 574%

Exterior

Sills, 40 pieces 2x6-12 feet long.
Joists, 49 pieces 2x6-12 feet, 3 feet on centers.
Plates, 28 pieces 2x6-12 feet.
Rafters, 49 pieces 2x6-26 feet.
Studs, 3 feet centers.
North side, 49 pieces 2x6, 6 feet 8 inches.
South side, 37 pieces 2x6, 8 feet 5 inches.
South side, 12 pieces 2x6, 4 feet over and under win-
dows.
East and west sides, 16 pieces 2x6 average7 feet 6 inches.
For these it will require:
37 pieces 2x6-16 feet long, cutting one stud for both
north and south sides out of one of these pieces.
8 pieces 2x6-16 feet long, for east and west ends.
3 pieces 2x6-16 feet long under and over windows.
12 pieces 2x6-14 feet long for balance of north side.
2,400 feet 1-inch rough boards 12 feet long for siding.
,400 feet drop siding or weather boards.
2,400 feet of matched flooring for inside of studs,
3,500 feet of matched flooring for ceiling
1,650 feet matched flooring for hall and roosting room.
3,800 feet sheathing for roof.
3,800 feet tarred roofing paper.
146 feet 6 inches gutter with hangers.
4 pieces 4 inch down spout 6 feet long.
12 double windows, sash 4 light, 14x10, 2 inch stud to
form mullion, opening 70x48 inches, for south side.
6 windows, 2 light, 14x14, opening 34x20, for north side,

Interior

Hall partition and laying compartment;

6 pieces 2x4-12 feet long below slats.

6 pieces 2x4-12 feet long above slats, below drop boards.

300 pieces 34 inch round. slats for feed rack, 21 inches
long.

12 pieces 1x3-10 feet long above and below nest Boers.

6 pieces 1x6-10 feet long nest doors.

12 pieces 1x12-10 feet long drop board doors.

6 pieces 1x3-10 feet long top nailing pieces for netting.

CLOSED FRONT HOUSES

6 pieces 1x3-18 feet long framing for netting doors.

18 pieces 2x4~-7 feet 5 inches, studs.

72 feet 18 ineh wire top of partition.

36 feet 24 inch wire for doors.

Brooder compartment;

6 pieces 1x3-18 feet long frames for netting doors.

12 pieces 1x3-12 feet long top and bottom nailing pieces
for netting.

18 pieces 2x4—7 feet 5 inches long for studs.

72 feet 10 inch galvanized iron gutter for feed troughs.

90 feet 48 inch wire for partitions, 1 inch mesh.

72 feet 24 inch wire for doors, 1 inch mesh.

Partition between roosting room and scratching shed.

Laying Compartment

6 pieces 1x10, bottom.

12 pieces 1x12, boards under netting.

12 pieces 1x3, 12 feet.long, frames for netting tops and
bottom.

12 pieces 1x3-5 feet long, for frames for netting, ends.

72 feet 60 inch netting, or cloth.

36 feet 24 inch netting, or cloth, for doors.

Brooding Compartment

12 windows, 4x3 feet.

350 feet matched boards for tight partition, doors to be
made of and included in this.

23 pieces 4x4-7 feet 5 inch posts.

12 pieces 4x4-12 feet long plates.

Droppings Boards

270 feet matched flooring, 10 feet long.

6 pieces 2x4-10 feet long center supports.

18 pieces 2x2-10 feet long roosting poles.

18 pieces }xl inch 1x5 feet iron to support roosting
poles, as shown in drawing. ;

Nest Boxes

120 feet matched flooring, 10 feet long for bottom.
6 pieces 1x6, 10 feet long end pieces.

6 pieces 1x4, 10 feet long center pieces.

10 pieces 1x4, 6 feet long legs under nest platform.

Cross Partitions

51 pieces 1x10, 8 feet long under netting roosting room.

51 pieces 1x10, 12 feet long under netting scratching
sheds.

210 feet 60 inch netting in scratching shed.

130 feet 48 inch netting in roosting room.

18 pairs of hinges for nest box and drop board doors.

Gea

TAGs
a Sey:

SS

oo
or

18 pairs hinges for partition doors.

1 pair hinges for exterior door.

12 pairs hinges for brooding house partition windows.

12 pairs hinges for smallexits between roosting room and
scratching shed.

12 pulleys and cord for raising windows in brooding
house partition.

Note.—Building could be 9 feet on south side and 7 feet
on north side with slight additional expense, since 16 foot
stuff must be used for both dimension lumber aud boards.
Extra cost would be only for added siding on exterior of
building, and wire netting partitions inside.

Architects Comment

For one having the means and desiring to erect a large
poultry house containing all conveniences, this is the build-
ing to erect. The designer of same has evidently given, as
he says, considerable time to the study of the wants of at-
tendant and fowl. It can be built any desired length and
retain all the advantages shown, whether containing 5 or 50
pens. All the attendant’s work is done from the passageway.
He need never enter the pens except for cleaning the
floors, replacing litter and gaining access to the fowls.

With a car on the track suggested for long buildings, one
man could attend to a great number of fowls with very little
labor and so reduce expenses considerably.

Construction as recommended is first-class. A building
erected according to these specifications will last a lifetime
if reasonable care is taken of it.

The principal advantages of this plan are: The passage-
way, containing feed troughs, nest drawers, and doors for
cleaning droppings boards, the partitions between the roost-
ing rooms and scratching sheds containing sash, or muslin
covered frames hinged on top, to be raised during warm
weather and lowered when cold or stormy; the windows in
the south front being connected by a rope, allowing them to
be closed simultaneously from one point, in the work room;
the work shop, shipping room, offiee and dwelling at end of
poultry house, giving attendant opportunity for doing all
work, cooking food, etc., without leaving the building, and
in case of a very long house, locating it in the middle; the
foundation of concrete would last practically without repairs,
and would be rat proof; the general construction of the build-
ing having air space between all walls and between ceiling
and roof and gives a very warm, well built house.

While this would be an expensive building, considering
first cost, it would be durable and possibly as cheap in the
end as any; and considering durability, annual expense ac-
count and convenience, the saving would equal interest on
the investment.

Scratching Shed Houses

The Scratching Hbhed Poultey House

After Years of Practical Experience with Open and Closed Poultry Houses, Mr. Hunter Tells Why the
Continuous Curtained Shed Poultry House is the Best, and Furnishes Detailed
Instructions that will Enable Even a Novice to Build It

A. F. Hunter

RE hens pampered too much ?”’ asks a writer, and
then he goes on to discuss a low cost poultry
house, which is covered with a single thickness
of boards only. There are grave objections to a

house constructed like that, a most important one being that

the board walls will open up cracks in one season’s exposure
to sun and rain, and then there would be the pernicious
drafts and currents of air that must be avoided. The writer
says: ‘‘The great fault with most poultry houses is lack of
thorough ventilation. The moisture excreted from 20 to 25
fowls every 24 hours is a heavy drain upon the ventilating
resources of most houses, and it is the keynote to the failure
of nearly all of them.’’ And the editorial comment upon the
same article is: ‘‘One of the surest preventives of dampness—
moisture in a poultry house—is perfect ventilation. Many
poultrymen have requested information upon the question of
damp houses, and have been advised to ventilate by fre-
quent opening of doors and windows.’’ In a certain sense
the house plan mentioned is like the curtained front house
plan of the Maine Station poultry house; one difference being
that be rolls up his curtain hung in front of roost platform.

We believe the swinging curtain tacked to a simple frame is

superior to having the curtain rolled. Experience with cur-

tains has demonstrated that.

On the two following pages we give plans for a contin-
uous poultry house with alternating pens and sheds, the
sheds having curtained fronts and all the space within the
house being utilized; many years’ study of poultry house
problems has convinced us that this alternating shed and
pen plan is the best—all things considered. No house plan

66

is perfect; we have to balance advantages against disadvan- -

tages and should choose the plan which combines the great-
est number of advantages with fewest disadvantages, and
so firmly are we convinced of the general excellences of this
pen and shed plan that if we were erecting a poultry plant

for 200 or 300, or 2,000 or 3,000 head of fowls this is the plan
we would use. Many modifications and adaptations of this
plan have been made since we first published it, and quite a
few improvements haye been suggested by observation and
experience, and the net result of these modifications and im-
provements is given in these pages. Each combined pen .
and shed is 18 by 10 feet, the curtained front shed being
10 by 10 and the closed roosting pen being 8 by 10, room
sufficient for 25 fowls of the American or 30 of the Mediter-
ranean varieties; no walk is required because the waik is
through gates and doors, from shed to pen and pen to shed,
and so on to the end of the house, and out the other end.

We have seen this plan with a roosting pen at the end,
then 2 sheds and 2 pens, ete. Don’t do that! By bringing
the closed roosting pens together in pairs they contribute to
warm each other, and every pen has the protection of the
shed beyond; the end department should be a shed always.
The ventilation (so much desired) is very varied, and can be
adapted to the different seasons in half a dozen different
ways. In summer the doors and windows are all wide open
and the curtains all hooked up against the roof out of the
way. (It is understood that the doors between 2 pens are
never left open, they are always kept closed except when
opened for the attendant to pass through from one pen to
another.) When the nights begin to be real frosty in the fall
close the windows in front of pens, but leave shed curtains
hooked up and doors between sheds and pens open. When
it begins to freeze nights close the curtains in fronts of sheds,
but still leave doors between pens and sheds open. These
doors (including slide door A) are never closed excepting on
nights of solid cold, say 5 to 20 degrees above zero; and for
zero nights (5 degrees above to away below), close the
curtains in front of roosts and all doors and windows are
closed. An additional protection against cold in extremely
cold latitudes would be to double wall the roost pen from:

SCRATCHING

the sill up to plate and then up the roof 4 feet, packing
the spaces with straw or swale hay, then have a hinged cur-
tain to drop down to within 6 inches of front of roost plat-
form and going 1 foot below it; this curtain we would close
only on the most severe nights.

Construction

Sills and plates are all of 2 by 4 scantling, halved and
nailed together at joints. The rafters, the corner studs and
studs at center of fronts of sheds are all 2 by 4; the intermed-
iate studs are 2 by 3. Set the sills on stone foundation or on
posts set into the ground below the usual frost line, the
posts being set 5 feet apart excepting in front of pens,
where they would come 4 feet apart, there being a post at
corners of each pen and shed and one between; the rafters
should be 2 feet apart. The sills we would set 1 foot above
average ground level, put 1 foot wide hemlock (or some
hardwood) board from bottom half of sill down to ground,

CURTAINED -FRONT
SCRATCHING SHED

SHED HOUSES . 3%

and best. Some of the good ones are Ruberoid, Paroid,
Flintkote, Swan’s Felt, Neponset Red Rope, etc. These
roofings come in rolls with nails and tin-heads inside each
roll, or with cement, etc., where such is used; the prices at
which they are sold cover everything of that kind. Asa
general rule these roofings should be applied lengthwise of
roofs and walls, and where doors and windows are set in
walls bring the covering material out over top of door or
window frames. A 12 light window of 8 by 10 glass is set in
front of each pen, and all doors and gates are 2 feet 6 in-
ches wide by 6 feet high. Have plenty of hooks and screw
eyes to secure doors and gates back against the walls and
curtains up against the roofs; each large curtain in front of
shed needs 2 hooks and screw eyes, 1 at each lower corner, to
prevent it twisting. All windows should be protected by
having 2-inch mesh wire netting tacked to inside of frame,
to keep fowls from dashing against it if startled and keep
rodents out when window is left open at night. To keep
the fowls enclosed when curtains are raised cover the front

LAVA]
WIMNZ

55—MR. HUNTER'S SCRATCHING SHED POULTRY HOUSE: A--FOWL ENTRANCE, B—WATER PANS, C-FEED TROUGHS, E—ROOSTS

nailing it securely to sill and foundation posts, then fill up
inside to bottom of sills and slope up the ground outside to
same height. Toe-nail studs to sills, firmly, also plates to
studs, and rafters to plates. Make front studs 7 feet (orat
least 6 feet 6 inches) in the clear and back studs 5 feet (or
4 feet 6 inches) in the clear; of course studs in front of pens
will be set at right space to take window frames or the win-
dow sash if no frames are used, and in partitions the studs
will be set to take the 2 feet 6 inches wide doors. All of this
framing is as simple as can be, and any man who can saw a
board or joist reasonably square and drive nails can build
such a house; the slight bevel at each end of rafters is prac-
tically quite as simple. All boarding is lengthwise, the
boards being firmly nailed, and close joints made every-
where. Cover the boarding, both roof and walls, with a
good sheathing paper (or sheathing quilt) and then put
on the outside covering of some good roofing material. Of
this there are several kinds and in selecting a roofing material
keep in mind the fact that it is a physical impossibility for a
cheap article to be as good and as durable as those costing
more; avoid the material that it is claimed is cheapest

of shed with wire netting, having one section of it made a
gate to open and let the birds out into yards; this large gate
we found very convenient when we wanted to bring in coops
of birds from the wheelbarrow (pullets brought in from
coops in the fields), or ifcooping up a number of birds to
send away. The frames for the curtains were made of good,
sound 1 by 3 inch furring, halved and securely nailed at cor-
ners, and by brace set diagonally across back of frame to
firm it. Care must be taken that gates between sheds do
not come in conflict with these curtains when they are
hooked up; as they are left up 7 or 8 months in the year and
only down nights and stormy days 4 or 5 months, a little
pains must be taken to have the gates swing clear. The
doors from sheds to pens swing into the pens and are, of
course, out of the way of the curtains. Some poultrymen
have found a difficulty in getting oiled muslin for these cur-
tains, but most seedsmen in the United States keep it for
sale, it being the same as used by gardeners for covering
cold frames. In talking of this with Prof. Robertson, Cana-
dian Commissioner of Agriculture, he said he had never
heard of such oiled muslin being used in Canada, and inquiry

38 POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

at the two leading seed stores in Ottawa disclosed that they
did not keep it. Another point to be considered is carrying
off the drip from these curtains in case of a driving rain from
the south. As there is usually (in winter) 6 inches of
scratching material in the sheds the curtains should not come
down to the sills, and a board 8 or 10 inches wide should be
set slightly slanting in from the sill to just inside the bottom
of the curtain frame, and that drip board secures the
scratching material within the shed and conveys the drip
outside the sill. One poultryman of my acquaintance has a
section of board 10 inches wide and between two studs at
back of scratching shed so arranged that he can slip it out
and shovel the sand out (and in) there at annual house
cleaning time; this he finds a decided convenience, as he can
set his cart just beneath it and shovel directly into the cart
through that opening. The roost platform should be 3 feet

to wall at back 8 inches above platform and terminate
with legs 8 inches long leading to platform; the roofs are
swung up and hooked against the wall for cleaning off
droppings.

A correspondent writes as follows: ‘‘Having compared
the two styles, I find that better health, greater egg produc-
tion and better fertility are the results where the fowls are
kept in the open seratching shed house. The advantages we
gain in such a house are that the roosting room can be much
smaller than it could be if the scratching and roosting
rooms were combined. Being so small, the natural heat
from the fowls keeps it warm and there is no necessity for
artificial heat.

“Then the hen loves freedom which allows her to move
around at will and work as she pleases. In a small closed
pen she soon gets tired, squats down in some corner, be-

WES

No. 2
EnDSs OF RAFTERS

NEST BoxES, ENTRANCE IN REAR

SHOWING CURTAINS , ONE DOWN,
ONE HOOKED UP 70 ROOF

Cc

~

=

nt

FEED TROUGH

56—DETAILS OF CONSTRUCTION AND INTERIOR FIXTURES OF MR. HUNTER’S HOUSE

wide and the full length of roosting pen, excepting that it
should be short enough to lift out easily for house
cleaning; strong cleats should be nailed to each end wall to
support it and the platform should be 2 feet above sill level.
Make the platform of matched boards, secured by 2 cleats
across bottom. An ‘‘edge’’ of 244 inches wide furring is a
decided improvement, keeping the droppings enclosed; for
convenience a space 12 inches in length can be cut out of
middle of front edge, through which to scrape the droppings.
The two roosts are.made of 2 by 3 scantlings, slightly rounded
on top, and cut 8 inches shorter than platform so ends of
roosts come 4 inches within the platform. Set roosts 14
inches apart, which will bring them 8 inches within the
platform back and front. Two cross arms are hinged

comes fat and lazy, loses her appetite and is only an ex-
pense to her owner till nature forces her to lay. In an open
scratching shed she can work in the open air going in and
out as she pleases, and she is always ready to eat or work;
therefore she is strong and healthy, her egg yield is large-and
the eggs are strongly fertile.’’

Doesn’t that fully cover the ground? What do we keep
fowls for that is not grouped in that intelligently expressed
argument in fayor of the scratching shed house? Better
health, -better egg yield, fowls busier and (hence) happier;
it is all comprised in these words. Some people have been
frightened at the term ‘‘open front,’’ and I have substituted
‘‘curtained front’’ in this article, and those words are more
accurate in describing the type of house.

Poultry Bouse and Seratching Shed

An Onginal Plan by Which it is Proposed to Retain the Advantages of Modern Scratching Sheds and
Roosting Rooms, while Improving Them With Respects to Economy, Sunlight
and Protection from Wind

Henry P. J. Earnshaw

HEN scratching shed houses first came into use a
number of years ago they were generally ac-
cepted as all that could be desired in the way of
a perfect house for a northern climate. Like all

other things, the longer they were in use the more their dis-
advantages became apparent. In recent years a number of
changes have been made in the original plan with the idea of
perfecting it.

That scratching sheds in this climate are highly desirable
is evidenced by the number of houses of various patterns
that possess this addition.

The writer has visited many plants in various parts of
the country, and having discussed with proprietors the faults
generally found in these houses, the matter has been care-
fully considered with the idea of perfecting a plan, and the
outcome of the attempt is here given. I have settled upon
these plans as having more advantages and fewer faults than
any of the various modifications of the scratching shed house
that have come to my notice.

The objections most frequently raised are: Cost of con-
struction, time wasted in taking care of the flocks, havoc
created in the scratching shed by the wind, and the time re-
quired in removing snow on certain days in winter. By using

oft. 6ft
Roosting

Scratching Shed
sate.

Scratching Shed
la ft «

Roosting

Room Room®

Window Window ur

241m 40 pos

2
Fs

from drafts. During very cold weather a curtain of burlap
can be hung from the ceiling to a level with the droppings
board. This will retain the heat and yet give all the ventila-
tion necessary. In such case the fowls are protected by their
own warmth from the outside temperature and do not warm
up any more space than is absolutely necessary, and as soon
as it is light they make their way to the front of the roosting
room and get such exercise as they desire until the attendant
comes and feeds them and opens the door.

After a long cold night it is desirable to get the first
morning sun. For this reason the windows are arranged
respectively on the extreme east and west ends of adjoining
roosting rooms and one between the two rooms, giving light
to both. By this arrangement the sun, as soon as it rises,
throws its light on almost one-fourth of the floor space of
both roosting rooms. The late afternoon sun does the same.
It increases the sun in the house one-half hour in the
morning and one-half hour in the afternoon, or an hour in
all, which makes a great difference on a cold winter day.
During the shortest day in winter every part of the house
catches the sun at some time during the day.

Windows in roosting room should be opened on all sunny
days as soon as the sun is well up and closed 2 or 3 hours

57—SHOWING GROUND PLAN OF DAMP PROOF ROOSTING ROOMS AND SCRATCHING SHEDS

curtains this latter trouble has been overcome; but a curtain
shuts out the sun, which of course is a great disadvantage.
By adopting a sloping roof in front, strong drafts and wind
in the scratching shed are overcome. In my plan the dis-
tance from floor to peak is 7 feet 6 inches. The opening in
front of scratching shed is 4 feet 9 inches. As the wind ap-
proaches this opening the air already in the shed forms a
cushion strengthened by the resistance of the sloping front
roof and the front boarding along the bottom. This prevents
the entrance of strong guests of wind. It was suggested to
me some time ago while driving in a Goddard buggy against
a very stiff wind. The smoke from my cigar remained with-
in the hood, or top, with very little motion until it worked
outside, when it went away with a rush.

As to cost. All that is necessary in a house for grown
fowls is protection from the wind, rainandsnow im the day
time, and a warm roosting room at night.

The roosting room (or that part of it that contains the
roosts) is the only part of the house which necessarily should
be snugly and well constructed. This should be double
boarded and lined with waterproof felt both inside and out-
side. As the roosts are placed at the rear of the house, they
are away from doors and windows and are therefore free

before it goes down.

The minor details of the house can be arranged in any
way that is agreeable to the user. If it is desirable to have
an enclosed scratching shed it will be best to increase the
height of the house to 8 feet at peak and 6 feet 6 inches at
the front. This enables one to fold the front shutters back
to the roof, which is so high that they will not interfere with
the swinging of the doors. I do not consider it advisable to
alter the height of the back wall unless the attendant is more
than the average height, in which case it might be incon-
venient to do the work. fe

The house should be built on ground with sufficient slope
to carry away surface water. Face it a little to the east of
south. If it faces this way you will get the greatest possible
amount of sun and will not catch raking winds from either
the east or the west. House should be situated on naturally
dry land.

Exterior Construction

For the foundation place flat stones under the sills in
place of posts, or posts can be sunk in the ground and cut off
8 inches above the surface. If posts are used they should be
at least 6 inches in diameter. By stripping off the bark and

39

40

charring the part to be placed in the ground, or by covering
it with a heavy coating of tar, the life of a post can be great-
ly prolonged.

The frame should consist of not less than 3 by 4 inch
studding, and where there is liability of heavy snow storms
it is as well to use 2 by 6 inch stuff for the roofing timbers,
as this will not sag. Be careful to use sound timbers where
there is much strain, such as on plates on front of scratching
shed, using knotty pieces for uprights in framing back wall.

Use any kind of boards for the walls, provided they are
of an even thickness, for covering in, with the exception of
the back part of the roosting room. This boarding should
be of matched stuff and should be laid as close together as
possible.

There is a variety of roofings to choose from, and as they
all have merit, and none of them are perfect, I will discuss
them in a general way and let you make your own selection.

{ron roofing is usually too expensive for this use and is
really not suitable for the purpose, as it is very cold in win-
ter and draws the heat in summer. If it is used it should
be painted on the under side with a good iron oxide paint
before laying and should be coated at least once every 2
years on the weather side with similar material. With the
best of care it will not be permanent, but will rust from
underneath.

Shingles make a very good and permanent roof and re-
quire little care until they begin to wear, when it is best to
tear them off and replace with new ones. If shingles are to
be used, it is well to lay resin sized building paper under
them to keep the wind out. Never paint shingles on a roof
after they are laid, as it shortens their life. The moisture
works down between the cracks and under the shingles and
if painted it remains there for a long time drying out slowly,
with the result that they decay quickly. Ifa shingle is to be
painted or stained the best way is to dip it before putting it
on. If this is done, there is no unprotected side for the
water to Soak into.

Felt roofings are the cheapest usually in first cost, but
require coating every two or three years. They usually cost
more in the long run than shingles and are never as satis-
factory.

Paper roofings are usually all right, provided they are
battened down to keep the wind from tearing them and by
keeping them well painted. Never use a paint on a paper or
felt roof unless you know its ingredients. Certain chemicals
are used in roofing paints that do not always work well with
the chemicals in the paper, so it is well to write the manu-
f acturer and find out what paint or coating he advises used

POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

59-SHOWING PARTITION BETWEEN ROOSTING ROOMS
AND POSITION OF ROOSTS

Where ready roofing is used for covering the sides it is
not necessary to lay paper under it, but itis well to batten
it well, being sure to paint under the battens to prevent
rotting.

A good way to lay a ready roofing is to continue the sid-
ing over the eaves. This makes a perfectly tight joint at the
eaves and prevents any drafts from striking through.

Interior Construction

Board up the inside of roosting room, the whole width of
the rear wall, and about 4 feet 6 inches of the partitions,
with matched stuff, and fit strips of board in at the end of
boarding and roof, making a tight air space. This is neces-
sary to keep moisture out of the space and from working in-
to the boarding. When this is done line the interior of the
roosting compartment with a water proof felt or paper, be-
ing careful to make all joints tight. This is the most im-
portant part of all in making it frost proof. It is necessary
to keep this water proof as well as the roof, for reasons stated
below. If an extra warm house is wanted itis well to use
Cabot’s sheating quilt under the water proof lining of this
roosting compartment. This is the best cheap non-conductor
that I know of. Do not fill the air space with anything that
will be a harbor for rats. Sawdust, if it is absolutely dry, is
all right, but if it is damp it will rot out the boarding. There
is nothing that I know of suitable for this purpose that can
be had at a price that would warrant its use.

The curtain for use in front of fowls can be made of bur-
lap tacked onto two strips of board or anything handy. One
by one inch is large enough. When the curtain is put up in
the fall simply put a nail in either end and drive it into the

58—SHOWING FRONT ELEVATION, PART OF WHICH IS SHOWN CO MPLETE, THE REMAINDER SHOWING MODE OF FRAMING

All ready roofings, like incubators,
should be used according to instructions. The manufactur-
ers know more about them than you do... Many aroofing has
been abused because some paint or coating had been used on
it that rotted it out. In laying shingles it is not advisable to
use wire nails, as they do not last, but rust off. Neither
sh ould tarred paper be laid under shingles, as it rusts the
nails and shingles fall off.

Whatever roofing you use it is well to lay a layer of resin
si zed sheeting under it so that the expansion and contrac-
ion of the boards will not wear directly on the roofing sel

on his particular roof.

ceiling half way. It will then be an easy matter to remove
n the spring to be stored for further use. The strip on the
bottom will make it hang flat. A string can be tied through
the center of this bottom strip to attach to the nnder side of
roof with which to raise it out of the way in the day time.
Windows are intended to be hung the same as those in
general use on street cars. That is, lifting slightly, pulling
Note. —The letters of illustrations 61 and 62 show: A—Window alll
off, and to hold sash tight to outside wall. C—Block nailed on studding on each side
top of sash F when in place. D—Space below ail! Into which sash drops when open.
G.—Seven-elgbts Inch strip nailed to Inside of studding, and projecting over the edge

sb when opening and closing window. H—Outside boxing projecting three-fourths
studding to hold sash in when windo® is closed,

B—Strip nailed on alll to prevent

SCRATCHING SHED HOUSES =

2-6 «6 FF,

60—SHOWING SOLID PARTITION BETWEEN ROOSTING
ROOM AND SCRATCHING SHED

towards you and sliding down. If the front of house is made
6 feet 6 inches high, they can be hinged at the top and swung
to the roof, so as not to interfere with the doors. In this
case the middle window will have to be permanent.

By leaving a space for water vessels in the solid part of
the partition between the roosting rooms one water vessel
will serve for two flocks.

The reason for lining roosting compartments with water
proof paper is to prevent condensation on the boards. There
is probably nothing in connection with a poultry house that
has bothered poultrymen to the extent that dripping walls
and ceilings have, and at the same time there is nothing so
little understood. I will try to give the cause in as few words
as possible and you will readily see how it can be prevented:

All air contains moisture. The warmer the air the more

moisture itcan hold. Mois-
ture is a good conductor of
cold. The moisture con-
tained in the fowl’s breath
is absorbed by the air in
the room. This air is in
constant circulation, caused
by the different temperature
within the room and the air
leaking in from the outside.
As the fowls keep on breath-
ing the air becomes more
charged with moisture.
Now this air coming in con-
tact with the colder surfaces
condenses, leaving its mois-
ture. If this surface is not
water-proof, the moisture
will penetrate and, being a
good conductor of cold,
will allow the cold to pene-
trate the walls much more
quickly than when dry.
The minimum temperature
at which air contains the
* greatest amount of moisture
is called the dew point. As air can contain
more moisture at a high temperature than
at low, it will be seen that the dew point will. be reached

om “Surppras

‘Curppngs Hx

6I—WINDOW
WITH SASH IN
PLACE

62—WINDOW
WITH SASH _ IN
THE ACT OF
DROPPING INTO
SPACE D

much sooner on a cold than a warm night and that by
water-proofing the roosting compartment of the house, should
the dew point be reached on a few occasions, the moisture
cannot penetrate the boarding and thus injure the efficiency
of the partitions. To have my house warm in winter, I
would prefer to water-proof the inside walls than the outside
if I could not afford to do both.

HOUSE FOR SOUTHERN BREEDERS

A Poultry Building that Can be -Opened and
Closed According to the Weather

Wm. E. Spencer

houses. I am convinced that they are the cheapest and

best houses for the south, and the same idea, with

warmer construction, would undoubtedly prove equally
satisfactory in the north.

When the summer is at its height I find that my poultry
keep comfortable and cool in the houses. Not any of them
has yet shown a disposition to leave the houses for outside
roosting places. Thisindicates pretty accurately that they
find it quite pleasant. My experience on February 12 last,
when the temperature went 18 degrees below (the coldest
by 13 degrees ever known in Arkansas, demonstrated that
they are comfortable in winter, for not a comb was even as
much as frosted.

Such houses are easily built and are no more expensive
than any other kind. The one shown in the cuts is 32 feet
long and 8 feet wide, 8 feet high in front and 6 feet in the
rear. It is divided into a feed room, 6 by 8 feet, two roost-
ing houses, 8 by 8, and two scratching sheds, 5 by 8. The
cost to me for material and carpenter’s work was between
$45 and $50, the carpenter charging $10 for his work. The
photographs will show how the houses are built, so that any
person with a ‘‘mechanical turn of mind’’ will understand.

[Southern breeders need a house that is built upon some-
what different principles to that in use in the north and Mr.
Spencer appears to have provided the wished-for plan. The
house as photographed, with its doors open, and the fence
at the back exposed to view through the open window, gives
that airy appearance which is so inviting in hot weather and
provides a comfortable scratching place free from the sun’s
glare, yet open to the welcome breeze which tempers the
extreme heat. We believe, however, we would reverse the
sizes of the roosting rooms and scratching sheds, mak-
ing the rooms each 5 by 8 and the sheds each 8 by 8
feet. Most of the fowls will be in the sheds during the day
and on the roost at night, so that it is in the sheds where the
most space is needed. The space occupied by roosts and
nests is comparatively small, and so far as house room goes
it is unnecessary to provide only for an odd day in the 365
when the fowls are confined to the house. We have found 3
square feet per fowl sufficient, where, without the shed, at
least 6 would be required.—Ed.]

AM sending you photographs of a tier of my poultry

Srratching Shed Colony House

A Practical, Economical House Designed for One Pen of Fowls——Detailed Instructions Regarding the
Exterior and Interior Construction, and Material Needed

“For Poultry Keepers on a Small Scale this House is Hard to Beat”

James M. Stocking

HIS house is set on 6 posts set 3 feet in the ground, one
at each corner of the house and one midway on each
side. The post set at the highest corner is sawed off
square 1 foot from the ground and the other 5 are cut

to the same level.

The sills are 4 by 4 and halved together at the corners.
After the sills are squared and spiked to the posts, measure
off on the outside of the back sill 3 feet 8 inches from the
end, and on the front sill 5 feet 8 inches from the same end.
With a straight edge placed at these two points mark where it
crosses the sills.. Then place a 2 by 4 flush with the end and
outer edge of each sill and square up the outer edges of the
2 by 4 where they cross the mark on the sills. Place straight
edges on these marks on the 2 by 4and mark across the 4 inch
surface of them. This gives angle and length to cut the cor-
ner posts.

Before removing these 2 by 4’s from the place where they
lay for marking, note if they are the
same width as the sills. If so re-

move them and lay another 2 by 4
across the sills in the same position
as the straight edge was to mark
them. Then mark across this 2 by 4
parallel with and flush with the inside
of the sills. This gives the angle and
length to cut the end rafters.

The posts are set 4 inches side to
the end and rafter toe-nailed between
them. The other end is done the
same way. Then cut two 2 by 4’s
each 15 feet 8 inches long. These
are toe-nailed tothe corner posts
and form the front and back plates.
Then cut a stud the proper length to
reach between the back sill and plate.
Place this in position, 7 feet
the outer edge of the east end to its
west face; place a stud midway be-
tween this and the east end. This
should be placed thin way into the
house so as to be less in the way
when the droppings boardis put in later on.
foot space, which should have 2
equal spaces.

Then place a stud on the south side the same distance
(7 feet) from the east end. Puta rafter between plates at
this point and a 2 by 4 across between the sills. Runa 2 by
4 on edge lengthways of the middle of the roof between raft-
ers and toe-nail it to the rafters.

The partition is boarded on the scratching shed inside of
the studding, leaving the house proper 7 feet in the clear.

Now place a stud on the south side 6 inches from east
end and another just 24 inches west of it. Then put in a
2 by 4 10 inches up from the sill across between these, and
another 2 by 412 inches down from the top. This makes
the door frame.

from

This leaves a 9
studs, dividing it into 3

Between door and scratching shed and a proper distance
apart to admit a sash of 6 lights, 8 by 12 inches place 2 studs,
one each side of the window. So place them as to bring the
sash in the middle of this space. Then place a 2 by 4 be-
tween these for the window sill 2 feet from sill, and another
one over the top of the sash. This makes the window frame.

Next place a stud 6 inches west of partition and another
6 inches east from west end of the house. Place a 2 by
4 between. them running parallel with and 10 inches above
the sill; another running parallel with this 12 inches down
from the roof. It is now ready for boarding.

Barn boards are used, or if in a locality where % inch
box boards can be had they may be used at much less cost
and with good results. If barn boards are used use 16 foot
lengths on the back and run them lengthways. On the roof,
ends, front and partition run them up and down.

Around the window and door let the boarding project.

63—POULTRY HOUSE FOR SOUTHERN BREEDERS- OPEN

about 34 inch over the openings. This will make ‘sufficient
casing forthem. The door may be made of barn boards

and hinged on the right hand side to swing in. An old-
fashioned thumb latch is used on it.
Wire netting is tacked over the front of window. The

window is opened and held in place by means of a leather
strap with several holes in it attached to the center of the
top of the frame, and hooking over a pin in the center of the
inside of the top of the sash. Ventilation may be regulated
by lowering the window more or less.

In the front of the scratching shed and 2 feet from the
east side of the opening place a2 by 4 upright. Over the
space west of this tack wire netting. This 2 foot opening is
closed by a screen door made of % by 2 inch stuff hinged at
the left side to swing out, and is fastened with aniron button.

SCRATCHING SHED HOUSES 43

Make a trame of % by 2 inch stuff large enough to lap
against the inside of the frame work around the entire open-
ing of the shed. This is covered with heavy unbleached
cotton cloth. After this is tacked in place on the outside of
the frame it is given a thorough coat of linseed oil. This
makes it durable and waterproof.

The frame is then hinged to the inside of the top of the

opening, and is opened and shut by means of a cord at-
tached to the center of the button of the curtain frame.
From here it runs through a pulley in the back plate, then
through a hole in the front of shed over the center of the
frame. In the outer end of this rope a loop is made. This
is drawn along the front of the building a sufficient distance
to raise the curtain and is then hooked over a pin to hold
the curtain up. A hook and screw-eye in the center and out-
side of the frame is an economical way of fastening down
the curtain during cold nights and stormy weather.
\ An opening to let birds from the house to the shed is
made 8 inches above the sill, 8 inches wide and 10 inches in
height. This is closed by means of a slide, which pushes
sideways instead of sliding up and down, as it will stay
where it is put without fastening. The birds are admitted to
the yard through a similar opening in the west end of the
shed.

A droppings board 27 inches wide is placed along the
north side of the house 2 feet from the sill. Itis placed on
cleats and is not attached in any way to the house, making
it easy to clean the house and destroy the vermin. - Two

‘plies the fowls with plenty of grit.

can be taken out at any time and carried out of doors.

During the hot summer months a perch is placed in the
shed and birds are shut from the house for a night or two to
get them in the habit of roosting there. This is much more
comfortable and healthful for the birds.

The outside of the house is covered with a prepared
roofing.

The ends and sides of the house are covered and then a
4-inch frieze is nailed all the way around over the top of the
paper. Then the roof is covered and a 4-inch ridge-board
nailed on top along the tront edge. Onthe ends and back
the paper laps over the edge about 1 inch and is nailed down
with tin buttons. The house is filled with about 4 inches of
stone to admit of perfect drainage. Then 4 inches of gravel
dirt, or some convenient material, with a 4-inch layer of
coarse sand or fine gravel on top. This allows any water
which may be spilled on it to pass off quickly and also sup-
Two 4-inch boards
3 feet long are nailed together at right angles and are then
nailed to the sills in the southwest corner of the house, mak-
ing a frame 3 feet square. This is filled with fine dusting
material for dust baths. The building being raised up well
from the ground can be banked so as to throw all water
away from it.

A board 6 inches square is nailed to the top of the sill
in the east end of the house. A 2-quart galvanized iron
drinking fountain is placed on this board. Here also, on the
sills, is placed a box 4 inches deep and 4 inches wide. This
is kept filled with gravel and grit if
needed.

64—POULTRY HOUSE FOR SOUTHERN BREEDERS—CLOSED

planed 2 by 3’s, laid flat, with the upper corners rounded,
are used for perches and are 6 inches above the droppings
board, 2 in each house, placed on oil cup brackets.

: Along the front edge of the droppings board a % by 2
inch strip is nailed. In the center ofthe front of board a
hole 5 inches square is cut to place pail under for conven-
ience in cleaning.

Under this board are placed two drawers, one at each
end. Each drawer contains two nests, each 15 inches square
and 18 inches high. All but 4 inches along the bottom of
the back is open to admit the hen. The top is all open for
convenience of the attendant. The ends run back a foot be-
yond the 15 inches to support it when the drawer is pulled
out. This gives the hens a dark place to lay in, off the floor,
and a convenient place from which to collect the eggs. These
drawers are in no way attached to the droppings board and

A feed trough is made out of %
by 6 inch lumber4 feetlong. Across
each end on the under side a piece of
2 by 3 is nailed. Along the side a’
lath is nailed, coming flush with
the bottom and extended above the
board about 4 inch. The ends are
nailed on and are 6% inches from
the bottom up as high as the lath.
From here they taper to 144 inches
wide 5 inches above the board.
From end to end on top astrip 7 by
14% inches is nailed, which keeps the
birds off the trough and is conven-
ient in handling.

In the center of the space in
front of droppings board a string
with a slip-knot is suspended. It
is of sufficient length so that when
a cabbage is hung in it by the roots
the birds cannot reach the head with-
out jumping for it.

Litter is placed in the shed to a depth of from 6 to 8
inches and all the cracked grain is fed in this. Various ma-
terials may be used in here, as cheap hay, etc. One of the
best is oak leaves.

The yards run to the rear of the house, the front end
coming flush with the front of the house.

A house of this description gives the birds plenty of fresh
air and lots of exercise, and the owner a large number of
fertile eggs that will hatch strong, healthy chicks. It will
accommodate 15 females and one male. It is desirable to
shift males every other day or so.

Material Needed
350 square feet lumber.
45 feet % by 2 inch.
166 feet 2 by 4.

44 POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

44 feet 4 by 4.
1 iron button. oa

3 pairs 5-inch T-hinges.
15 feet strong cord.

1 pulley.

4 china eggs.

2 cupboard door catches.
1 door latch.

20 pounds 8d cut nails.

i

Toa

=
SoS

x

=

1 sash, 6 lights, 8 by 12 inch. AY
6 feet of 5-foot poultry netting. ach Ss
2% feet of 30-inch poultry netting. yy,

4 feet of 24-inch poultry netting.

4 perch brackets.

1 drinking fountain.

250 sq. feet of Asphalt Ready Roofing,
sand surface, or 350 square feet of Rubber-
oid Roofing Paper, ¥4 ply.

Architect's Comment

For poultry keepers on a small scale this house is hard
to beat. The plan is very simple and economical, and the
house may be used as a colony house. There is nothing su-
perfluous to incur uncalled for expense, still it is very sub-
stantially and conveniently constructed, with sufficient room
for the number of fowls stated.

DcvaATCHING
SVL

DROPPINGS TIOAPO

Poos7ive F
FPOOr7

=| at
Naa
- eta ay

St

66--SCRATCHING SHED COLONY HOUSE, DESIGNED BY JAMES M. STOCKING

inch boards for the wall, for they will certainly warp and
crack in a short time, and the differance in price would not
warrant using them. All boards outside should be nailed on
up and down; they will last much longer, since water does
not remain between joints of boards as they would if put on
crossways.

A window sliding sideways would be preferable to one
hinged on top, for it could be opened and closed from either
out or inside, and there would be no danger of breaking
glass, which might occur with the sash
fastened as shown.

Windows in scratching shed are not
absolutely necessary. Their absence
would diminish cost of construction.
The sash is used only in very cold
weather and therefore unnecessary most
of the time. The. question whether in-
creased egg production will offset the

at | y additional cost of sash must be decided
t ah by practical test.
65—PLAN OF SCRATCHING SHED COLONY HOUSE, DESIGNED BY J. M. STOCKING All fixtures, such as droppings

The foundation posts are deep enough to be below frost
line and far enough above ground to insure a dry building
for fowls. An especially good and inexpensive feature is the
floor, which is made of coarse stone; above that gravel and
then sand above the gravel. This will keep the floor dry.

The floor is not encumbered either in the roosting room
or scratching shed, as all fixtures, etc., are raised. The walls
are boarded and tar papered on the outside. This would be
better if papered inside also. We would not advise using %

board, roosts, water and feed troughs,

grit boxes, etc., are removable in this house. There

is no need of a hole in the droppings board; it would be

the cause of soiling the floor underneath. If the small

piece of strip in front of board were omitted, it would be as

well for cleaning. This would also allow a nest drawer to

be made in one in place of two sections, thereby saying time.

A good feature is suggested, namely, that the fowls are

to roost in scratching shed during summer weather. This is
more to their liking and conducive to their health.

Roosting Room and Scratching Shed

Full Description of a Well-Built Poultry House, and Manner of Building It—Bill of Lumber and Other
Material Used in Its Construction
Otto O, Wild

HIS HOUSE fronts south. Owing to the way peach
li trees are set the west end stands at an angle N. E.
S. W. This makes the front measure 18 feet. By
frontage an advantage is gained in securing the last

rays of winter’s evening sun.

As no one would build thus under other conditions, we
will assume the dimensions are as follows: Ten feet wide
and 14 feet long. The roosting room is floored with white
pine flooring and the partition is made of the same material,
lined with tarred paper and located 7 feet from the east end,
making a room 7 by 10 feet. Front of building is 6 feet 6
inches in height under eaves; the back 4 feet 6 inches under
eaves. All framing material is of 2 by 4 scantling and all
siding, flooring and the door in partition is white pine flooring
6 inches wide, tongued and grooved. Inside walls are lined
with tarred paper put on to studding before siding up, and
later tacked at lap to inside of siding. The droppings board
is placed back of the roosting room. It is 2 feet 6 inches
wide by 6 feet 10 inches long, 20 inches above the floor.

Sliding nests (made like drawers) are underneath.
Front of nest faces window and is partially
covered with a hood. The nest is a box 12
by 12 by 18 inches without a top. It is
suspended from the droppings board by a
1 by 4 inch strip placed edgeways. Space
them 14 inches apart and nail a cleat 1 by
2 inches to the underside of each. This
leaves a projection on each side of strip.
Now nail a1 by 1 inch square to nest box
on each side at upper edge and you have
a drawer to slide into the grooves on drop-
pings board. Nail a 1 by 6 inch strip to
cleats above box to shut out light and at
the same time form a guard for droppings
above. In front end of box I cut a round
hole 8 inches in diameter for the hen to
enter and cover top of same with a hood.

The nest as arranged is 4 inches from
the floor at bottom. The hood shuts out the view of
interior. If any old timer tries egg eating, turn the boxes
end for end and let them enter from behind. Drinking,
grit and mash troughs are made of galvanized iron gut-
tering, the ends closed by a tinner, and are hung by
the hangers that are sold with them. The grit trough is
placed in the roosting room and the mash and water
troughs on side and back walls of scratching shed.
They are hung on nails (heads taken off) and can be readily
removed to clean, thaw out or hang up out of reach.

Roosts are 2 by 4 scantling, having edges rounded,
and placed on 2 by 6 rests above droppings board, not
nailed, and easily removed. There is a door at south
end of partition between roosting room and ‘scratching
shed 2 feet 4 inches wide and 5 feet 8 inches high, hinged
towards center of building. It is furnished with latch, hasp
and lock. A small side door is located just back of the
larger one, but out of the way, when the large door is open.

The roosting room has two windows, one of double
sash 8 lights 10 by 14 glass in front, put in just as in any
house except that the studding answers for side of frame.

The east end of the building has a single 4 light sash of same
sized glass, hinged at side and hooked to corner studding on
the inside. This window catches the early sun and can be
open for ventilation. The front of scratching shed is closed
with heavy cotton cloth tacked on frames, one of which is
hinged to an upright scantling and can be more readily
opened and closed in going in and out. The sheathing of
roof is laid close together, covered with tarred paper and
then shingled.

Lumber Specifications

Sills are made of 2 by 4 scantling spiked together and
laid down edgeways. Joists are broken at corners.

2 pieces 2x4x9 feet 8 inches, 2 pieces 2x4x9 feet 10 inches,
2 pieces 2x4x13 feet 8 inches, 2 pieces 2x4x13 feet 10 inches,
outside sills.

2 pieces 2x4x9 feet 4 inches, partition sills.

3 pieces 2x4x9 feet 4 inchés, roosting room joists.

Spike partition sill and joists in from inner frame of sill
and put outside sill on last. Then spike all together.

67—POULTRY HOUSE DESIGNED AND BUILT BY OTTO O. WILD

6 pieces 2x4x6 feet front.

9 pieces 2x4x4 feet back.

3 pieces 2x2x4 feet 634 inches, 3 pieces 2x4x5 feet, 514
inches, 3 pieces 2x4x6 feet 134 inches, 3 pieces 2x4x6 feet 8%
inches, ends and partitions.

Set studs on partition ends and back flat and 2 feet apart
in clear except at door, which set 2 feet 2 inches. Set front
studs edgeways.

Plates
2 pieces 2x4x14 feet.
Rafters
8 pieces 2x4x2 feet 814 inches, short span.

8 pieces 2x4x8 feet #4 inch long span.

Siding (600 feet)

40 pieces 1x6x10 feet, ends and floor roosting room.

17 pieces 1x6x12 feet, 19 pieces 2x6x14 feet, gable front,
each side window and to make door back and front of house
and droppings board.

46 POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

6 pieces 2x6x16 feet, partition.

Sheathing (190 feet)

2 pieces 1x12x16 feet

14 pieces 1x8x16 feet.

Let sheathing project 3 inches all
around and drop shingles 2 inches

below this.
460 square feet tarred paper.

1%4 thousand shingles.
2 pieces 1x4x16 feet, caps over shiu-
gles at peak of roof.
Windows

1 8-light double sash 10x14 glass.
1 4-light single sash 10x14 glass.

Door

2 feet 4 inches by 5 feet 8 inches, figures in flooring bill.
8 pieces 1x4x12 feet, casings and facings.
Hinges
1 pair 4 inch straps for partition doors.
2 pair 3 inch strap

for east window and
<a cloth door to scratch
shed, 1 common door

latch, partition door.
1 hasp, 2 staples, 1

68—NEST AND DROPPINGS BOARD
padlock.

IN O. O. WILD'S POULTRY HOUSE
2 hooks and screw
eyes for east window and cloth door for scratch shed.

Miscellaneous

2 pieces 2 by 4 by 10 inch scantlings for roost and to
support droppings board.

2 pieces 2 by 6 by 3 feet, 3 pieces 1 by 4 by 16 feet, to
make frames for door and open front of scratching shed.

These frames are 2 feet 4 inches by 5 feet 2 inches and
4 feet 6 inches by 5 feet 2 inches.

2% yards (double yard width) cotton cloth to cover
same.

1 galvanized trough 4 inch guttering 18 inches long, grit.

1 galvanized trough 4 inch guttering 3 feet long, water.

1 galvanized trough 4 inch guttering, 6 feet 8 inches
long, mash.

H
4H ° ays i, ; = i 22S 5622-2 10 ff --- Dotrigt: Ses
70—FRONT AND END ELEVATION OF HOUSE DESIGNED BY OTTO O. WILD
HOUSE FOR TWO FLOCKS
Material

How It Is Constructed — The Bill of
: Required

R, Crusias

EE general appearance of my poultry house is well

illustrated by the accompanying cuts. The main

building is 9 by 12 feet,6 feet high in front and 3 feet

4 inches high in the back. It is covered with matched.
hemlock boards, which are not planed. The roof is covered
with 3 ply tar paper and the sides with 1 ply tar paper, bat-
tened with lath. Two windows, hinged at the top to swing
outward, furnish sufficient light. The window spaces are
covered with wire netting on the inside to prevent the fowl,
escaping when the windows are open.

This house may be divided crosswise in the middle,
making 2 pens. There is a door at each end near the fronts
5 feet high and 2 feet wide, through which the house is entered.

The roosts are hinged to the back wall of the house, 3
feet from the floor, and may be turned up and hooked to the
rafters to be out of the way when the house is cleaned.
Under these roosts is a board floor, 4 feet wide, which serves
as both floor and roost platform. In front of this floor is a
boarded pit, 4 by 10 feet, one foot deep. In this pit are
placed the straw and leaves in which the hard grain is fed.
The nests are placed in front of this pit close to the front
wall of the house, under the windows.

On each end of this house is a scratching shed 5 by 5 feet
6 inches, 5 feet high in front and 3 feet 4 inches high at the
back. Excepting a space 18 inches high at the bottom, the
fronts of these sheds are made of wire netting.

yi

eats

-

QFE

<_—

69—FRONT AND END VIEW OF HOUSE DESCRIBED BY R. CRUSINS

SCRATCHING SHED HOUSES AY

Over the pit in
the main building
is a loft, floored by
placing narrow
boards upon 2 by
4s nailed to the
rafters, with suffi-
cient spaces be-
tween the boards
to allow the air to
circulate freely -
between them.

On these boards is

placed a thick bed

of hay or straw to

absorb any mois-

ture that may be in the house.
The main building is lined with building paper. The

Seralching

SAed
The « Shes"

HOUSE AND SCRATCHING SHED

Single Walls Covered with Building Paper Make a
Comfortable Poultry House in Indiana

Elwain H, Kidd

WILL send you a plan of a single pen house which will
afford ample room for 30 hens. It is built on the
scratching shed plan having the shed at one end. It
contains a laying room 10 by 12 feet and scratching

shed 10 by 8 feet. The height in front is 9 feet, in rear it is
7 feet.

The following is the lumber required to construct it:

60 feet of 2 by 6 scantling.

300 feet of 2 by 4 scantling.

-_ 104L ‘ 2S

7|—PLAN OF HOUSE: DESCRIBED BY R. CRUSINS

sheds are not lined.
The bill of ma-
terial required to
build this house is
as follows:
230 feet 2 by 4
scantling.

Seralehs ny

Shed

Shy Sh6"
feet

(XESS 2 sash, 2
: 2 sash,
pve by 2 feet 3 inches.
eer7rs rv fF E : :
chichens 2 rolls 3 ply
tar paper.
2 rolls 1 ply tar
paper.

2 bunches lath.
600 feet match-
ed hemlock boards
This house is not expensive, nor difficult to construct,
and it has given me excellent satisfaction ever since I built it.

100 feet of 2 by 2.

900 feet of 1 inch pine siding (matched) or shiplap.

485 square feet of roofing, not covering shed, or 635
square feet if the shed is covered.

75 square feet of wire netting.

2 glazed sashes 2 by 2.

3 pairs of large hinges and clasps.

Description of House

This house is built of inch matched lumber or shiplap
covered with P. & B. rubberoid or some other good paper and
set on bricks or stone piers. The roof is also made of
matched boards and rubberoid. Unless desired, the scratch-
ing shed part need not be covered with roofing. This house
is plenty warm enough for this section of the. country, al-
though if built in a colder climate it might be necessary to

Seraleking
SAak

Laying & Reesling Room BM «70K

J04- 6 12h

292 23 Were

72—POULTRY HOUSE AND SCRATCHING SHED, DESIGNED BY ELWAIN H. KIDD

48 POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

have double walls. If this plan is
found too expensive, the cost of con-
struction could be cheapened by using
rough lumber. In the laying room
there is a floor of matched boards
raised 1 foot above the ground. In
the scratching shed there is no floor,
but 6 or 8 inches of gravel should be
put in to insure against dampness.
The windows are 2 feet by 2 feet, 6
panes of glass each, and placed four
feet from the ground on the south side
(the house should face the south). The
roost plétform is placed 3 feet and 3
inches or 4 feet from the floor and is
movable, sliding out when you wish to give it a thorough
cleaning. It accommodates 2 roosts which are 10 or 12 inches
above the platform. Nests are underneath and raised at
least 2 feet from the floor. They should be 12 inches wide,
16 inches long and 10 inches deep, this size being very
convenient.

For drinking vessels I use a 2 quart fountain.

For feed troughs make a V-shaped trough 3 feet long
with a strap or hook or something to hang to the wall when
not in use, having the sides in the shape of a triangle, extend-
jng 4 to 6inches above the top of the
trough. Between the tops of the two
sides nail a strip, which prevents the
birds soiling the food.

There is no reason why hens kept
in it should not lay all winter if properly
cared for. There is never any dampness
in this house and itis good and warm.
In summer the scratching shed may be
used as a roosting room.

Wire should be placed over the
windows to prevent fowls flying out,
and wire doors in summer are a great
comfort to the fowls. A small door
may be cut in the large one for the hen
to enter. A canvas curtain must be
provided to let down in front of the

GOO OSA

HOUSE FOR ONE FLOCK
A Poultry House with Scratching Shed Attached to

Accommodate One Pen

O. E, Skinner

HOSE about to build for the first time, or those in-
tending to increase the capacity of their plants,
will find this plan as practical as can be found,
especially when cost of construction is considered.

It is best to lay a stone wall for the foundation, building
it at least 12 inches higher than the surface of the gronnd,
so that when it is filled in with earth, or sand, the top will
be thoroughly dry.

The house is 8 by 16 feet on the ground. It is framed
with scantling and covered with shiplap or tongued and
grooved barn boards. The boards for the north side are cut
3 feet 6 inches long, and for the south or front wall of the
house, 8 feet long.

The door is in the south side near the southeast corner
and is 5 feet6 inches high. The window has two sashes,
each containing four lights of 8 by 10 inch glass.

ITO QS 7VVE

73—FRONT VIEW—MR. SKINNER’S POULTRY HOUSE

scratching shed during severe or stormy weather. A
burlap curtain may be arranged to let down from the
roof during very cold weather. It will keep the poultry
much warmer.

Nests, roosts, etc., should be made so that they may
be easily removed and cleaned.

Hens kept in this house will always be healthy and lay
an abundance of eggs from which a large percentage of
healthy, vigorous chicks, will hatch. Try this plan,and you
will find it a good one.

DCRPATCHING

SHED.
7-10" 8-0"

FPOeEQ77.

74—PLAN, SHOWING LOCATION OF ROOSTS, ETC.—MR. SKINNER’S POULTRY HOUSE

Stringers of 2 by 4 scantling extend clear around the
house inside the boarding, except across the space occupied
by the door. These stringers are 16 inches above the tops of
the sills. The window slides upon a slanting window sill
nailed to the top of stringer, nearthe door. At the top of the
window is another stringer, extending across the front of the
house inside, which serves the double purpose of strengthen-
ing the wall and providing a runway for the window, which
slides to one side when opened.

The roosts rest upon these stringers and extend across
the house near the west end. They are not attached to the
stringers, and can be easily removed when the house is to
be cleaned.

A slanting board is nailed over the window, as shown in
the illustration, and another over the door to form a hood to
keep rain from driving in over the top of the door and
through the joints of the window.

I use a heavy screen door in place of the solid one during
the hot weather. This screen door has vertical bars placed
so near together that a man cannot get through. The cleats
on this door extend a little over at one side to fit into the
place made by opening the solid door. This screen door can
be locked the same as the solid one, if it has a hasp opposite
to the staple to which the solid door locks when closed.

SCRATCHING SHED HOUSES 49

When cutting rafters for the roof allow for a 4 or 5

inch projection over the plate at the front of the house and
about 7 inches at the back. When nailing on the lumber
which covers the roof let it project over each end of the
building about 5 inches; then when the facing strip is put
on and the shingles project 34 of an inch over that, it makes
a projection of 644 or 7 inches, which is sufficient. I covered
the roof with 16 inch shingles, laid 5 inches to the weather,
doubling the lower course.
_ After finishing
the house proper,
I built a scratch-
ing shed at the
east end, nearly
the full width of
the house and 8
feet long. For
building this
shed I used the
same material as
for building the
house. The
boards for the
north side are 14
inches long. Cut
one for the west side and one for the east side of the front 4
feet 6 inches long.

75—EAST END VIEW—MR. SKINNER’S
POULTRY HOUSE

A SCRATCHING SHED HOUSE

A Poultry House, with Scratching Shed and Walk,
that Can be Extended to any Length

H, S. Nicholson

AM glad to present to the readers a description and
plans of a poultry house which I designed for my own
use that has given me good satisfaction. It is 18 feet
long by 11 feet wide, and can be built to any conveni-

ent height. It has a walk 3 feet wide, extending the entire
length of the house next the north wall with a door opening
outward at each end. A roosting room 7 by 8 feet occupies
the east end of the house in front of the walk, leaving a space
11 by 8 feet for a scratching shed. The shed has a wire
front with a curtain to keep out the
storm and a door near the west end
opening into the yard, which extends
in front of the house. One window on
the south side of the roosting room
admits sunlight.and air to dry out any
moisture that accumulates from~ the
breath of the fowls. <A four-light win-
dow in the north wall lights the walk.
A door near the west end of the longitu-
dinal partition opening into the walk,
admits the attendant to the scratching
shed, from which he enters the roosting
room through the door in the solid
partition shown in the accompanying
illustration.

The roost platform is 3 feet wide

and two roosts are placed above it.

The partition between the walk and

the scratching shed is made of wire
netting, except the lower part of the door

Ke

fae

2

A door for the fowls to pass between the house and shed
is made by cutting off one strip of the boarding on the east
end of the house one foot from the sill. This opening has a
slide to cover it. It is well to make a door in the east end of
the shed large enough for a person to go through when nec-
essary. The front is covered with poultry netting. After
building the shed, I cut a space- for a window in the east end
of the house, above the roof of the shed, to let in the sun in
the morning.

To build this house will require about the following bill:

2,000 shingles; thirteen pieces 2 by 4 16 feet long; seven
pieces 2 by 4 20 feet long; 325 feet shiplap, or barn boards,
16 feet long; 66 feet shiplap or barn boards 14 feet
long; three sashes of four 8 by 10 lights each; three
pieces 1 by 4 14 feet long, planed on one side; 2,000 feet of
sheathing 6 inches wide, 24 of which should be 12 feet long
and 4% 16 feet long; one pair of 4 inch strap hinges; one pair
of 6 inch strap hinges; ten pounds 8 penny nails; ten pounds
4 penny shingle nails; four yards 22 inch window screen, to
go inside windows and on screen door; 8 feet of 4 foot poultry
netting on front of shed, 6 feet 2-foot poultry netting to use
on screen door over the fine screen, to keep out dogs and
other animals.

There is a 2 inch space over the plate under the rafters-.
I fill this space with paper or sacks in the winter, but re-
move this material in the summer to secure better ventila-
tion. I also line the house inside with tarred paper.

and a base board 18 inches high. The bottom of this base
board is cut away to admit water and food troughs (E and F.
See longitudinal section), which are filled and pushed
through from the walk. The food troughs may be drawn
back into the walk after the fowls have eaten.

Over the roost are three pens (A), for cooping broody
hens, which are not to be used as sitters.

The roost platform (C) slides upon cleats and can be
pulled back into the walk to be cleaned. Under the plat-
form, raised a little above the floor, are the nests, each built
separate from the others and capable of being pulled back
into the walk to remove the eggs.

The partition between the walk and roosting room is
made tight to keep out drafts and cold from the roosting
apartments.

The house may be set upon a brick foundation, extend-

ST 7 CCI

OVED.

FRONT OF WALLS—H. S. NICHOLSON'S POULTRY HOUSE

50

ing to below the frost line and standing 6 inches above the
surface of the ground. The floor is cheapest and best when
made of earth filled in level with the top of the bricks.

The studding
is of 2 by 4 stuff
and the structure
is covered with
tongued and
grooved boards.

The roof may
be covered with
some oi the water
proof papers made
for the purpose, or
with shingles. If
the fabric is also
placed on the walls
it will protect the
boarding and make the building wind proof.

Although this house was intended for my small flock,
there is no reason why it should not be extended to any

77—END VIEW —H. S. NICHOLSON’S POUL-
TRY HOUSE

reasonable length, putting roosting rooms and scratching

sheds in pairs.

SCRATCH SHED AND BROODING HOUSE

A Poultry House Designed for a Small Flock, Built
Economically and with Due Regard to the
Comfort of the Fowls

Frank L. Harris

HE advantages I claim for my poultry house are
Sliding sash, doing away with the old style of open
fronts in. bad weather, also with drop curtain,
which on cold, dark days only make it still darker.

In having the sash sliding instead of hinged, you run no
risk of the wind blowin g them open or shut and so breaking
the glass.

Asmall window in the roosting room faces east and ‘so
catches the first rays of the sun in the morning, which is
what we want; also being in the east it does not heat up your
roosting room so as to cause too great a difference in day and
night temperature.

The roosting room being plastered,
there are no drafts and one can keep it,
cleaner. It is easy to keep lice down Z
with your roosts in oil cups. Having a
4 inch dead air space keeps the roosting
room much drier and is about as cheap
ih the long run.

The ventilator being within 6 inches
of the floor and extending 3 feet above
the roof, draws all the foul air off;
also any dampness would pass through
it. Luse the ventilator bottom as grit
box, having a flange on it turned up
at the edge. This house makes an ideal
brooder house in the winter, as well.
Once used it finds a friend fora long
time, as it is ideal for early hatched
chicks.

I have tried many poultry buildings,
but so far have found that this one is
the best for broods. As for the layers,
I get eggs in any kind of weather.

SOP ITCHING

POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

While it costs more than it would if the roostitfg room walls
were single, 1 am well paid for it in healthy poultry and
numerous eggs.

Architect's Comment

The chief points of merit in this house are its economical
construction and the thought displayed in its arrangement.
The east window small; admitting enough light and little
cold; the double boarded roosting room; the sliding glass
front to scratching shed wired inside; the entrance through
the scratching shed to the roosting room insuring the ad-
mittance of no direct draught or cold air; it seems an ideal
house for the small poultry keeper. Probably the scratch-
ing shed might be enlarged and the roosts increased in
number and the house so made to accomodate more
fowls. The small poultry keeper will be able to get second-
hand sash suited for the front of the scratching shed, while
on a large plant the cost of sash would be an obstacle.

A very well built house, arranged conveniently for at-
tendant and fowl. No space wasted, except that occupied
by the ventilator. It is well built, the walls being double;
plastered inside of roosting room and weather-boarded out-
side. This insures a perfectly tight room for fowls at night.
The single board walls in scratching shed are good enough
for this purpose, since fowls only occupy it in daytime.
The sliding sashes in scratching shed are very desirable for
ease in controlling amount of air to be admitted. They
ought to be removable, however, so as to allow them to be
taken out entirely in summer. The entrance being on the
west side of shed, leaves the entire south front for light and
ventilation. The ventilator is unnecessary, since ample air
can be obtained by means of door and windows. It also
encumbers the floor and is in the way of fowls.

A TENNESSEE POULTRY HOUSE
An Adaptation of the Scratching Shed Plan—Rec-

ommended for Use in Southern Climates

C. F. Green
HAVE an up-to-date poultry house, which I designed
myself. It may be built of tongued and grooved
stuff, or of rough lumber, as preferred. It has floor
space on the ground 10 ky 10 feet in size and is 6 feet
high in front and 6 feet at the back. It slopes to the front

———— | ea Gs ae
WaLAwax

~.

OWED.

WIREDETTING.

78—PLAN SHOWING LOCATION OF DOORS AND INTERIOR FIXTURES—H. S. NICHOLSON'S

POULTRY HOUSE

SCRATCHING SHED HOUSES 51

Scrarcnns>

FPaQ77

<SL DING
Msi ROMs

79—PLAN, SECTION AND PERSPECTIVE OF MR. HARRIS’ SCRATCH SHED POULTRY AND BROODING HOUSE

and is a modification of the open front scratching shed plan.
The front should be inclosed with wire netting and in cold
weather covered by curtains. The floor of the roosting and
laying room is built 3 feet above the floor proper and the
apartment occupies 6 feet next the back wall, leaving a space
4 feet wide in front. The roost platform is 3 feet from floor
of the roosting room, is 3 feet wide and extends the length of
the building. The roosts are of scantling 2 inches square.
There is an inclined platform, which can be removed when
the house is to be cleaned, running from the roost platform
to a box, which is built on top of the nest box. This box is
to catch the droppings as they are swept forward, and ex-
tends from one end of the house to the other.

From the center of this box a good sized pipe extends
down through the nest box and floor into the scratching shed,
where a bucket is placed under it.

The entire front of the roosting and laying room is hinged
at the top and has a rope attached at the bottom. This rope
passes over a pulley and its other end is attached to a weight

HOUSE FOR A VILLAGE FLOCK

A Warmly Built House with Glass Front Scratching
Shed——Method of Ventilating and Bill
of Material Required

F. Clark

HIS poultry house should face the south so as to get
all the sun possible. A house for as many fowls
as the average person wants to keep may be 10 feet
by 8 feet for the roosting coop

and 10 feet by 12 feet for the scratching
shed. This will accommodate 30 Leg-
horns. A house for a cold climate like
we have in Chicago should be double
boarded. The 2 by 4 studding should
be put up and good building paper
tacked on both sides of it. Then 1 inch
pine flooring 5 or 6 inches wide should
be nailed on the inside of the studding
in the roosting coop and on both sides
of the studding between the scratching
shed and the roosting coop. One inch
drop siding 8 inches wide should be
nailed on the outside of the studding of
the roosting coop and scratching shed.
The roof of the roosting room should
also be double boarded with building
paper on both sides of the 2 by 4 rafters
to preyent cold from striking through and

to balance the weight of the front and assist in raising and
lowering it. When you wish to clean the roost platform, or
the floor of the roosting room, you simply raise the entire
front and sweep all material from the platform down the
incline into the box, from which it is swept into the pipe and
falls into the bucket.

The nest box is 1 foot shorter at each end than the box
above it, so that the birds can go under the roost platform
and enter the nests from the rear. The nest box may be
opened at the front and the eggs gathered by reaching
through the hinged panels and window shown in the cut.

The fowls reach the roosting room by ladders at both
ends of the house. In the drawing the house is shown with
the end boards knocked off to show the interior arrange-
ment. By this plan we secure a floor space 10 by 10 feet in
size for the fowls to work in.

This plan has given us excellent satisfaction and we _ be-
lieve it is particularly adapted for use in this climate.

to keep the heatin the house. The roof may be built as a sep-
arate structure and put on when the other part of the house
is finished; in fact, if the house will have to be moved, as it
sometimes will when the owner does not own the land, it
may be built in sections to be held together by hooks. The
scratching shed, which joins the east side of the roosting
coop, should be made 2 inches lower so its roof will fit
underneath the roof of the coop, which overlaps it 4 inches.
The scratching shed must fit tight up to the coop. The front
of the scratching shed Should be boarded to the height of 1
foot from the bottom to keep the straw from being scratched
out. The door is 3 feet wide and reaches from the foot sill to

80—PLAN. SHOWING EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR OF A TENNESSEE HOUSE BY C. F. GREEN

52 POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

the roof. This leaves a space in the front of the scratching
shed 5 feet 10 inches by 9 feet, which in this climate, for
Leghorns, should be filled with sash, although if a curtained
scratching shed is preferred a muslin curtain could easily be
substituted for the sash. With the glass, on stormy days it
is light and comfortable and on the coldest days when the
sun is shining the door can be left open (there is a wire door
to keep the fowls in) and the entire building will be well
ventilated. The doors between the scratching shed and the
roosting coop are left open all the time except at night, as
well as the window in the roosting room. These should be
about 3 feet by 4 feet and hinged at the bottom, to be opened
by means of a transom lifter fastened near the top. You can
then open the window as much or as little as desired at the
top, regulating it by the transom lifter. I prefer to ventilate
it from the top, as this allows the draft to pass over the fowls
that are on the floor, and the moisture which accumulates
near the roof will escape.

There are two doors between the
scratching shed and roosting room.
The doors are 2 feet 6 inches wide
and will close back close to the wall
and be out of the way. The two
doors when closed make the room
double boarded, with a 4 inch air
space over all.

The roof of the scratching shed
may be madeone board thick. Both
roofs should be covered with two or
three ply tarred felt and given a coat
of pitch, which will make them last
for years. The building should be
set on stones or posts 6 or 8 inches
from the ground; then a board should
be nailed all around on the inside
and the house filled to the sills with
sand. This answers three purposes
—it keeps the coop dry, prevents the
bottom edges of the coop from rotting
and gives the fowls the chance for a
good dust bath. There is no wood floor in the coop under
which rats can live. The sun warms the sand and the fowls
enjoy themselves in it.

The coop should contain a droppings board placed about
2 feet 4 inches from the ground and hooked to cleats with
hooks and eyes to keep it in place or allow it to be easily
taken out. It should be about 3 feet 6 inches wide. There
should be two roosts made of 2 by 4 stuff, with the corners
rounded. about 8 inches above the droppings board, laid on
cleats so that they can be taken out when cleaning. There
should be a curtain hung from the roof, which can be hooked
up or let down in front of the roosts on the coldest nights to
keep inthe heat. As the fowls roost only about 2 feet from
the roof, this heat amounts to a good deal on a cold night.

81—FRONT OF F. CLARK'S POULTRY HOUSE

A bracket may be put on the west wall between the drop-
pings board and the window, about 8 inches from the ground,
to hold the water fountain. It is better to put itin the roost-
ing room, as there is less dust there, and it does not get full
of litter when the birds are scratching.

The furnishings of the scratching shed consist of a shelf
about 2 feet wide and about 2 feet from the ground and
running along the west side and back, and along the east
side if desired. The shelf on the west side, after allowance
is made for the door into the roosting room, will accommo-
date five nests each 11 by 14 inches, leaving an 8-inch
passageway back of the nests for the hens to use when they
go to lay. The nests and passageway are covered by boards
slanting from the front of the nests to the wall. This dark-
ens the nests and prevents egg eating and also prevents the
hens from being disturbed when anyone enters the scratch-
ing shed. This cover should be hinged so it can be raised to
collect the eggs. The back and east side shelves are to place

eit

DAOLPING S LGOARO

SCARTICHING SAED.

172+*Ox/0+o"

82—GROUND PLAN OF F. CLARK'S /
POULTRY HOUSE

coops on in which to keep spare males. A curtain should
be hung in front of the coops which can be thrown back on
top of them in the daytime and let down at night. The
shelves should be laid on cleats. This space will accommo-
date eight coops each 2 by 2feet by 2 feet 6 inches high.
Everything can be taken out without trouble. No bottom is
required in the nests, the shelf acting as a bottom. The
only other thing necessary in the scratching shed is a box
with three compartments; one for oyster shells, one for grit
and one for charcoal. This box is to be placed near the door
and 6 inches from the ground. The fowls will scratch the
straw on the floor to one side when they want a dust bath,
so no dust box is necessary.

The material required tor the coop is 800 sq. feet of 5-inch
flooring, 150 square feet of it be-
ing 8 feet long, 250 square feet 10:
feet long and 400 square feet 12
feet_long. Also 400 square feet
drop siding, 100 square feet 12 feet
long, 140 square feet 8 feet long,
160 square feet 10 feet long and
500 feet of 2 by 4’s in8 feet, 10:
feet and 12 feet lengths, 200 square
feet of two or three ply tarred felt,
four gallons of pitch, five pairs of
hinges, three pairs of catches and
staples, two locks, one for each.
door, one-half dozen hooks and.
eyes and some two-penny nails.

Maine Experiment Station Curtain Front Bouse

The Plan of Construction of a Curtain Front House Erected at the Maine Experiment Station—The
Fowls were Kept in Perfect Health and Gave Satisfactory Results
in Egg Production

A. F. Hunter

E recently became interested in a poultry house
W possessing features that have not been generally
accepted as practical, and which plan was being
tried at the Maine Experiment Station. Later
we heard of the unqualified success of the plan. Continued
use of this curtained front house with a curtained front
roosting room has resulted in some slight changes in the
plan, but the central idea remains the same, namely, a house
with a considerable section of the south front closed by a
curtain only, the birds being shut in a curtained front roost-
ing room at night when the weather was very cold.

We commented upon the house then being tried as fol-
lows: ‘‘The chief point of this poultry house is that only
two cloth curtains are between the birds at night and all
outdoors. It’s cold weather up in Maine, the mercury often-
times going away below zero; isit strange that Prof, Gowell
shivered when he thought of those fifty Plymouth Rock
pullets in that house with only a curtain front and another
curtain in front of the roost pen? Another remarkable feat-
ure of this house is that the birds were confined within the
small roost pen on decidely cold nights, with only about four
cubic feet of air space for each bird. Prof. Gowell told me
that when the weather got well below freezing and they be-
gan dropping the roost curtain, he hurried into his clothes in
the morning, went to the poultry house and opened the end
of the curtain to see how many pullets had been smothered
in the night. This he did several times before he could feel
sure the birds were getting on all right. He reported the air
within the closed roosting pen as smelling ‘henny’ and
somewhat close, but there was little evidence of exhaustion

Be

front house with its curtained front roosting room have fallen
off but little in their egg yield, and both the house and scratch-
ing material on the floor are perfectly dry. There is no white
frost on the walls and there will be no dampness when the
weather moderates and a thaw comes. There could hardly
be a stronger indorsement of fresh, pure air in a poultry
house and good ventilation without draughts. If such good
results can be obtained in cold Maine they should be attain-
ed anywhere in the United States.’’

The success of this house makes it a most interesting
study, and its continued manifestation of good points has
led to the building of a long house on the same general
plan. This house is fully illustrated and described in a bullet-
in and we print the description of the house, and give an
illustration made from photographs kindly furnished us by
Prof. Gowell.

In a personal letter Prof. Gowell writes: ‘‘I wish I had
delayed writing the bulletin till now, for we have just gotten
through the coldest weather ever known in this section,
and the cloth front roosting closet house has proved itself
equal to the demands made upon it. The 300 pullets were
not put into it, from the colony coops that you saw them in
out on the range, until December 6th (all the carpenters
were taken off to work on the hospital, hence the delay), but
by the last of that month they had gotten under way and
increased every week regularly in egg production all through
January and February, and have laid from 160 to 180

eggs every day this month. They come out of the warm
closet every morning with evidence of having had comfortable
dreams and they engaged in digging a breakfast out of the

83—EXTERIOR OF BREEDING HOUSE, POULTRY DEPARTMENT, MAINE STATE COLLEGE

of the oxygen, and the splendid condition of the birds
throughout the winter, together with their highly satisfactory
egg yield, proved thatthe curtained front house and roost
pen are all right.”’

‘A letter received from Prof. Gowell speaks of the con-
tinued good work done by that house, and seys: ‘ This is
the ninth day of weather all the way from zero to 25 degrees
below, still the fifty pullets in the 10 by 25 feet curtained

straw litter in a way that showed that life was worth living—
to them. Every head was blood red and there has not been
even a snuffle seen or heard in that house!”’

Here is certainly ample proof of the ‘‘quality’’ of the
curtained-front, curtained-roosting closet house. If this
winter hasn’t been severe enough and long enough to try a
poultry house we don’t know of one that would. And the
house has kept perfectly dry, the birds have kept in high

BA | POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

64—INTERIOR OF BREEDING HOUSE IN USE IN THE MAINE STATE COLLEGE

health and increased in egg yield every week, right through
it all. Could anything more be desired? We want eggs in
winter if we want the best profit from our flocks, and we
want the birds to come out of the winter in good health if
their eggs are to give us the good strong-bodied chicks that
live and grow. If we make the conditions right we will get
these things, and the new idea poultry house seems to make
the housing conditions just right.
The following is taken from the bulletin referred to:

The Curtain Front House for Hens

‘‘This building was erected in 1903 and is 14 feet wide
and 150 feet long. The back wall is 5 feet 6 inches high from
floor to top of plate inside, and the front wall is 6 feet
9inches high. The roof is of unequal span, the ridge being
4 feet in from the front wall. The height of the ridge above
the floor is 9 feet. The sills are 4 by 6 inches in size and rest
on a rough stone wall laid on the surface of the ground. A
central sill gives support to the floor which at times is quite
heavily loaded with sand. The floor timbers are 2 by 8 inches
in size and are placed 2 feet apart. The floor is two thick-
nesses of hemlock boards. All of the rest of the frame is of
2 by 4 inch stuff. The building is boarded, papered and
shingled, on roof and walls. The rear wall and 4 feet of the
lower part of the rear roof are ceiled on the inside of the
studding and plates, and are packed, very hard, with dry
sawdust. In order to make the sawdust packing continuous
between the wall and roof, the wall ceiling is carried up to
within 6 inches of the plate, then follows up inclining pieces
of studding to the rafters. The short pieces of studding are
nailed to the studs and rafters. By this arrangement there
are no slack places around the plate to admit cold air. The
end walls are packed in the same way. The house is divided
by close board partitions into seven 20 foot sections, and one
10 foot section is reserved at the lower end for a feed storage
room.

“Fach of the 20 foot sections has two 12 light, outside
windows screwed onto the front and the space between the
windows, which is 8 fect long and 3 feet wide, down from the
plate, is covered during rough winter storms and cold nights,
by a light frame, covered with 10 ounce duck, closely tacked

on. This door, orcurtain, is hinged at top and swings in
and up to the roof when open.

‘4 door 2 feet 6 inches wide is in front of each section,

The roost platform is at the rear
side of each room and extends:
the whole 20 feet. The platform
is 3 feet 6 inches wide and is 3
feet above the floor. The roosts
are 2 by 3 inch stuff placed on edge
and are 10 inches above the plat-
form. The back one is 11 inches
out from the wall and the space
between the two is 16 inches, leav-
ing 15 inches between the front
roost and the duck curtain, which
is sufficient to prevent the curtain
being soiled by the birds on the
roost. The two curtains in front
of the roost are similar to the
one in front of the house. They
are each 10 feet long and 30 inches
wide, hinged at the top, and open
out into the room and fasten up-
when not in use. Great care was
exercised in constructing the
. roosting closets, to have them as
near air tight as possible, except-
ing what may be admitted through the cloth curtain.

‘‘Single pulleys are hung at the rafters, and with half
inch rope fastened to the lower edge of the curtain frames
they are easily raised or lowered and kept in place. At one
end of the roosts a space of 3 feet is reserved for a cage for
broody hens. This being behind the curtain, the birds have
the same night temperature when they are transferred from
the roosts to the cage.

“‘Six trap nests are placed at one end of each room, and
four at the other. They are put near the front so that the
lights may be good for reading and recording the number on
the leg bands of the birds. Several shelves are put on the
walls, 1 foot 6 inches above the floor, for shell, grit, bone,
etc. The doors which admit from one room to another,.
throughout the building, are frames covered with 10 ounce:
duck, so as to make them light. They are hung with double:
acting spring hinges. The advantages of having all doors.
push from a person are very great, as they then hinder the
passage of the attendant, with baskets and pails, very little.
Strips of old rubber belting are nailed around the studs.
which the doors rub against as they swing to, so as to just
catch and hold them from opening too easily by the wind.
Tight board partitions were used between the pens instead
of wire, so as to prevent draughts. A platform 3 feet wide
extends across both ends and the entire front of the building
outside.

‘The house is well made of good material and should
prove to be durable. It costs about $850. A rougher build-
ing with plain instead of trap nests, with roof and walls
covered with some of the prepared materials, instead of
shingles, could be built for less money, and would probably
furnish as comfortable quarters for the birds for a time as
this building will.

“This house accommodates 350 hens—50 in each 20 foot
section. It was not ready for occupancy until the 6th of
December. ‘Since then there has been some very severe
weather, considerably below zero at night and about zero
during the day, with a good deal of high wind. During this
rough weather the bedding on the floor has kept perfectly
dry; and the voidings on the platforms, as found when the
curtains were raised in the mornings, have been but slightly
frozen. The yield of eggs during this severe weather and
the week immediately following it was not below those im-
mediately preceeding it. It should be borne in mind that

i
é

SCRATCHING SHED HOUSES 55
*

had the weather been mild during that time the hens would
probably have increased in production rather than have re-
mained stationary. They were doubtless affected by the
severe weather, but not seriously, as they began to increase
in production very soon after the weather became as usual
or midwinter.

Plan of the Yards

The yards to most poultry houses are at the south, or
sheltered side of the buildings, to afford protection during
late fall and early spring when cold winds are common.
The north house has yards on both north and south sides,
with convenient gates. The south yards are used until the
cold winds in spring are over, when they will go to the north
yards, which are well set in grass sod. With the new
curtain front house the yards are to be on the north side
only. The birds will be kept in the building until the
weather is suitable for opening the small doors in the rear
wall. The necessity for getting them out from the open
front house where they are really subject to most of the
out of door conditions during the day time, is not so great
as when they are confined in close houses, with walls and
glass windows. The use of the rear yards only may not
prove satisfactory. If, however, as good yields of eggs and
health of birds result, many decided advantages will be
obtained by dispensing with front yards. The clear open

front of the house allows teams to pass close to the open door
of the pens for cleaning out worn material, and delivering
new bedding, and also in allowing attendants to enter and
leave all pens from the outside walk, and reach the feed
room without passing through intervening pens.

SCRATCHING FAD

4G Fomks

SCRATCHING Rt

A CURTAIN FRONT POULTRY HOUSE

Economizes Space, Using the Floor as a Droppings
Board, Placing Nest and Dust Boxes Beneath

John A. Rogers

EREWITH is shown a drawing of a poultry house

H possessing closed roosting rooms and open scratching
shed with cotton curtains. It makes the most econom-

ical house that can be built, as the system of roosting

rooms with nests and dusting boxes underneath, cuts off at
least 8 feet from the usual plan, and in addition gets the
dust box out of the way. The ground plates should be 2 by
8 inches; studs 2 by 4; rafters 2 by 4, with 20 inch centers;
building paper should be used, but the roof should be shingled.

Comment

The plans (Ill. 85) accompanying this description
were so full of details that further description appeared to
be unnecessary. It willbe seen that they illustrate a two-
pen house 22 feet by 10 feet 6 inches, divided by a solid par-
tition 2 feet 6 inches high, reaching to the floors of the roost-
ing rooms, These floors serve as droppings boards. The
walls are double. It will be noted that underneath the
roosting rooms there are two dusting rooms, one for each
pen, separated by a solid partition. Each room is 2 feet 6
inches by 4 feet 6 inches, and is provided with a four-light
window. In rear of these dusting rooms are apartments in-
tended to be used as laying rooms. Each apartment con-
tains two nest boxes of three nests each and the water
fountain is located between these boxes. The apartments
are separated from the dusting rooms by a partition. Each
roosting room is provided with a cloth curtain tacked to
ordinary frame furring. The doors to the building are in
front, one to each pen, and each possesses a six-light win-
dow. There are two curtains, one in front of the scratching
shed and one in front of the roosting room.

85—INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR VIEWS OF CURTAIN FRONT HOUSE DESIGNED BY JOHN A. ROGERS

56 POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES
*

THE FARM POULTRY HOUSE

Seven Hundred Feet of Inch Boards and 200 Feet
of 2x4 Studding Builds a House Complete for
30 Fowls at a Cost of About $30

T. E. Orr

HE time to build a house for either man or poultry is
in the spring; let it dry and season all summer and

begin to occupy it in the fall. The next best time
is summer, and if you use seasoned lumber the
month of Seprember will dry it out pretty well.

Will not the old house do? As a rule—no. ‘The old
house is a harbor for lice of a half dozen kinds. It has the
partial droppings of past years in its corners. It has disease
germs under its splinters and in its cracks, and the worst of
all, it has too much air space to be warmed.

How large shall I build a house for thirty pullets?

Just 12 by 16 feet, no larger. That gives every hen an
area of 6 square feet in which to live and move, and have
her being—and scratch. I would not have it larger if it was
given me free.

Any scratching shed in addition?

No. It’s all scratching shed now. I want you to see
that each hen scratches thoroughly over her 6 square feet of
space or its equivalent every morning for her breakfast. If
she does this she does enough. She doesn’t need to exhaust
all her energies scratching either in the outside world or in
a semi-outside scratching shed. I have no perjudice against
the scratching shed except that I do not need it, and my
hens do not need it. It costs money; it takes room.

How high shall the house: be?

Now listen carefully. If you are a dwarf—a little sawed-
off man—make it 1 foot high at the back and 2 feet high
in front. But if you are ‘‘not a dwarf’? you must have it
higher. Well, have your own way, but compromise with me
for the sake of the hen; and make it only 4 feet high at the
back and 6 feet at the front.

How tight must the house be?

Absolutely air-tight everywhere except in front. Your
hens at night will be as far from the front as possible on
their perches at the rear of the house. ‘‘Ventilation’’ is
made to ‘‘cover a multitude of sins’’—and cracks. You may
have your entire front open wire-work from May 1 to No-
vember 1 if you wish, but you must have the back abso-
lutely tight so there can be no drafts of air on the backs of
the hens or under them.

How expensive need this house be?

The lumber required is 700 feet of inch boards and 200
feet of 2 by 4 studding. This will build your house com-
plete, including roof, floor, and a droppings board the en-
tire length of the house. In most places this lumber can be
bought for twenty dollars. I should prefer to have the front
boards planed so as to be painted. I insist on the droppings
boards being the smoothest of flooring so they can be made
both smooth and tight, All other siding may be of hemlock

boards, and generally they cost no more if surfaced on’ one
side. Put the smooth side in, it looks better, for you must
cover the roof, ends and back with three-ply tarred paper.
This must be carefully put on. Coat it with tar twice the
first year, once every year after that, and it will be good and
air tight for ten years. If you are handy with hatchet and
saw the entire cost of your house, including windows and
doors, need not exceed thirty dollars, or one dollar per hen.

Herewith I give an illustration of the house we use.
Ours are all 12 feet square, connected four, six or ten under
one roof. In each compartment of 12 by 12 we keep twenty-
four hens. We have over thirty of these compartments now

DPOPPING 3 FIOEOAR772.

+ 70
errr =

86—PLAN, AND PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF T. E. ORR'S
FARM POULTRY HOUSE

on Beaver Hill Farm and are building more. Although our
roof is a little more expensive than the shed roof we describe
for you, our cost is about the same—one dollar per hen.

Please notice that at night our hens are all on their
perches at the rear of the house; the roof, siding and drop-
pings board being absolutely tight. They have no drafts of
air and they have but a small volume of air about them to be
heated by their bodies. If I were breeding Leghorns I
should have a muslin drop curtain to be let down from the
roof to the front edge of the droppings board on very cold
nights. With Wyandottes we do not need this. We have
never lost a comb or wattle in these houses, and we have no
artificial heat.

SCRATCHING
CURTAIN FRONT POULTRY HOUSE

Cloth-Filled Frames take the Place of Glass Windows
—A Practical House at Little Expense

C. C. Grace

O MUCH has been said in regard to cheap and good

S poultry houses that there seems little more that

can be said. We are trying to get the best with the

least possible expense, and I think I have this fully

embodied in my laying house, whieh I will describe as
nearly as possible.

My house is 105 feet long, 8 feet wide and 6 feet 6 inches
high on the south side and 3 feet 6 inches on the north. It is
covered with shiplap and Neponset paper. Eighteen inches
from the floor is a platform 3 feet wide the entire length of the
house. On thisI place 2 by 4’s crosswise and on them rest
sassafras roosting poles. I use sassafras because chicken
lice will not stay on this wood. These roosts are easily
removed for cleaning off the droppings. Under the platform
there are holesin the wall every 8 inches, through which the
hens go to the nests, which are built on the outside of the
house. These nests are 24 inches wide, 18 inches high on the
low side and 24 inches high next the house, with a partition
at each nest. They are covered by lids hinged to the house,
each lid being 10 feet long and covered with roofing paper.
This arrangement of nests I find very convenient, not having
to disturb the hens in the house to gather the eggs. I am
never troubled with the hens eating the eggs, as the nests
are dark, and as the hen enters the nest she cuts off all the
' light with her body. I have never lost an egg in this manner
since adopting this plan for nests.

For light and ventilation I have 10 windows, each 30
inches wide aud 5 feet high. Two frames are made for each
and covered with sheeting muslin. The top one is hinged at
the top so it can be quickly raised and fastened to the roof
with a hook. Every day in winter when not too stormy I
raise the windows, thus giving the house a thorough venti-
lation. I have never had a sick bird in this house, nor a

frozen comb, and my fowls have pure fresh air at all times.

I have an earth floor covered with 2 or 3 inches of coal
slack. Nest boxes have a similar floor.
the first hen louse in this place.

I have yet to find

SHED HOUSES ov

This house will accommodate from 250 to 300 hens. The
material for the house cost me less than $60.

For a drinking fountain I use an old jug with a small
hole in the side as large as a lead pencil, about % inch from
the bottom. Set in a pan 14 inches deep and don’t forget
to cork the jug.

THE CURTAIN FRONT IN MARYLAND .

A Single Boarded Poultry House with Almost the
Entire Front of Cloth

In Which Single Comb Leghorns Prospered When the
Mercury Stood at Zero

R. B. Pusey

HAVE read with interest the articles on houses that have
appeared during the past few years, and am tempted to

describe my plan of housing Single Comb White Leg-

horns in this climate. The houses are built on the con-
tinuous curtain front plan. The pens are 14 feet long by 12
feet wide, 6 feet 6 inches high in front and 4 feet 6 inches at
the back.

Each pen has solid board partitions with a door in each
partition. The side walls and back are of 34 inch boards
with battens over the cracks. The roof is covered with two-
ply felt.

A platform to catch the droppings extends the entire
length of the house at the back and two roosts are hung
from rafters 15 inches above platform, 12 inches apart and
12 inches from back wall.

The nest boxes“are placed on the front sill and extend
outside with the entrances facing into the house. Except on
very cold days and when the ground is covered with snow,
the birds are fed their mash, water and grit outside, and I
have the entire floor space for scratching. The floor is cov-
ered deeply with straw, which is renewed when completely
broken up. In the winter care must be taken to put in the
fresh straw when it is thoroughly dry, as a lot of damp, froz-
en stuff may cause trouble in your flock.

The nest boxes are built with shed top, which turns the
rain away from the house.

There is a 4 foot space from the top
of the nests to the boarding under eaves.
The space is fitted with netting, and in
the fall is covered with cotton sheeting.

The door in front of each pen is
made of 2 by 4 inch framing and is also

WN

SR \
QOS
SASS
/

89 -PERSPECTIVE DRAWING AND NEST DETAILS OF CURTAIN FRONT HOUSE,
DESIGNED BY C. C. GRACE

covered with cotton cloth. These doors
are hung to swing either way and on
extra warm, open days are pushed in
against the partitions, giving each house
a good sunning and airing.

The space in front of the house is
also covered with straw and some grain
is fed during the day in this. At night
after the birds are settled on the roost,
a light feed of wheat, oats or corn is
buried in the straw in the houses, and
this gives the birds something to hustle
for next morning as soon as it is light.
Their mash is fed warm about 8 o’clock
in the morning, and finds the birds al-
ready warmed up and ready for business.

58 POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

CFVOSLIN

SITGSLIN
COVERED.

Coverseo.

‘ XN
90—PLAN, FRONT ELEVATION AND SECTIONAL VIEW SHOWING INTERIOR FIXTURES OF R. B. PUSEY’S HOUSE.

I have had perfectly satisfactory results from this house
during the three years I have used it. During each of the
three winters we have had periods of really cold weather,
withthe mercury around zero, and I have never had a frosted
comb on either male or female. I find the extra heavy
bedding of straw on floor makes the houses much more com-
fortable. ;

Each pen contains about 168 square feet of clear floor
space and will accommodate 40 to 50 hens. During the past
season I have carried 200 hens in three of these pens and
have got an average egg yield of a little more than 110 per day.

I neglected to state that a sliding door was fixed in each
front door to allow birds exit on days when this door must
be kept closed. A self-feeding bone box is placed on divis-
ion sill ineach pen and kept supplied with meat meal. The
birds are very fond of this, and it costs less, is more easily
handled, and gives as good results as green cut bone.

CURTAIN FRONT HOUSE

A Poultry House with the Entire Front of Cloth and
a Curtained Roosting Apartment

F. E. De Muth

HIS is a modified scratching shed roosting coop plan
+e for a house 8 feet high in front and 6 at rear, with
pens 12 by 12 feet. The sills are 2 by
pine. The sheathing is sec-
ond quality hemlock planed on one
side, free from knot holes. This is to
be used for the ends, back and 2 feet -
of the front—1 foot at the bottom
and 1 foot at the top.

The rear wall, supposed to be on
the north, is lined with tongued and
grooved flooring, above the droppings
board, which is of the same mate-
rial. The ceiling over the droppings

4 inch rough

When spring and summer come these low shed houses
are very close and hot, but I remove the cotton cloth when
all frost is out of the ground and have an open shed.

The birds find these satisfactory. They give me no
trouble by roosting in trees or on fences, etc., as they are
apt to do when confined to the ordinary closed front house,
which gets insufferably hot in the hot months.

As the season of cooler weather approaches, roosts
should be placed in the roosting coops and fronts of burlap
should be put in place on cold and stormy nights. Sitting
upon the damp ground or in drafty coops predisposes the
chicks to colds and rheumatism and often affects the health
and productiveness of the birds during the following winter.

(By having the curtains stretched on light wood frames,
hinged at the top to turn up against the rafters or capable
of being easily removed, the house could be better ventilated
on warm days during the winter season.)

board is also lined with flooring and the roosts can be
enclosed on cold nights by a drop curtain of oiled cloth.

The roof, back and ends are to be covered with two-ply
asphalt roofing, cemented at the laps. This makes an abso-
lutely wind proof building. This roofing requires painting
every five years. I would paint it a light color, using a
“cold water’’ paint.

The front of wire netting, with 1 inch mesh and a pro-
tecting curtain, is hung from under the roof outside of wire
arranged to be raised and lowered like the curtain on the

91—CONSTRUCTION OF PARTITIONS IN F. E. DE MUTH'’S POULTRY HOUSE

SCRATCHING SHED HOUSES 59

stage in a theater. The droppings
board is tongued and grooved stuff
placed like a shelf (easily removable)
2 feet above the ground on floor.
Under it are the nest boxes, loose and

movable. The hens enter the nests
’ from the rear of each nest. Eggs can
be gathered from front by swinging

a board hung on leather hinges. The
roosting apartment is, as will be seen,
double walled with a4 inch dead air
space between and the during winter
is completely enclosed by curtains.

The heat from 10 to 20 hens in this apartment at night

will prevent freezing of combs and the chilliness harmful to .

laying hens. The partition between the roosting places is
solid; balance of partition between the pens is wire, above a
baseboard 2 feet
high, though I

should prefer, in
a long continuous
house, to have one
solid partition in
every four. In
every second par-
tition I have a
large pan, say 16
inches in diameter
and 5 inches deep,
for water for two
pens. Flooring is
not considered, but is left to individual opinion as to
which sort of floor is best. Doors between pens are hung on
spring hinges and are wide enough so that a wheelbarrow or
garden cart can be wheeled from pen topen. Doors between
the pens and the yards can be built if desired.

2
Se

o
see

>

92—SECTIONAL VIEW OF F. E. DEMUTH'S
POULTRY HOUSE

A VILLAGE POULTRY HOUSE

A House with Curtained Doors and Rooms Located
at Front—Cost of Material $15

Adolph Stuth

Y POULTRY building, which is something like the
M| cloth front house at the Maine Experiment Station,
is 10 by 12 feet, 6 feet high in front and 5 at the

rear. The frame is buit of small scantling and

covered with 1 inch flooring. It required about 500 feet of
lumber to build and equip this house with roost platforms,
etc., making the total cost for material, including roofing

felt to cover the

roof, about $15.
This house can
be divided through
93—END ELEVATION OF ADOLPH STUTH'S
HOUSE SHOWING
LOCATION OF ROOST PLATFORM

SSS ——
the center by a
partition, to ac-
commodate two
small flocks if de-
sired.

All windows
and doors are
placed in the front
side, which should
face south, to avoid

Cu Yer

94—DETAIL OF CURTAIN IN THE FRONT OF HOUSE DESIGNED BY F. E. DE MUTH

drafts and let in the most sunlight.

Two doors, each 2 feet wide, occupy the middle part of
he front and two windows each containing four lights of
glass are placed one on each side of the doors.

The doors contain openings of considerable size filled
with wire netting, through which the air passes freely in
warm weather. In cold weather these openings are covered
with heavy cotton cloth. They may be filled with glass, but
then the ventilating effect of the curtained front would be
lost.

The roost platforms and roosts, instead of being placed
against the back of the pen, are built against the front, just.
under the win-
dows, on_ each
side of the doors.
On that account
the windows are
placed high up,
near the roof. As
the birds roost
near the glass, they
should be protec-
ted from the cold
that gets through
it at night by shut-
ters which fit
closely over the windows on the outside or by heavy curtains
which completely cover the glass on the inside.

The birds may be thoroughly protected when on the
roost by curtains which hang from the under side of the roof
boards to just below the roost platforms; but the curtains
should be raised when the birds are off the roosts to allow
the sunlight to enter the house.

The sun dries and in a measure disinfects the roosting
apparatus every morning and its rays reach the extreme
back of the pen, where the birds are kept busy scratching
for grain.

The nests may be located under the platform or hung
upon the sides of the pen.

—— 20"

95—PLAN OF POULTRY HOUSE DESIGNED.
BY A. E, SEWELL

A CHEAP POULTRY HOUSE

It is Suggested for Use on a Small Lot Where the
Birds Cannot be Turned Out

A. E, Sewell

HE poultry house illustrated herewith has the advan-~
qT tage of being warm in winter and cool in summer.
It can be built cheaply, as only a small part need

be double boarded. Inthe plan the double lines

show where the house is to be double boarded and the single
lines indicate that a single wall only is necessary. The long

po POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

dash lines indicate where wire can be
used.

The principal part of this house is
the scratching shed, which occupies
practically all the floor space. The
roosting room is merely a kind of closet
or cupboard with the droppings board |
asa floor. A horizontal swinging door
hinged to the ceiling comes down flush
with the front edge of the droppings
board. This you will note, makes a
very snug little roosting place 2 feet
from the floor and 2 feet wide. It
has one roost, which will accommodate
10 or 12 hens of the American class,
which is the number the house is intend-
ed to hold per pen. The door between,
the pens, shown in Ill. 96, should not
be made so high that it will interfere with the horizontal
door when the latter is hooked to the ceiling. It will
be better to have a solid partition between the roosting
rooms and it should extend out 3 feet. The bottom of the
partition between the two scratching sheds should be solid
and the upper part
may be made of
wire.

The space un-
derneath the drop-
pings board need
not be double
boarded, although
it would be better
if it were. A ven-
tilator should be
placed on the hor-
izontal door. This
is made on the
principle of the

draft of a stove.
The nest may be placed under the droppings board with

the open side next to the rear wall and with a hinged back
that can be let down to gather the eggs.
Frames with canvas tacked on should be hung on the

96—-VIEW SHOWING CONSTRUCTION OF
PARTITION, ROOST, PLATFORM
AND CURTAIN IN A. E. SEWELL’S HOUSE

97—INTERIOR OF MR WAIT’S ROOSTING COOP HOUSE.

Showing the roosting pen in center and the nests, feed boxes and water fountain ona

platform at the rear wall

wae

SAOTOTOOS
0504

o QL
ae
ar
ix

as

98--FRONT ELEVATION OF POULTRY HOUSE DESIGNED BY ADOLPH STUTH

inside of the house in winter and outside in summer. When
on the outside they can be fixed as awnings to keep the sun
out, but to let inthe air. In this house the temperature can
be regulated according to the weather. On a fall night when
it is too cold to let the house be wide open, the canvass
curtains can be let down and the swinging door left wholly
or partly up. This house is as cool as any shed in the sum-
mer time.

A NEW “ROOSTING-COOP” HOUSE

A Poultry House With the Roosting Pen in the
Center, and Nests, Feed Boxes and
Water Along the Rear Wall

Harris B, Waite

Y new sanitary roosting coop house contains the fol-
lowing arrangements, which may not be new, but
as I have never seen them in print or in use, will

describe them. It is an ordinary double roof,
house built in 20 foot sections. The width is 15 feet, the
height at plates, 6 feet and the height at ridge board, 8 feet
6 inches. The roosting box runs parallel
to the ridge board and directly under it.
This box is 2 feet 6 inches wide and 4
feet high; it is 2 feet above the ground.
The double line of roosts is one foot
above the bottom of the box. Two
feet 6 inch spaces are left at the ends to
pass around it.

The ends and sides are provided
with curtains, (burlap) which in sum-
mer are not used, but one or more may
be let down in the winter according to
the severity of the weather. Only on
the very coldest nights, however, are all
the curtains lowered. Ontop of the box
are pens partitioned off with wire net-
ting, used for sitting hens, extra cock
birds, etc.

The advantages of this arrangement
are three-fold. First: more comfortable
in summer, by haying a circulation of
air all around both lines of roosts.
Second: warmer in winter, because the
fowls are away from the cold north

SCRATCHING SHED HOUSES 61

wall. Third: easier to clean and keep free from vermin.

The nests, water fountains, grit, shell and ground grain
hoppers are on a platform, running along the north wall.
This platform is 2 feet wide and 2 feet fromthe ground. This
gives all the floor space for scratching ground.

The south wall of the house is principally doors and
windows. In the summer these doors may be lifted off the
hinges and the windows opened, resulting in an almost open

shed. In winter the doors are hung, and may be battened
down if desired. The windows remain open except at night
and during storms. The roof, sides and ends are covered
with good quality of matched boards. The ends and north
side are lined on the inside with heavy building paper, well
battened down. The roof is covered with flintkote, dressed
with three coats of paint.
The house is well planed and is successful.

Dont Fear Fresh Air

Thorough Ventilation of Poultry Houses Necessary at All Times and Particularly Desirable in Cold
Weather—Does Your Poultry House “Sweat?”—Then It Needs
Airing or It is Overcrowded

P. T. Woods, M. D.

best kind of ventilation for a poultry house? These

are questions that are, in one form or another, asked

many hundreds of times during the year. The an-
swer is plain enough and so simple that it is a wonder that it
did not appear to the interrogator.

Ventilate your poultry house in the same manner that
you would your bed room, i. e.—by opening the doors and
windows. Don’t use special ventilating devices; they are
dangerous.

Ventilating devices are dangerous because they are liable
to create draughts, because they are usually open when they
should be closed and vice versa. All ventilating devices ad-
mit a draught or thin stream of cold air. This thin stream
of cold air flows through the warmer air of the house just as
a muddy stream of water flows into a pond. The distance it
travels all depends on the force of the current and it often
travels a long distance before becoming blended or diffused.
With a stream of cold air, a draught, flowing into’a comfort-
ably warm house, this means disaster to the occupants wher-
ever it strikes. It is less dangerous by day when the fowls
- are busy than at night when the birds are quiet on the roosts,
but at all times a draught in the poultry house may result in
serious colds, laying the foundation for roup and other ser-
ious ailments. No, so-called, ventilating device, other than
a door or window, has been invented to date that will not
create a draught, a disease-promoting, thin stream of
cold air.

No such danger need be feared from the admittance of a
volume of fresh outdoor air to the poultry house by means
of an open door or window, provided these openings are so
situated that a direct cold air current does not sweep through
the house. Common sense must be used even in admitting a
volume of fresh air, since to create an artifical wind-storm
inside the house is to invite disaster.

Windows Should Face South

The windows of the poultry house, andall ventilating
doors should be located in the south front of the poultry
house. All windows should be made to open at the tup and
bottom or so arranged on hinges that the entire window can
be thrown open at will.

Don’t be afraid of fresh air when supplied in large vol-
ume with freedom from direct draughts. With the openings
all in the south front and the fowls protected on three sides
by tight walls,—both sides, back and a tight roof—there is no

[> shall I ventilate my poultry building? What is the

danger. Such windows and doors can be opened wide for a
large part of every day throughout the year and with most
gratifying results. Make your poultry houses reasonably
tight—as tight as you can on theeast, west and north sides,—
and then depend on your south windows and doors for ven-
tilation. From May until October in nearly all sections of the
country the windows in such a house should be kept wide
open both day and night. When cold weather comes keep
these south windows open for a part of every day.

On cold, windy, cloudy or stormy days, keeping the win-
dows open for half an hour to an hour twice a day while the
fowls are feeding may answer well enough in some locations
but the writer prefers to keep the windows open as long as it
is convenient to do so. On sunny winter days the windows
should remain wide open as long as the sun shines in them.

As to ventilation of a close house at night during cold
weather much depends upon the building. Ordinarily enough
air will find its way in around the windows and doors to
answer all purposes if the house is well aired during the day.
In houses more than 20 feet long and 12 feet or less in width
it will be advisable to keep the windows closed at night un-
less built on the hip roof plan with low open fronts. In
houses that are 14 to 16 feet wide with the roosts in the rear
of house or provided with sheltered roosts it is often a wise
plan to leave the window in the front of the pen open just a
little way up at the top. In every case it will be necessary
for the poultryman to use good judgement. Fowls can’t
close the windows. Conditions that would be safe during
the day or night when you leave the fowls might easily
change suddenly during the night and expose your roosting
birds to discomfort. Therefore, unless the houses are spec-
ially constructed with open fronts it will usually be well to
close the windows tightly at night in winter weather.

A Practical Test

During one exceptionally severe winter in eastern
Massachusetts there were not more than two or three
days that the south windows of my poultry buildings
did not remain wide open from daylight until dark. I
never had a sick bird during the entire winter and the
egg yield was excellent, better than the majority of
breeders in the same section were able to obtain, while
the exceptional fertility and fine hatches obtained were
most gratifying.

Two pens of breeders were housed in an ordinary poultry
house with windows to the south. The windows of this

62 POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

house were seldom elosed, all winter, until after dark and
were always thrown wide open at daylight each morning.

Two other pens were kept in small portable houses
of the shed-roof type, 6 by 8 feet, and with water-proofed
muslin fronts. No glass in these portable houses, just
an entire front, 6 by, 7 feet, of muslin broken only by
the thin wooden strips used for door frames. The walls
of these buildings are % inch matched pine, painted,
but not covered with a sheathing material. The roof is
%, inch pine covered with a roofing fabric. The floor is
gravel raised a few inches above ground level and coy-
ered with straw.

Water will freeze in these houses any day when the
temperature falls below 20 degrees above zero outside.
The fowls roost on perches placed over a droppings
board 2 feet 6 inches from the floor and the front roost
is but a little more than five feet back from the muslin
front of the house. An average of 15 birds were kept in

99—-WOODS’' OPEN-AIR POULTRY HOUSE

Experimental building in actual use on a Massachusetts farm,
south front.

away in front of the windows. For description see page67,

each of these 6 by 8 portable houses all of last winter.
The muslin door was thrown open eyery day for as long
a time as possible, the front being protected by poultry
wire only. The door was only closed during the day
when it stormed hard and blew directly into the front
of the house. At night with the door closed the air
could work in through the entire muslin front. The
birds appeared to be comfortable at all times, were sel-
dom out of the house during the entire winter as they
were only allowed out on bare ground, and during the
most of the time the house was surrounded by deep
snow.

Egg Yield and Fertility Good

From these birds, all White Wyandottes, bred for
health, the egg yield was exceptionally good and never,
from November ist, until March ist, dropped below 50
per cent, in spite of extremely cold and variable
weather.

Iliustration shows east side and
The litter in the house did not become damp and required renewal less often than in
any other types used. This photograph was taken immediately after a heavy snow storm.
be noted that very little snow remained on the south slope of the roof, and that is beginning to melt

These portable houses were located in one of the
most windy places in eastern Massachusetts, and the
temperature last winter varied from 60 degrees above to
20 degrees below zero, often going the full range in
forty-eight hours and from dead calm to high wind in
the same time.

During January and February eggs from the birds
in these small, practically open portable houses, aver-
aged from 90 to 95 per cent strongly fertile and gave
most exeellent hatches of strong, sturdy, healthy chicks.
Most of these chicks were reared out of doors in Febru-
ary and March with no other protection than that af-
forded by an individual outdoor brooder and made a
highly satisfactory record.

Use Fresh Air Sensibly

Some persons who witnessed this experiment,—for
the test was made with a view to seeing just what the
result of such treatment would be—
asked me why I did not return to the
old method of letting the fowls roost
in the trees if fresh air was what
was desired. Such a question is
scarcely worth an answer because it
shows that the one who asks speaks
without first giving thought to the
subject.

There is a wide difference be-
tween fowls roosting in the open, on
trees and fences, and those protected
by a roof and surrounded by tight
walls on three sides. It is just the
difference between discomfort and
comfort. You can’t get good results
from uncomfortable fowls. The birds
are well protected with a heavy coat
of feathers and if given reasonable
protection from the weather and
plenty of fresh air, to supply the
life giving oxygen needed for heat
production within their bodies, they
will be comfortable. Fowls roosting
in the trees in the winter are often
miserable and objects of pity, but
some of the most miserable speci-
mens I have ever seen have been
those cooped up in tight houses
(never aired except as the attendant
goes in and out of the door), that
are sweat boxes when the sun shines and reservoirs of
eold, damp, deathly chilling foul air at night or on
cloudy days. Such quarters will breed sickness and
losses greater than any ever experienced by the farmer
who lets his birds range and roost where they will.

What "House Sweating" Means

When a poultry house “sweats,” when dampness con-
denses on the walls and forms as frost or drips down
upon the occupants, it is a sure sign that the house is
not aired often enough or that you have over-rated the
capacity of the building and have too many fowls in it.

You can keep more birds with safety in a well-aired
building than in one that is kept tightly closed. For this
reason, from a standpoint of economy of house reom, if
for no other reason, the necessity of thoroughly airing
the poultry buildings should appeal to everyone.

A plentiful supply of fresh air is necessary to health.
A damp, ill-ventilated building means disease, debility,

It will

SCRATCHING SHED HOUSES 63

and often that scourge, contagious catarrh, familiarly
known as roup.

Do You Take Time to Think ?

At one of the meetings of the poultry associatior
last winter the subject of fresh air came up for discus-
sion. Several members who use closed houses that are
seldom opened up were asked,—

“What do you do when birds get colds and catarrh?”

The answer was practically the same in each case
and in substance was:—

“Tt doesn’t pay to bother to doctor them; if they get
colds or roup we just chuck them out in an open shack
or Shed and let them shift for themselves. Just feed and
water them and let them go.”

Q. ‘Do many die?” was asked.

A. “No, most of them get well and go back to the
pens in a few weeks.” ~

Q. Then why don’t you open up the houses and let
in the fresh air to prevent disease, if it cures the sick
birds?”

A. “Never thought of it in that way.”

Now that is just what is the matter with a great
many poultry keepers. They have “never thought of it
that way.” If.every man who keeps hens and reads a
poultry paper would absorb what he reads, think a little,
and try to reason logically from what he reads about the
experience of others, there would be a lot less work for
those who conduct “questions and answers departments”
to do, and the results obtained from the poultry would
show a decided improvement. Read, think and reason;
just use good, sound common sense. If you want healthy,
vigorous birds that will produce strong-germed eggs you
must not neglect them. They need a variety of whole-
some food, pure water, comfortable quarters and plenty
of fresh air and sunlight.

Don’t fear fresh air. Thorough ventilation of poultry
houses is necessary at all times. You can have it all the
time during the warm season by taking out the windows
and leaving them out. In cold weather you should not
neglect this important matter; keep the houses well
aired and air them daily.

100—TOLMAN'S FRESH-AIR POULTRY HOUSE

LeFrr—An early type of house used by Mr. Tolman.

RIGHT—The same house in process of remodeling into the Fresh-Air House

Fresh-Air Housing for Poultry
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY FRESH-AIR HOUSE

A House that is Run Wide Open Summer and Winter, Storm or Sunshine—Cool in Summer, Warm in
Winter—No Dampness—Prevents Disease—Promotes Health, Vigor and a Good Egg Yield
Fertility Increased—Specifications with an Estimate of the Probable Cost

° Toseph Tolman

AVING given the proper housing of poultry deep
thought for many years, it led me to building what
I call my Twentieth Century Fresh-Air Poultry House
which is fully illustrated herewith.

The fresh-air house is a very simple one to construct as
will be seen by noting the photographic views and plans. It
is a plain hip-roofed building with a long pitch of the roof to
the front or south. The roof and closed sides are one-inch
boards shingled, making a tight roof and east, west and

is where it differs from other fresh air plans. The house is
run wide open in front both night and day, storm or shine,
all the year round. A gate is provided in this wire front to
give the birds access to the yard.

Every now and then I read with much interest what dif-
ferent writers have to say about what and how you should
feed your poultry and how to cure roup, tuberculosis and
various other contagious diseases. If they would only build
fresh air houses or remodel their old ones as I am doing, I

101— WHITE PLYMOUTH ROCK BREEDERS

north walls. The eaves are about 4 feet from the ground and
the peak of the roof is a little over 7 feet. The house is 8
feet wide by 14 feet long, and has a window in the center of
the west side and a door in the center of the east side direct-
ly opposite the window. In operating this house in sumimer
both the door and window are removed and replaced with
wire netting. The south front is always open, being closed
in by 1-inch wire mesh netting only. This part of the house

IN THE FRESH-AIR HOUSE

can earnestly say that I believe they would never have con-
tagious diseases and their fowls would be hardy, strong and
healthy, capable of supplying strong fertile eggs the year
round and plenty of them. The first of last September I was
offered $400 for 200 Light Brahma pullets, utility stock. I
feel that this is a good indorsement. for the fresh air housing
which they have had.

Don’t think because you live in Canada or in any other

FRESH AIR HOUSES 65

. cold place where the temperature is way below zero that
you cannot adopt this system. These are just the places
where it is most needed. Also, where the climate has a
tendency to be damp and foggy, because an open house is
always dry. The fresh air keeps the birds warm and it is
a place where dampness can never gather.

For those who are using the Tolman House in ex-
ceptionally bleak, cold locations, I reeommend the use of
a coarse, unbleachel muslin curtain immediately in front
of the roosts. The location of the roosts in my improved
houses gives an excellent opportunity to place this cur-
tain in front of same so that it can be operated conven-
iently, and thus insuring the best results in the coldest
climate in America. The muslin curtain should be loosely
tacked upon a light wooden:frame, the frame being hung
with hinges from the front roof directly in front of the
ends of the two side roosts and should extend no lower
than the droppings board. During the day when not in
use, the curtain can be fastened up to the roof out of the
way by means of a wooden button conveniently placed.
If, on the last visit to the house at night, the attendant
thinks that the temperature is going to be many degrees
below zero, the curtain may be dropped. My advice is
never to use the curtain except in the most extreme cold
weather when the temperature is zero or below. I prefer
to place the curtain in front of the roosts rather than in
the front part of the house, for if used as I advise it
more animal heat is retained and practically the same
amount of fresh air reaches the birds, owing to the ar-
rangement of the roosts and dropboards and the position
of the curtain or muslin screen.

I believe that those who built the house in cold cli-
mates, from the dimensions 8 by 12 feet that were first
published, and were dissatisfied with the results obtained,
would now find that they will get entirely satisfactory re-
sults by adapting the building to the improved type and
using the muslin curtain. If the house is to be located
in a very bleak, windy place on the side of a mountain, 1
should advise using one-half or one-quarter-inch mesh
wire netting in place of one-inch mesh, as much less snow
will blow into the building. In the large-sized prac-
tical Tolman House it will be necessary to make the cur-

. tain in two parts. -

Specifications and Probable Cost of House

The plans given herewith are for the “Tolman ‘{wen-
tieth Century Fresh-Air Poultry House” for either chicks
or laying hens, dimensions 8 by 14 feet. The approximate
cost of material for same would be $20.00.

300 sq. ft. hemlock boarding No. 1 at $22.00 per M..$ 6.60
40 running ft. 2x4 joist; 157 running feet 2x3 joist

105, feet; sat $2800" per Miss. c2:<.2% atelernie aicherelare eye; cteis 2.94
(Orme: Vane kon eee: ai MACE OG COC OO SOC T COCO btu 95
Wandlowyirame> LOPISAME! \rc cctv vicio oleress crelele resists sie -70
1¥%, M. $3.00 grade shingles to be laid 5 in. for roof.. 3.75
114M. $2.50 grade shingles laid 6 in. for sides........ 3.95

varie! (hig) Ata de 2 SiS cee RRO REREAD. 0 0 SAREE ere $18.89

DOR GREEN Shee sin: SOD o J CHS GED PEE DEIE OD Oc 0. eo 1.11

$20.00

With this material you can build a first class house,
nothing cheap about it. The same, when finished, will
accommodate thirty-five to forty Light Brahma layers
with three males. At least this is the number I am hous-
ing. When you consider the cost, you must stop to think
that a house of this style will accommodate at least twice
as many as the closed style or burlap front would.

Larger House on Same Plan Recommended

From observations I have made I am sure that the
most practical and economical house will be one about
half as large again, or I would have my dimensions 14
feet wide by 21 feet deep with 6 feet posts on the north
end, 4 feet 6 inch posts on the south end and a large win-
dow in the west side. The highest part of the roof would
be about 10 feet from the ground. You would then have
a house, ideal for all kinds of weather and locations, that
would accommodate from 65 to 80 layers, according to the
breed, and from four to five males, at a very small cost
over the figures given for the 8 by 14 feet house; thus
bringing the cost of my house much lower than the ay-
erage house of today.

With the larger house I would suggest placing direct-
ly in the center, running north and south, a board parti-
tion 2 feet 6 inches high. This will induce extra exercise
by the birds hopping over the partition. This partition
divides the flock, thus helping the fertility through pre-
venting interference of the males.

A great many poultrymen with whom I have talked,
admit that the colony system of housing breeders is the
best; yet, they argue, that it is much easier to take care
of the continuous house system; therefore they prefer
it. This is where they make their mistake. Let me ex-
plain. Suppose we have a 100 foot building, 14 feet wide,
with ten partings. Under the old system each parting
will accommodate not over 20 fowls and you have ten
partings to water and feed every day in order to care for
200 birds. Now we will see what we can do with the
fresh-air housing of poultry on the colony system. It
will take three houses 14 by 21 feet to accommodate the
flock of 20 hens, thus you would have only three houses
to water and feed.

We must all admit that much better yards can be had
with the fresh-air colony system than with the continu-
ous house, and you will tind with my system you will
need these yards in winter almost as much as in sum-
mer. Always keep the snow shoveled from a small place
in front of the house as you will find this will help the
fertility of the eggs. ‘The fowls enjoy being out doors.

Furthermore I believe all sides but the south should
be made warm and tight, and this should be left entirely
open with no curtain in front of birds on roosts. Then
you will have what I call a warm fresh-air house.

Stronger, Hardier Fowls—Better Fertility

Some writers have claimed that they could not per-
ceive any difference in the quantity of food consumed
whether the fowls were kept in open or closed houses. I
must admit I can see quite a little difference. Why?
The fowls are in the best of physical condition all the
time, breathing a larger amount of oxygen, thus creating
a better circulation of blood; therefore burning up more
fuel in the line of food stuff. What we get in return is a
much larger egg yield with better fertility. There is no
better indorsement for the fertility of fresh-air eggs than
to state that a leading poultry supply house in Boston
practically handled the entire amount of my output last
season and have engaged them for the present season.
What better indorsement do we want for the radical
fresh-air system?

Is it not better to have a house so constructed that it
can be left open all the time? I have never yet seen the
closed house that man could regulate with any safety.
Ue is either having the window opened or closed at the
wrong time. When I leave my fowls at night I never
have to think whether my house is opened or closed too

much. I know that it is just the same all the time.

Eb POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

125 To 150 Chickens Housed In One Flock

You will notice the photo of my house with chickens.
This house accommodates from 125 to 150 chickens destined
for the fancy South Shore roasting trade which begins in
March and lasts until July. These chickens were placed in
the houses the Ist of November, which houses will be run
entirely open all winter. In the spring when they are
matured they will be much heavier and better in quality than
if they had been kept in closed houses. Practically they will
be immune from all contagious diseases and in justice to the

103—TOLMAN’S FRESH-AIR POULTRY HOUSE

1—Plan, location of roost platform, also nests clearly shown.

2—East end showing location of door and studs.

8—West end, showing location of window and studs.

4—North, or rear wall—location of studs.

5—Drawing of the front, enclosed with 1-inch mesh wire netting,
small fowl entrance and location of studs.

producer these chickens should bring from 2 to 4 cents per
lb. more than the ordinary fancy chickens because they are
much better in quality. I believe we should all aim for
quality, not quantity. :

The house will receive chicks from the brooder at any
time through the winter by using a board to close up all but
about 6 inches of the front the first few nights they are put

in. Then if the weather is mild, take it away and run the
entire south end open. You will be surprised to find how
warm this house is when you step inside on a cold day.

What the Open House has Done

I will now tell you what the open house has done for the
vitality of my poultry. Believing that improper housing has
had a great deal to do with weakening the vitality, the most
important element, is what practically led me to the develop-
ment of my open front system. Four years ago I noticed a
weakness among the chickens hatched. They seemed to be
lacking in vitality and I decided the best thing to do was to
give my breeders more air. This I proceeded at once to do.
The results were phenominal. I had much better fertility,
the chickens when hatched were strong and vigorous and my
flock of breeders had lots of vigor and vitality. This good
work has kept right on improving for the last three years. I
have no difficulty in getting a fertility of 80 to 90 per cent in
Light Brahma eggs which are now testing 88 per cent.
White Plymouth Rocks are testing from 90 to 96 per cent fertile.

Fresh Air Facts and Pointers

Open your window and door after the first of May, or
earlier, according to the weather. Close them after the first
of November.

Never place a screen or any other protection in front of
roost, as this defeats the purpose of the open front.

When the snow blows the hardest, go home at night
feeling easy. Make up your mind that whenever the storm
clears you will be able to shovel the snow out in a few min-
utes and when the sun comes out it will shine directly into
the house, drying the scratching litter readily. I hope you
will all gain confidence from my experience. I feel sure snow
is a good tonic for poultry kept in open houses.

Keep plenty of good scratching litter in the house all the
time.

For forty hens two fair-sized grocery boxes make good
nests, large enough for two or three hens to lay in at once,
thus being less exposed to chilling.

Keep the eggs gathered at short intervals in the cold
days if they are to be used for incubation. There is no
place in the poultry business for a lazy man.

Don’t try to make a fresh-air house, as I have seen some
do, out of a shed roof house. You will lose what you want
most and retain that which you least want. I mean by this,
the warmth radiated by your poultry, rising, escapes through
the opening above. The carbonic acid gas, leaving the birds
as they breathe, falls to the floor, forming a most deadly gas.
In my house this gas is easily diffused and carried away and
the warmth is retained.

I am positive that it is the 14 by 21 foot house that
should be used in certain localities where the snow blows and
blizzards are frequent.

Don’t worry if the water freezes. I am no believer in
warmed water for poultry. I consider this merely a fad.
Use galvanized iron pails; then you can easily break out
the ice.

This is the only right house for the fancier as his birds
are always in the best of physical condition with a very clean
and glossy plumage at all times.

I believe it is the only house that can be used on heavy
and wet land with success as the moisture rising from the
land has no'chance to gather in the building.

In closing let me say to all who adopt this system that
I hope it will give to themas it has to me ‘‘better poultry
and more of it’’.

FRESH AIR HOUSES 67

WOODS’ OPEN-AIR POULTRY HOUSE

Practical Semi-Monitor-Top Open-Front Building
for Cold Climates
P. T. Woods, M. D.

HIS house we believe combines all the essentials of
an open-air house. The front is open night and
day. Sunlight reaches all parts of it on sunny

days and there is sufficient sun in the rear of the

house to keep the droppings board quite dry. Litter
in this house does not become damp. Im _ severe
weather water does not freeze as quickly as in a
closed building of same dimensions and with same

size flock. There is no dampness or frost and the house
is always comfortable. It is comfortably warm in winter

COPYRIGHT 1909,
RELIABLE POULTRY JOURNAL PUB.CO.,
QUINCY, ILL.

ro)
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nv
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10'winE xX /#' DEEP,

The plans given herewith are for an open-air house
ten feet wide by fourteen feet deep to cost about $35.00
complete at present prices of lumber in the East. This
cost estimate does not include expense of a board or ce-
ment floor if such is desired. A 10x14 ft. house will ac-
commodate 35 layers and may be used satisfactorily for
smaller flocks of from 12 to 25 breeders. The plans are
for a colony house but same may be considered as first
section of a continuous house if desired, but if built for a
continuous house will be more desirable if made 16 feet
deep instead of 14. Partitions in continuous house should
be solid from floor to roof boards. In making the deeper
house the depth should be given to the rear section.

Building Instructions—Plate I.

The house should be located on dry, well-drained land,

and should face south or a little east of south. Twelve

FLSOOY

Tuvod aoug

PLATE I—GROUND OR FLOOR PLAN, WOODS’ OPEN-AIR POULTRY HOUSE
Showing Plan of Furnishing, Position of Sills, Studs, Roosts and Drop Boards.

and with windows open is cool in summer. It supplies
fresh open air all the time and tle fowls are always com-
fortable. No curtains are ever used. The open front is
closed only by a screen of one-quarter inch square mesh
galvanized wire netting such as is used for cellar windows
and to cover factory windows. This wire screen breaks
drafts and will keep out snow in all ordinary locations.
Never use curtains to keep out snow. If the location is
one where blizzards are common and hard driving wind
storms prevail, use a finer mesh screen of heavy wire.
Keep the wire free from dust or wet packed snow by
brushing with a broom. This house is intended for nor-
thern. climates where winters are severe and for use in
all sections where freezing or zero weather is common in
winter.

posts are needed, five for each side and one in center of
each end. Post holes should be made three feet and posts
should be well tamped to make them firm. Sills of 4x4 in.
stock are laid level on top of posts and spiked to them.
Ends are halved to match sill joints.

Plate I shows ground or floor plan drawn to scale
To determine dimensions of any part of drawings lay a
strip of cardboard on seale and mark to correspond.
This card rule laid on plan will give dimensions in feet.
Floor plan shows position of sills, studs, window and
door. Location and size of droppings board and roosts
are also shown. Nest is placed with entrance at drop
board level (2 ft. above top of sill). Food hopper and
water pail are at convenient height for fowls. We pre-
fer to place them high and to make a slatted platform

68 POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

in front of each for fowls to fly up to. This keeps food
and water up out of litter and dirt. It also leaves more
free floor space as floor beneath platform is open and
available. If rear section is made two feet deeper, mak-
ing whole house 16 ft. deep it will give room for one
more roost and give a capacity of 40 layers for winter
or 30 for summer, fowls confined to house or with only
small yard. Nest is single box 12x24 in. inside measure,
is open at north end only and has shed-roof hinged
eover. With more than 25 fowls a second nest should
be supplied. (To make a large colony house of this type
make floor dimensions 14 ft. wide by 20 ft. deep. Highest
point of roof should be 10 ft. and rear section should be
12 feet deep. Make front section 8 ft. deep and same

K uses N3a0>

CopyvRianr 1909, y
RELIABLE POULTRY JOURNAL PUB.Co., 2! = x
QUINCY, ILL.

section use clean oat straw litter. This house may be
made with sand or gravel floor only, filled in to top of
sill. We would prefer a cement or concrete floor (rat
proof) to bottom of sill and then filled in with sand and
litter to top of sill. Sand and litter to be renewed as
often as needed.

After sills are laid studs should be placed in position
and nailed to sills. Plates are spiked to top of studs
after making sure to have them plumb. Rafters are
lightly notched to engage plate as shown in plan (Plate
II). Side boards should be put on in horizontal position
and should be covered with good roofing fabric. Roof
boards lay east and west. Joints of sides with roof
should be flush and smooth. Roofing fabric for sides

ROOSTS
5 ]

DROP BOARD

Stace.

PLATE II—SIDE SECTION VIEW, WOODS’ OPEN-AIR POULTRY HOUSE
Shows Posts, Sills, Studs, Plates and Rafters with Boarding. Dotted lines indicate West Window.

height as small house. Capacity 75 to 80 layers. Instead
of small windows in monitor top of this large house use
regular 6 light half window sash, two to each house.)

Building Instructions—Plate II.

Plate II shows side (sectional) elevation. Position of
posts, studs, plates and rafters is clearly shown. Dotted
lines show position of window in west wall. Door placed
between two highest studs in east wall with bottom just
below top of sill to break joint and stop draft. Door
opens outward and hinges on north side. A screen door
of one inch mesh hexagon netting should be made to
open in, just inside solid door. This is useful in summer
or at any time when it is desired to have door open. Po-
sition of roosts, drop board, plates and windows in top
are all shown in plan, and dimensions can be ascertained
by marking a cardboard strip to correspond with scale
below drawing. It will be noted that the south front is
boarded down six inches from the top and up eighteen
inches from the bottom. The balance of space is the al-
ways open front covered only by one-quarter inch
square mesh galvanized wire netting. The actual open-
ing in front is 2% ft. high by about 10 ft. wide. It is al-
ways open. X. is a 12 inch board notched to receive
rafters nailed to upright studs to serve the double pur-
pose of support for front rafters and as a stop draft.
XX. is litter board from floor level to 4 to 6 in. above
sill and used to keep all litter in rear section of house.
It should be made removable resting in cleats. Front
section should have sand or earth floor only. In rear

should go on up and down and should lap on roof about
one foot. This gives a wind proof joint. Eaves at north
end. of house should be made by a double course of
shingles to project three inches. Roof covering should
be laid to roll east and west with generous laps and
should allow only four inches of shingle course open to
weather. Peak should be protected by well painted
board. South end of roof should have double shingle .
course to make eaves in same manner as north end.

Windows for semi-monitor top should be three 3
light common small cellar windows and should be
serewed tightly in position to make a wind and storm
proof joint. These windows may be removed in hot sum-
mer weather but in cold climates should be firmly fixed
in place from September ist until first settled warm
weather in June. West window may also be removed in
hot summer weather and replaced by wire screen. With
windows out in warm weather the house is cool and
comfortable even in “dog days.”

Front Elevation—Plate III.

Plate IIT gives a semi-perspective view of the front
elevation. Front and rear section are drawn to differen‘
seale as shown in plan. As shown, front is boarded up
from bottom 18 in. to break floor drafts and is also
boarded down 6 in. from top. Balance is one quarter
inch wire netting. Position of studs is shown. Door for
fowls is only break in wire front, it can be closed by a
hinged run board as is shown in plan or may have a

FRESH AIR HOUSES

board shutter run in cleats on inside of house and

worked by a cord and pulley.

Material Required
6 posts 7 ft. long to cut in halves.
2 pieces 4x4 in. stock 14 ft. long for side sills.
2 pieces 4x4 in. stock 10 ft. long for end sills.
4 pieces 2x3 in. stock 3 ft. 8 in. long for back studs.
3 pieces 2x3 in. stock 5 ft. long for studs.
2 pieces 2x3 in. stock 5 ft. 8 in. long for studs.
3 pieces 2x3 in. stock 6 ft. 4 in. long for studs.

69

is boarded down to ground. Height at peak is 8 ft.; at
back 5 ft.; at north end of front section 5 ft. 6 in., and
at front 4 ft. 6 in. Measurements from ground.

To make the house rat-proof it was built with a
double boarded floor and was placed high on posts pro-
tected with inverted metal pans. The fowls housed were
confined to the house and were not allowed outside of
it all winter. The front, as shown in illustration, was
closed only by fine, square mesh, heavy galvanized wire
netting and was always open. The fowls were healthy
and happy all winter although somewhat crowded. The

2 pieces 2x3 in. stock 4 ft. long for studs. egg yield was exceptionally good. The eggs in the
4 pieces 2x3 in. stock 3 ft. 4 in. long for studs. spring ran from 85 per cent to 90 per cent fertile and
3 pieces 2x3 in. stock 10 ft. long for plates. hatched well. Best of all the chicks lived and thrived.
‘| 2 2 4 5 6
SCALE,

BoaRD

OPEN FRONT,

PF PSPIL PL TELL

Yr. /

See tt

, BOARDS
SCALE,

COPYRIGHT 1909, RELIABLE POULTRY JOURNAL PUB. CO., QUINCY, ILL.

ALWAYS OPEN.

ee

PLATE III—-DIAGRAM OF FRONT ELEVATION TO “SCALE PERSPECTIVE” WOODS’ OPEN-AIR POULTRY HOUSE

Note difference in Front and Rear Scale

Shows Open Front and Semi-Monitor Top with Small

Cellar Windows to Sun Rear of House.

2 pieces 2x3 in. stock 10 ft. long for drop board
supports.

2 pieces 2x3 in. stock with rounded edges 10 ft. long
for roosts.

5 pieces 2x4 in. stock 8 ft. 9 in. long for rear rafters.

5 pieces 2x4 in. stock 6 ft. long for front rafters.

58 sq. ft. matched boards for droppings board and
door.

460 sq. ft. common boards for sides and roof.

1 full window (2 sash six light) 4 ft. 3 in.x2 ft. 6 in.

3 three light cellar window sash for monitor top.

10 running feet of 14. inch square mesh heavy gal-
vanized wire netting 30 in. high, for open front.

500 sq. ft. best roofing fabric with caps and nails.

Bundle shingles for making eaves on north and south
ends.

Nails, hinges, spikes, screws, etc.

Where ground is level house sits with bottoms of
sills on posts or rock six inches above ground level. It

SOUTHERN OPEN-AIR HOUSE

Open-Front Building Suitable for Warm Climate
P. T. Woods, M. D.

N THE South. in all warm climates, an open-front

poultry building is necessary for best results.

The low-roofed, low open-front type of building

is not so well suited to such localities as a house

with more head room would be. In many parts

of the South the days are hot and the nights are

cold and damp. Heavy rains and excessive “humidity”

are common. The “Southern” house is planned to meet

the requirements of the climate, but in some cases it

must be modified to suit local conditions. In the far

South it will generally be a good plan to make the front

third of the east and west sides of slats instead of tight

boarding. Use “shingling laths” and leave one and one-
half inch openings between the laths.

70

Southern Open-Air House Described

The Southern Open-Air Poultry House is a partly
floored, double-pitch roof building, with an open front,
plenty of head room, and a runway beneath the build-
ing. It provides a comfortable home for the fowls the
year around and the base-
ment runway will prove par-
ticularly useful as a cool re-
treat for the fowls in hot,
sunny weather. The house
should be located on high,
dry, well-drained soil and if
placed in a low location the
land should be graded to
make the ground beneath
the building higher than that
surrounding it so that sur-
face water will not run or
stand beneath the house. In
wet land drain around build-
ing to carry off water in
heavy rains.

The house occupies ground
space 10 ft. wide by 14 ft.
deep. The main building sits
on posts two and one-half
feet above the ground. Measuring from the ground it
is 9 ft. 6 in. high at peak and 6 ft. 6 in. high at eaves.
The house has a board floor extending from the rear to
within 2 ft. 8 in. of the front so the floor is 9 ft. 10 in.
wide by 11 ft. deep and is made of matched boards with
heavy tar paper beneath laid on the floor timbers.

Fig. 1 on next page is seale diagram showing the
front and east side of “Southern” house. There are two
windows opposite each other in the sides and one win-

11% 9/0" Floor SPACE

ROOST AND SCRATCH Room.

OPENTO 2.4.0

GROUND
D BENEATH

COPYRIGHT, 1909. RELIABLE POULTRY JOURNAL PUB.CO., Quincy, ILL-

FIG. 2—~FLOOR PLAN SOUTHERN OPEN-AIR HOUSE

Shows furnishings and floor limit. WW—Windows. D—Door.
Shows position of studs on sill.

POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

dow in the gable of the south front above the door.
These windows are single sash (6 light) and are hinged
at the top to open up against the roof where they

should be fastened with hooks. One-quarter inch square-
mesh wire netting should be used to cover the window
The space or runway be-

on the outside of building.

COPYRIGHT, (909.
RELIABLE POULTRY JOURNAL PUB. Co.,

Quinmey, tur.

FIG. |—SCALE DIAGRAM OF ELEVATION SOUTH FRONT AND EAST SIDE OF

SOUTHERN OPEN-AIR HOUSE

Diagonal crossed lines show spaces covered only by wire netting. South front is always open,

no curtains are used.

neath the house is enclosed with one-inch mesh, heavy
galvanized hexagon wire netting or with finer mesh.
Door and open front of main building should be covered
with one-quarter inch square mesh heavy wire netting
(galvanized). A board is placed at bottom of main
house (post level see Fig. 1) on either side of door to
help break floor drafts. A “litter board” is placed at
end of floor in front, extending 6 in. above floor level to:
hold straw litter on floor. Diagonal crossed lines in Fig.
1 indicate parts closed only
by wire netting. All draw-
ings are to scale shown in
each cut. Mark card to cor-
respond with scale, and it
will give dimensions in feet.
Use scale given in cut for
that drawing only. Make
some allowance for slight
variation in Fig. 1, and note
measurements in flat plans
Figs. 2 and 3.

Floor Plan and Furnishings

Figure 2 shows floor plan
with location of sills, studs,
furnishings.

SLSO0W

windows and
As indicated
boards are used. Roosts are
two feet above floor. Fowls
will seratch litter from front
of house to back and keep
droppings covered. The drop-

no droppings

pings should be removed
often and litter renewed.
Position of nest and food

hopper is indicated. Hopper
sits on floor. Nest is placed
with bottom 14 in. above
floor. The nest is 2 ft, 6 in.
long by 14 in. wide, is open
only at the north end

HH—Food Hopper.

FRESH AIR HOUSES 71

and has a “shed-roof” cover hinged at the top. A water
pail may be placed in a convenient corner of the run-
way beneath the house. Run board is used to give easy
access between scratching floor and basement runway.
Windows are kept open in warm weather and closed dur-
ing the cold or stormy season. ‘“‘W” indicates window.
“H” is hopper. “D’ is door. House should face south
or east of south.

Fig. 3 (this page) shows section view at south front
at end of floor. Position of furnishings, posts, floor tim-
bers, sills, studding, plates and rafters is shown in this
drawing. Run board should be heavy enough to bear
weight of attendant for convenience in entering main
house when desired. The house from which this build-
ing was adapted had inverted tin pans on tops of posts
to keep out rats and no “run board” was used.

In building this house set posts three feet in the
ground. Spike sills to posts and lay floor timbers with
ends resting on posts where possible to give a firm floor.
Detail of timbers, studding, plates and rafters is shown
in the plans. Nail plates to top of studs, fit and cut
rafters as shown. Board in sides, north end and roof
with common boards. Cover roof, north end of building
and sides north of windows with good smooth heavy
roofing fabrie and give a good coat of white paint. A
house painted white is cooler in hot weather. In very
warm locations it will be well to make front third of
east and west sides slatted. For this purpose use heavy
“shingling lath’ put on “up and down” with one and
one-half inch openings between laths. By boarding sides
up and down less studding will be needed and building
will have a better appearance.

It is estimated that this house can be built at a cost
not to exceed $35.00, using common lumber. With coun-
try boards it can be made cheaper. Finished matched
stock would add to the cost. It will comfortably house
a flock of from 12 to 35 fowls of the American class.
With small flocks or fowls kept only for eggs no outdoor
run other than the basement runway need be supplied
if laying stock is renewed each year and old stock sold
to market.

Material Required

Following is carpenter’s estimate of material re-
quired:

14 posts six inches through, 6 ft. long.

3 pieces 3x4 in. stock 14 ft. long for sills.

1 piece 4x4 in. stock 10 ft. long for rear sill.

1 piece 4x4 in. stock 7 ft. long to make two front
sills on either side of door.

5 pieces 3x4 in. stock 10 ft. long for floor timbers.

FRESH-AIR HOUSE FOR TOWN
DWELLERS

Fighty Birds can be kept in this House
Charles H. Westacott

HE accompanying photographs show a_ poultry
house which I think is a practical, up-to-date, sta-

tionary poultry house. By stationary I mean one

that can be erected in the back yard of the
ordinary suburban residence. I know there are many
readers whose “chicken farms” are calculated by
the square yard rather than by the acre, hence I am
pleased to give this description of my house, feeling
that it may be of interest to those whose space is lim-

ited but who want a practical poultry house. The four
photographs reproduced here tell the story pretty well,
except the dimensions.

The house is fourteen feet long, six feet wide, six
feet high in front and four feet in the back and it
stands on six posts as shown in the illustrations. The
floor is three feet from the ground which gives no place
for rats to harbor and this space between the posts fur-

nishes shade in the summer and shelter from
storms and cold winds in the winter. In fact,
in the winter it is an open-air. sun _ parlor,

The house faces south and the angle of the sun being
lower in winter, the rays reach nearly to the back of
this space. There is a trap door in the floor which the
hens use in stormy weather when the house is closed at
the ends. Placed in the rear wall of this scratching
room (this wall is made by extending the boards of the
back of the house down to the ground) are two doors.

a

n= LITTER VACAR

COPYRIGHT. 1909. RELIABLE POULTRY JOURNAL PUB. CO., QUINCY, ILL.

FIG. 3—SECTION VIEW OF SOUTHERN OPEN-AIR HOUSE

Shows furnishings and rurway beneath floor. Indicates sills, floor timbers,
studs, plates and rafters. WW—Windows. H—Food Hoppers,

On one hangs a dry feed box with four pockets contain-
ing shell, grit, ete. This is filled by opening the door.
In the winter there is kept in front of the other door a
large box of fine ashes in which the birds may dust.

We firmly believe that chickens were designed for
outdoor life and that when we begin to shut them up in
glass houses we are running against nature and the re-
sult will be that the birds in a short time will seem to
make it their sole business to catch eold and will have
lost all sense of their responsibility to the egg market,
paying no attention to the size of the owner’s feed bills
but spending the principal part of their time in trying
to keep out of drafts and practicing to learn which can
hold down a stray streak of sunshine the longest with-
out growing tired. Being imbued with these ideas we
built a fresh air house that out-T'olmans Tolman.

At each end of the house there are doors four feet
wide, extending from the roof to the floor, that are
swung open every morning, summer and winter, and
which remain that way all day unless there is a driving
storm.

72 POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

The roosts, three in number, extend lengthwise of
the house as shown in the cuts, and are supported on
cross pieces which are slipped into rests on the posts in
the front and back of the house so that the floor is kept
clear of all obstructions. The supporting pieces are
easily slipped out and when the house is being white-
washed these pieces are taken over to the adjoining
fence, stood up in a row and pumped full of lime. The

floor is kept covered with several inches of sifted ashes
so that the cleaning of the house is quickly accom-
plished by simply raking the surface droppings into a
box from either door.

This can be done in five minutes.

FIG. |-HOUSE CLOSED FOR THE NIGHT
IN ORDINARY WEATHER

There is no necessity to enter the house to clean any
part of it as everything is easily reached from the
ground.

The Illustrations

Fig. 1 shows the house closed for the night in all
ordinary weather. Fig. 2 shows the curtains drawn for
protection against driving storms and extreme cold.
Some of the largest numbers of eggs were gathered on
the days when the ground was covered with snow and
the chickens were allowed to run in and out all day.
It is clear that the cold feet theory had no effect on
them.

Fig. 3 shows the house taking a sun bath. The
morning sun floods the house through the door on the

FIG, 2—CURTAINS DRAWN AGAINST
STORMS AND EXTREME COLD

through laying, about 4 o’clock, the house is opened
as shown in Fig. 4, several times a week to purify the
nests and it is certainly effective as neither nests nor
roosts show signs of vermin of any kind. This picture
also shows the ease with which the eggs are gathered.
In fact, all necessary work in this style of house is per-
formed without entering it, which will appeal to the
women of the family who may be required to take
charge of the flock at any time.

Fig. 4 shows how a row of nests is removed in order
to clean them. As can be seen these are merely a frame
work placed upon the nest shelf to divide it into four
equal spaces. There is room for
twenty-four nests on the two
shelves and the house will ac-
commodate eighty chicks of ay-
erage size. “What.” I can hear
my readers exclaim, “pack
eighty chicks in a house 14 by
62” That is just what I mean.
This house will keep in perfect
health eighty chicks because
the sanitary conditions are
about perfect for chicks, the
hovse being sweetened by air
and sunshine all day long and
having a constant circula-
tion of fresh air at night.
Under the nests is a four
inch air space which is never closed and which allows all
carbonic acid gas to fall to the ground to be blown away
and thus a constant supply of fesh air is furnished the
birds.

Sixty chicks were wintered here last winter and
enough of this year’s hatching will be placed in the
house to bring the number up to eighty or a few more
if they can get in. We have never had a bird show the
least sign of a cold, though some of the male birds’
combs were slightly touched with frost.

The material for this house cost less than thirty dol-
lars. We never saw any house that was erected at so
small a cost that could equal this one in stability, looks,
general handiness and number of chicks housed.

FIG. 3—HOUSE TAKING ITS DAILY SUN BATH.

FIG. 4—REMOVING THE NEST BOXES TO CLEAN THEM.

FRESH AIR HOUSES 73

CALIFORNIA FRESH-AIR HOUSE

A Substantial, Well-Built House That Will
Cost About Fifty Cents per Bird for
the First Occupants

J. W. Whitney

HE modern fowl house should include every recog-
nized aid to perfect health. Whether egg produc-
tion or symmetrical development of its inmates
is desired, the most important requisites are

pure, fresh air, without drafts, an abundance of light and
sunshine, compulsory exercise, absence of dampness, etc.

Imagine yourself sleeping on a ground floor in damp
weather, the whole front of your house open! Does it
appeal to you? But elevate yourself three or four feet
above the ground on a practically air-tight board floor,
with the protection of a cloth frame between yourself
and the outside air, and the situation resolves itself into
one of comfort and healthfulness.

The writer holds to the opinion that a perfectly san-
itary house must be so constructed that every avail-
able ray of sunshine may enter.It is not sufficient that
the floor alone receives this highly disinfecting
“ agent, but it should reach the side walls, yes, even the
under side of the roof. As nearly as possible, this sun-
light not only solves the moisture question, but the
mite or house louse question also, for no
mite or louse will breed in sunlight or extremely light
surroundings. A fresh air poultry house that does
not provide a means of shade, protection from wind
and rain, and also compulsory exercise for its occu-
pants, as required, is not down-tn-date, as all of the
above are essential to perfect health and extremely
fertile and strongly hatchable eggs.

The, Whitney Fresh-Air House
In “Whitney’s improved fresh air poultry house” all
these points are looked after, while at the same time
careful consideration is given to expense in construe-

ing rains and for shade, nor would we use them in a
climate, the temperature of which did not fall below
zero at any time, except when we found it absolutely
necessary to preserve our fowls’ combs, or for their
comfort, or as an aid to prolific laying. With a breed
like the Leghorn or Minorca, experience has taught us
that an excessively low temperature at night, sudden
changes from high to low temperature, etc., must be met
with intelligent protection by the attendant.

How Space is Economized

The second or roosting room floor is of 6-inch No. 2
pine flooring, laid the narrow way of the building, and
is practically air tight. If tongue or groove be freshly
painted with white lead before laying it will pay for the
time and expense. ‘This floor is four feet above the ce-
ment floor. In other words, the seratching shed is four
feet high in the clear. Just above this flocr, on the
front, come the trap doors for cleaning the roosting
floor from the outside of the building. The roosting
room floor is level for 214 feet from front to permit of

tion. As we build it, first-class, seasoned lumber is used,
6-inch pine or red-wood ceiling for side walls, and 1x12
inch pine boards, surfaced one side, for roof boards,
over which is laid 2-ply flint lock or Congo felt roofing.
The ground floor is made of concrete (gravel and
crude oil or asphalt may be used). The sill line at rear
and ends is level, but the main floor has a drop of 214
inches from rear to front, affording good drainage if
water becomes necessary for disinfecting or cleaning. A
1x12-inch board held in place by cleats, removable at
pleasure, rests upon the concrete at front of scratching
shed (see cut), and serves the purpose of confining the
scratching material to its place within the building.
This board may be re-inforeed by an added 6-inch board
on top, if it is found to be necessary to retain the
scratching material. The cloth frames used as shade or
for protection from storms or low temperature, are
made interchangeable, and may be used above at night
and on the scratching shed by day, fully closed or par-
tially open, as required, or a frame may be placed on
each opening at small expense. These frames, as we
use them, are held in place by hooks, similar to those
used on swinging screen windows—(any hardware mer-
chant can supply them). This permits their quick re-
moval, We never use them except in heavy winds, driv-

THE WHITNEY FRESH-AIR POULTRY HOUSE

an alley way from the roosting apartment to the inside
partition. There is an outside door to the upper or
roosting floor at the right hand end of the building near
the front. This door corresponds with the level floor
and another door occupying the same position from
front to rear is at the opposite end of the building.

The remaining portion of the floor under the roosts
is built on an incline, the rear end resting four inches
under rear plate of building and it drops to meet the
level floor at front. This serves as a dropping board,
making cleaning very easy from the outside of the build-
ing, also giving six feet of head room at rear of scratch-
ing shed. The runway for the fowls to enter the roost-
ing quarters starts from the rear of the scratching shed
and meets the upper floor at the point where the rear of
the level floor leaves off, giving the fowls plenty of head
room in going to and from the roost. This runway is
placed against the middle partition of building and
takes up little space in the scratching shed. The nest
boxes may be made portable or built on to the building,
as desired. All the suggestion we have to offer is that

74

the bottom be of galvanized screen cloth and a little
heavier wire be used than common window screen.

The elevation of this building is 64% by 9 feet; it is
8 by 16 feet on the ground. It will be noted that there
is two times as much floor space as in a commonly con-
structed poultry house, under one-half the amount of
roof which is evidence of a saving of one-half in one of
the most expensive items of fowl house construction.

Cost of Building

This poultry house built as we describe it costs
$45.00 here in California, just as you see it in the illus-
tration, and it will accommodate 100 fowls nicely. One
hundred and twenty-five head of Leghorns will do better
in this house than with one-third more floor space in a
closed house. I have carried fifty-seven White Leghorns
for six months at a time in a space 6 by 6 in one of these
houses with fine results. I refer to upper and lower
floors 6 by 6.

To any who may try this plan we wish to say, “Use
good judgment in the use of the cloth curtains and we
will guarantee entire satisfaction with this plan at any
point in the United States, Canada or England.” We
court the fullest criticism from those who think they
see weak points in it. It is the result of twenty-five
years’ practical experience with fowl culture, in several
different locations. lt is not claimed that it is perfect,
but it is believed to be a little in advance of anything
offered to date, for actual practical business and beauty
combined with limited cost.

The appearance’ of the building may seem to indi-
eate a too expensive proposition for the every-day, prac-
tical poultryman. Actual figures do not reveal this.
Fifty cents per bird for a house of unlimited usefulness,
built to last a life time, is not prohibitive to any poul-
tryman who appreciates comfort, convenience and prac-
tical qualities in the fowl house. The increased profit
from prolific egg production and the low per cent of
disease and mortality will soon cancel the difference in
cost between such a building as this and the apologies
for houses in evidence on many so-called poultrymen’s
places.

was us

Varieties in Cold Latitudes
Tolman’s Fresh-Air House plan. Mr. Tolman’s

H. Heidenhain
AST fall when the task put before
reasons for the of this style of houses
seemed to be so sound and the results obtained by him

A MODIFIED FRESH-AIR HOUSE
Designed, Used and Recommended for Tall-Combed
to provide laying houses for about 400 hens, we
decided to build first two houses according to Mr.
construction

were so excellent that we thought little risk was involved
in following his advice to use the same style of house for

Leghorns, although his experience was then limited to
Brahmas.

The two houses were finished in September and were
at once filled with pullets and cockerels of different va-

rieties, among which the Leghorns took a prominent
part. The inhabitants of these two houses were healthy
and happy and seemed, at first, to stand the great

changes of temperature between day and night which is

POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

characteristic of our climate, pretty well. The pullets:
began to lay in November and the egg yield was steadily
increasing. We got in the former part of December in
one of these houses 40 pullets, not all of which had
reached maturity, on the average of 12 eggs per day.
(The other house contained later hatched chickens)~
Our hopes were swelled that we had hit the right plan
and that our egg yield from this flock soon would be-
come still greater.

eS]

Zl

sl ipa to ea

1Z& 810

~------------=-,0
Wate trough Window

HEIDENHAIN’'S FRESH-AIR POULTRY HOUSE

A-—Sectional view showing location of roosts, droppings board and nests.

B—Plan, giving general dimensions and location of interior fixtures.

3ut here we were disappointed. As soon as the
weather became more severe the egg yield did not even
keep its own but diminished in an alarming manner-
From an average of 12 eggs during the first third of De-
cember we rapidly went down, making the average fo2
the second third but eight eggs per day.

The middle of the month had brought us snow and
cold nights and we noticed that the combs of the Leg-
horn pullets got white tips and those of the Leghorn
cockerels turned bluish.

It was not necessary to carry the experiment any
further at least as far as Leghorns were concerned. As

FRESH AIR HOUSES 75

we were short of quarters for our birds, we had to leave
them in these houses, but provided for the fronts muslin
doors which could be opened the full width of the front,
when closed, which hereafter was done every night. A
3-inch wide strip over the top of these doors was left
open to admit fresh air. After these changes were made
no more combs got frozen, in fact the color of the combs
of the cockerels soon became bright red again and our
egg yield increased in spite of the weather becoming
still worse. The average yield of the last. third of De-
cember was 15 eggs per day.

How the Plan for our Fresh-Air Houses was Developed.

During the course of this experiment the question
as to the style of laying houses best adapted to our cli-
matie conditions was daily discussed and finally a plan
was elaborated which seemed to satisfactorily fulfill all
requirements.

It was out of the question to follow in future the
‘Tolman plan, even in the modified form i.e., with muslin
frames in front, as, for our purpose at least, the in-
terior arrangement was not practical. In the first place
we found the floor space much too small for that num-
ber of chickens, which Mr. Tolman recommends to keep
in such a house. The area is but 96 square feet, which
gives each fowl only 2%, square feet. Not from a
theoretical point of view, but from practical observation
we had come to the conclusion that not less than 4
square feet should be allowed to each chicken.

There are days on which chickens are better off in-
doors than outdoors, no matter how necessary fresh air
is for their well being. The house, therefore, must have
room enough for the chickens to move about and to
seratch for their food. In a house which is overfilled,
the chickens stand idle. For the phlegmatic Brahmas
this may be no hardship; they also keep warm by the
mere size of their bodies, but the little Leghorns soon
feel chilly if compelled to idleness on a stormy day.

Another feature in Mr. Tolman’s plan which did not
find our approval is the depth of the droppings boards,
caused by the use of the three fold roost. Occasions fre-
quently happen, especially in the fall when the weather
turns severe, on which the chickens must be treated in-
dividually. The attendant must be enabled by the ar-
rangement of the roosts, to reach any single bird with-
out disturbing the rest of the flock. This cannot be
done with three roosts, as the third one is too far away
from the front of the droppings boards. To bring the
roosts closer together would not do, in fact in Mr. Tol-
man’s plan the roosts are as close together as admis-
sible, perhaps a little too close. Two roosts are all that
should be used.

The wire front in Mr. Tolman’s plan has proved dis-
astrous to the large combs of Leghorns. The house being
of small size the excitable Leghorns fly right towards
the front whenever a person enters the house, thereby
lacerating their combs. Here again it shows that cireum-
stances change conditions. What is right for the easy
going Brahmas will not necessarily suit the nervous
Leghorns. ;

Placing the nests under the droppings boards as is
often done, also in Mr. Tolman’s plan, we do not find
practical. Not alone that it reduces the available floor
area, but it also gives dark corners in which the hens
are induced to lay, and one has to stoop down and crawl
under the droppings boards in search for eggs.

Having observed such defects in the Tolman house

we had to avoid them in our future plan without sac-
rificing the fresh air feature.

In the first place we had to decide the number of
chickens to be housed in one house. All experience
seems to point to a limitation of the flock to 50-head.
Taking this as a maximum for small breeds, it means
about 40 for the largest and 45 for the medium sized
breeds. If we figure tor the medium sized fowls about
64%, inch and for the largest small breeds like Leghorns
about 5% inch roosting space, for breeds about 7 inch,
we arrive in every instance pretty close to the same re-
sult, i.e., 28 running feet of roosting space. Using two
roosts, the length of each one would then be 14 feet.
Therefore. the house must measure in one direction at
least 14 feet, if the allowable greatest number of chick-
ens are to be put in a single house, which, of course, is
desirable from an economical point of view.

As said before, each chicken should have at least 4
square feet floor space. That makes for 50 head, 200
square feet. If 14 feet is the length of one side of the
house, the other side is figured to be a little over 14
feet. There would be no harm in making the house
larger either way or both ways, but on a commercial
plant like ours, no money can be thrown away for dis-
pensable things.

After discussing and planning the interior for other
dimensions, which would give nearly 200 square feet floor
area, we finally decided on a 14 by 14 foot house, which
allowed the arrangement of all fixtures in an easy and
commodious manner and at the same time was the ~
cheapest to build on account of its square shape.

The question of whether single houses’ or
houses with scratching sheds attached should be
chosen, was also thoroughly discussed. While the
latter are very nice in many ways (we _ had

five of such houses in use) they are not’ cheap,
considering the number of chickens which can be housed
therein. The chickens stay either in one or the other
compartment. On cold nights and on some cold days
the doors must be kept closed. Suppose the shed is in
floor space just as large as the house proper, then the
chickens have only the benefit of half the building. It
costs about as much to build the partition between the
house and the shed as to close the front of the shed.
Doing this we get a house double the area and double
the volume of air, which is a decided advantage on oc-
casion as before mentioned.

Simple and Effective Plan of Ventilation

Now then we had to provide for an abundance of
light and fresh air. The solution of this problem seems
to us is given in the use of large doors in front of the
building, as shown in our plan.

The ventilating device which I adopted consists of a
pair of plain sliding curtains similar to those which our
good wives use on the lower sashes of windows or on
the big glass of the house door. The curtains are made
of a rather open, unbleached muslin and have hollow
seams on top and bottom. These seams are sliding
over rods of galvanized iron, a little thicker than tele-
graph wire, which are held in place by screw-eyes. Wires
and serew-eyes are assembled in the manner shown in
the sketch and the curtains are easily put on in the fol-
lowing manner: First, stick the long end of the wire
through serew-eye B, then slide the seam over the wire
Put wire through A and finally snap the short end be-
hind C (not through the loop of C).

Such sliding curtains may be put in any position

76 POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

and will stay where put. They can be pushed entirely
aside or drawn together on either the upper or the
lower side and so on, thus allowing circulation of air
in a great variety of ways. Two of such positions are
shown in the photograph.

The curtains are preferably put on the outside of
the doors, so as to permit moving them without enter-
ing the house. On the inside the openings of the doors
are covered with wire netting.

These doors with their sliding curtains we regard
as one of the best things we have on our place. With
them we are prepared for any kind of weather, hot or

VENTILATING CURTAIN IN POSITION

cold, sunshine, rain or snow. While both doors remain
wide open day and night during the mild season we
make it a practice to keep them closed over night, dur-
ing freezing weather and regulate the opening accord-
ing to the severity of the weather. As the curtains
lay only loosely against the door frames and the fabric
of the muslin is rather open, there is some exchange of
air going on even then, when they are drawn out over
the entire width of the openings.

In snowy weather we find it best to keep the chick-
ens indoors with curtains pushed aside. Thus they have
dry ground under their feet and all the fresh air and
light they need.

The question whether shed roof or hip roof was to
be used was decided in favor of the latter, on account of
the size of the house and saving of material. By putting
the gable side to the south we managed to provide for
the large doors in front, which admit all light and air
required. Too much light must be avoided in a climate
like ours, with almost uninterrupted sunshine for 9
months of the year. In our old scratching sheds, the
chickens do not know where to hide from the rays of
the sun.

Undoubtedly the chickens like the open sheds and
reluctantly they retire to the roosting rooms when the
sun gets too strong. Having observed this we took care
to provide for shade as well as light in our new plan and
made the doors of such size, that at any position of the

sun, the house gives shady corners as well as sunny
places. The height of the doors is such that the sun
sweeps in the course of the day over the whole floor
except in summer when it is not necessary.

The roosts we laid against the north wall being the
one most remote from the front and therefore giving
the birds best shelter against draft when the doors are
left open over night.

We placed the window on the east side rather than
the west side as all living beings enjoy the first warming
rays of the rising sun.

The space under the droppings boards we left free
and placed the nests on shelves in two stories on the
west wall. Likewise watering trough and grit box are
placed over a shelf, thus leaving the entire floor space
available for the chickens’ exercise.

It is of little importance of what material the houses
are built. Local conditions are deciding in the selection
of the proper lumber for walls and the material for the
roof. Like Mr. Tolman we made it a point to have our
houses tight against any draft. We lined the walls with
heavy water-proof building paper on the inside, using
shiplap outside, and covered the house with good roofing
felt. All faney or decorative work such as corner strips,
molding, etc., have been omitted, our only object being
the comfort of the inhabitants.

These houses have been in use since December .and
have proved equally serviceable with Plymouth Rocks
as with Leghorns. We have had no frozen combs, al-
though our nights in January were pretty cold and the
air was damp and chilly from the time the chickens
were put in until the end of February, only a few single
days of sunshine interrupting the monotony of cloudy
skies.

Method Stands Severe Test

Last winter was one of the most severe ones ever
experienced here in Washington. Snow lay from two toa
three feet deep on the ground for about three months
and it was freezing hard for several weeks without a let-
up. Thus our houses and method of ventilation were
put to a severe test and we can say that both have
proved entirely satisfactory. There was no sickness in
these houses or frozen combs with our Leghorns. The
egg yield was good all winter from both pullets and

hens. The fertility of the eggs was splendid as early as

Illustration showing one of the wires which
support the sliding curtain invented by
M. Heidenhain

the end of February when we began selling and using
eggs for hatching, and the eggs hatched well.

We are satisfied that our poultry houses fulfill the
requirements of our climatic conditions, but we hardly
think that one plan will answer under all conditions.
All we can say is: Study your climate and your breed
and then build to suit.

Dortable Doultry Houses

A SATISFACTORY MOVABLE COLONY HOUSE

Two views of a movable colony house. At the left the house is seen as it appears in winter with the front closed; the view at
right shows the house with front completely open,

The Movable Houses Gsed in England

The Details of Construction of the Farmers’ Fanciers’ and Suburban Poultry Keepers’ Houses—Methods
of Housing Poultry in Small Flocks about the Farm and "Running"
them wtth Cattle and Sheep

Chas. D. Leslie

UCH of the progress of late years which. has
marked the poultry industry in this country is
due to a better understanding of how to house
poultry. It is strange, but true, that poultry

keepers generally are just beginning to recognize the two
eardinal facts of the housing problem: that poultry may
be raised at a profit only where kept in lots not exceed-
ing fifty, and that the fowls need more ventilation in
summer than in winter. It is not very long ago that an
enterprising “poultry farmer” ran his fowls in lots of
three hundred, providing one house for that number,
arguing very plausibly that there was a saving of ex-
pense in building one large house instead of many

smaller ones, and but for the fact that his fowls laid-

very poorly and a mysterious disease killed them off
within a twelvemonth, he might have proved his point.
Poultry houses used always to be built with four
wooden sides, some not even having a window, and no
ventilation beyond a few holes up at the eaves. Even
though built to accommodate fifty fowls, the windows in
the houses were only a foot square, and fixed. Writers on
poultry topics, when discussing poultry houses, suggested
_ a window as a sort of an extra. It was hardly an extrava-
gance, they pleaded, though they did not venture to call
it a necessity. Happily, more enlightened methods pre-

vail today.

"Most Profitable Way of Keeping Poultry Is to Run Them
on Grass Land with Cattle or Sheep"

Farmers who are now taking up the breeding of poul-
try as a minor branch of live stock from which they can
make fifty to a hundred pounds ($250 to $500) a year, for
the most part rely upon movable houses, that is, houses
set on wheels and accommodating twenty to fifty fowls.
They find that the most profitable way of keeping poul-
try is to run them on grass land along with cattle or
sheep, in numbers of ten or twelve to the acre, instead of
allotting a certain portion of the farm entirely to them.
The house is moved daily, or every few days, and if the
poultry are kept in flocks of such small numbers they do
the land no harm, but rather benefit it. By this means
the fowls cost nothing beyond their food, and the initial
cost of the house, the item of rent—the rock on which
the poultry farmer usually comes to grief—being elim-
inated, for the land carries as much live stock as it did
before, plus one, two or three hundred head of fowls.

Differences of Climate
I should like to call attention to two points of dif-
ference between poultry keeping in this country and in
the United States. We cannot with any degree of safety
keep them so thickly on the ground, and this because of
the second point of difference, that of temperature. The

78 POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

open winter is the rule here, the exceptions, especially
of late years, being very few. Our winters in the north
of England are cold and damp, with frost and snow in-
termittant, and the climate varies seriously, considering
the comparatively small size of our island. The ther-
mometer hovers around freezing point, generally above
it. Such weather is, of course, very bad for fowls, when,
as in the majority of cases, they have no dry shelter,
thaws following frosts so rapidly that the runs cannot

104—AN ENGLISH COLONY HOUSE

The nest boxes and feed troughs being on the outside, the attendant can
gather the eggs and feed the fowls without entering the coop.

dry out. As a rule, the land is heavy clay soil, that
taints far more quickly than a light gravel soil, which
forms only a small proportion of this country, and poul-
try keepers find it inadvisable to run fowls more thickly
than one hundred to the acre.

Twenty-five Fowls in Each Flock are Most Profitable

Supposing grass land is devoted entirely to the poul-
try, experience teaches that the fowls should be kept in
lots not exceeding twenty-five in runs consisting of an
eighth of an acre of land, two runs being allotted to each
flock, the fowls being transferred from one to the other
alternately every six months. One transfer is made
about June, when the hay season is on. The grass is cut
in an empty run and when the ground is cleared the
fowls are put into it. The grass in the run they have
quitted is also cut, although it is of no use except for lit-
ter. An attempt to make the land carry more fowls has
proven disastrous.

The fowls are not indulged with big dry shelters as
in the United States. Some have wooden boxes just big
enough for them, say a house 5 by 5 feet high, containing
125 cubie feet of space for fifteen to twenty fowls,
though the more up-to-date poultry keeper uses the open
front pattern, which is a combination of house and dry
shelter.

Farmers’ Poultry Houses

We have three common patterns of houses; first, that
on wheels, like the one in accompanying illustration (104).
These are called ‘farmers’ houses,” and have a large sale
among farmers who run their flocks at liberty.
far from perfect.

They are
The outside nest boxes are strongly

condemned by all good judges. While they save opening
the door of the house, which may be kept locked, they
are harbors for lice, as they are not easy to clean, in
fact, fixed nest boxes are a mistake, and a poultry house
door should be opened each day in order to make sure
that all is right inside the house. Such a house does not
afford enough ventilation as there is but one small win-
dow on one side (not shown in the photograph), with
ventilation holes up in the eaves. On a hot summer night
the fowls do not get sufficient air.

The newer types of this pattern have a big, movable
shutter in place of a window, made either of part glass
and part wire, or all of wire. In warm weather the shut-
ter is pulled back and a full current of air admitted.
Having the house on wheels is useful as by means of a
horse and traces attached to the rings in front, it may be
easily transferred from one field to another. The most
sheltered position will be chosen for the house in winter
and throughout the spring and summer it will occupy
grass land devoted to sheep or cattle, then in autumn,
when the harvest is over, if the farmer grows corn,
wheat, barley or oats, the house is moved to the stubble
and the fowls glean the land. Many farms, however, are
all grass, as we are growing less and less grain, and in
this case they are transferred in such a manner that the
farmer can obtain as large a cut of hay in June or July
as possible.

The open front, or semi-open front, pattern poultry
house is now coming into general use, indeed, I venture
to prophesy that it will in the future be more popular
than any other. All the up-to-date poultry keepers are
using it for their breeding pens. One type is illustrated
in the photograph in the foreground of which are White
Wyandottes.

The picture derives its chief interest from the fact
that the birds are Miss Tammadge’s, the celebrated
strain which won first prizes two years in succession in
the Utility Poultry Club’s laying competitions, so that
they may be regarded as the premier British laying
strain.

The photograph shows the house so well that no fur-
ther. description is
needed, bue a some-
whatsimpler pattern
is more popular, be-
ing cheaper to make
(105). This is a com-
bined house and day
shelter or scratch-
ing shed. The house
and run is partially
divided by the
line E F, which
extends about two-thirds the way from front to rear.

105—PLAN OF OPEN-FRONT POULTRY
HOUSE IN USE IN GREAT BRITAIN

-Half the front E D is boarded; the other half, B E is

wired, and may or may not have a shutter. The roosts
are shown. These houses have sloping roofs and are
built lightly, but fairly substantial. The fowls escape
direct draughts in all weather, while they get plenty of
air. Some breeders dispense with the partition E F, but
unless in a very sheltered position, this would be too airy
in winter. There are old-fashioned poultry keepers who
look askance at these open front houses, but it is hardly
necessary to say that chicks as well as adult fowls should
be reared in open-front, or very well ventilated houses.

COLONY HOUSE ON RUNNERS

At the left is shown the Sled-Runner Colony House built and used by J. W. Parks.

In the right view, through the open door,

the roosts are seen in place for surplus cockerels.

Sled-Runner Colony House

A Convenient Design that can be Changed from a Summer to a Winter House at a Small
Expenditure of Time and Labor
J. W. Parks

E PRESENT herewith a photograph of one of
our latest style colony houses, which for all
’round, every day purposes, is the best we
have seen or used so far. In fact, it is a
house that has filled a long felt want. We have been for
a number of years, working on a colony house that would
not only answer the purpose of raising
the chicks, but one that we could fix up
at a very small cost for winter use. You
have all heard that “idleness is the
mother of mischief,” and it is certainly
true that a poultry house fares better
if it is in use every day. Furthermore.
we wanted a house that we could change
from a summer to a winter house with
a very small expenditure of time, be-
cause when one has a great many houses
to eare for, things must be pretty con-
venient, as time is one of the most im-
portant considerations. These features
our colony houses have.

We have been making our houses 5
feet wide and 7 feet deep, but of course
they can be made almost any size to
suit your requirements. The shape of
the house will depend principally upon
the style of brooder you use. Hereafter
we expect to make our houses 7 feet
wide and only 6 feet deep as that size
will be more convenient for caring for
the brooders we are now using. Our
houses are 4 feet 6 inches high in the
back and 6 feet high in front, which
may be a little low for some people, but
it is well to remember that in cold
weather the chickens have to heat the
house, hence the importance of making them as small
as practical.

When constructing a house, the three sled runners

aR ESA AA AE LO TC TEED SOTO LTE ESR SLIT ELLE SDE GIES AI SIA

are cut first, using for them 2 by 6 oak plank. One run-
ner is placed at the back, one at the front and one in
the middle. Next we cut 2 by 4s as long as we intend
the house to be deep, the runners always being as long as
the house is wide. We use a 2 by 4 at each side and one

in the middle, notching the runners so that the. 2 by 4s

&

LOW COST PORTABLE COLONY HOUSE

Three of a group of twenty portable colony houses constructed bya farmer at a cost of $5.00 each.
An inexpensive brooder was placed in each house and the chicks were happy and
healthy in all weather. Hach house is a shelter for 50 to 75 chicks until

they are marketed or placed in winter quarters.

can set down level with the top of the runners. In this
way we get a level surface on which to lay the first floor,
which must be of tight lumber. Over it lay some old pa-

80

pers and then a second floor, which need not be so tight
as the first because the cracks are sure to be filled. We
lay these double floors because we use these houses as
early as January for little chicks, so it is very important
to have the floors as warm as possible.

Next, the top frame is made and the corner boards
nailed on and then we finish boarding up, using matched
lumber so as to have tight joints. There must be no
draughts in those coops.

Such a house can be built with less than 400 feet of
matched lumber. We use tar paper for the roofs. By
tarring it as soon as Jaid and once a year afterward, it
will last from ten to fifteen years as it gets heavier each
year. If first-class material is used one of these houses
will cost from $10 to $12, but you can use indoor brooders
in them instead of buying outdoor brooders and the dif-
ference in their cost will cut down the cost of the house,
not to mention the avoidance of wet knees from kneeling
to attend to the lamp and the annoyance of having a
stiff breeze blow out the flame. It is more pleasant to
attend to an indoor brooder set in one of these colony
houses.

The Illustrations

Letter A shows the projection of the roof. We have
it project 18 inches in front and 12 inches in the rear.
This not only protects the building and prevents the
snow from blowing directly in, but it also makes a place
for the chicks as well as the attendant to stand during
rough weather.

You will notice that the door is really three doors in
one. Letter B shows the top door, which has a muslin
curtain that we let down over the wire in the winter time
vhen the weather is rough, or on cold nights. We can
open this door independently of the others and it serves
nicely for feeding and watering without entering coop.

Letter C shows the middle door made out of a win-

POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

dow sash. This is used to let light in and to keep cold
out in the winter. ln summer we take out the sash and
substitute a frame covered with wire.

Letter D shows the bottom door which we consider
is one of the best things about the house. During the
winter this door keeps the litter confined to the house
so the chickens can scratch as much as they like. In the
illustration this door may be seen let down to form a
platform for the chicks to run up and down.

Letter I) shows a sliding door that we seldom use ex-
cept when we have a few chicks that we wish to fence
in. ‘Then we have the wire fence come between the door
D and the opening. In this way we have access to the
main coop without bothering the yard and we can reach
in and shut the door without entering the yard.

Letter F shows one of the sled runners. Being made
of 2 by 6s they throw the house up high enough so that
the chicks can run under it out of the hot sun or away
from hawks which are quite numerous in our country.
This open space under the house will have to be closed up
for a time until the chicks learn the way into the house.

We have a sort of baled hay hook that we hook under
the house back of the 2 by 4 on the side and then hook
the other end to the harness and the horse is ready to
move the house to any desired location. We
move these houses not less than twice a month even if
it is only their own length, as that gives the chicks a
new pasture and avoids the danger of killing the grass
where the house stood.

Let me again caution any who may build colony
houses that the two sides and the back must be tight as
your year’s work can be spoiled by drafts.

_ The Occupants
We first place about 50 chicks in an indoor brooder in
one of these houses and as soon as they learn to go in

and out of the brooder, we cover the colony house floor
with -chaff and let the

PORTABLE HOUSE ON THE MOVE

An English portable house on wheels that can be hauled to any part of the form.

chicks have the whole place.
Be careful not to leave any
little nails lying around. I
lost about 40 promising
chicks last February as a
result of their eating some
little lath nails I had left in

the coop.
As soon as they are old
enough and the weather

permits, [remove the brooder
and fix a little place in one
corner for them. When they
are large enough to squat
on the roost I place two
roosts—4 inch boards—
about 6 inehes from the
floor across the rear end of
the house. These roosts
will hold about 35 _ half-
grown chicks, and that is
about as inany as the most
of us raise on an average,
from 50 chicks.

We keep them this way
until the cockerels get to
bothering the pullets and
then we take the pullets to
winter pens or move them to
some other part of the farm.

4

Exterior SFixtures

The Construction of the Most Successful Portable and Stationary Colony Houses, Weaning, Brood and
Shipping Coops and Crates for Fattening Chickens

THE ADVANTAGES OF PORTABLE
COLONY HOUSES

Where great numbers of chickens are reared it is advis-
able to place the larger chickens in portable colony houses as
soon as they do not require natural or artificial heat. These
portable colony houses are located about the farm and as
they can be moved readily by a horse the chicks can always
have fresh ground over which to roam. It is preferable to
confine the fifty or more chicks of each colony house on a
grass plot of not less than 1,000 square feet. The fencing
around this plot should be of 12 foot portable sections that
can be readily moved, or it can be machine made, picket
fencing with the pickets not over 1% inches apart. The
advantage of confining the chicks is that it prevents their
roaming over and soiling too large a range; by this method

“as soon as the first plot is soiled, the house and yard can be
moved to a new location.

Portable houses can not only be used for housing the
larger chickens, but they make admirable shelters for indoor
brooders and newly hatched chicks. One brooder is placed in
a house 6 by 6 feet and the fifty chicks always have a bright
cheerful house. The chicks require little attention in incle-
ment weather when they cannot be allowed outside; clover
chaff to the depth of 2 or 3 inches is scattered over the floor
and by throwing in a few handfuls of dry chick feed or
small grain, the chicks will scratch for hours.

The “A” Type of Portable Colony House

A practical and inexpensive type of portable colony
house is the A house. It is 6 feet square on the floor and
about 7 feet high to the peak of the roof. These dimensions
allow the poultryman to feed and attend the chickens, care
for the brooder, etc., inside the house—a feature, the impor-
ance of which will be recognized by all poultrymen who have

attended young chicks in brood coops or outdoor brooders
during heavy rain storms.

The average cost of the materials and paint for the house
is $7.00. The house will last for years and will be a profit-
able investment.

106—"A" TYPE OF PORTABLE COLONY HOUSE

Elevation The sills or runners,
floor and frame for sides
Rear Front

82 POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

The Construction of the “A” Type Portable Colony House

Two pieces of 4 by 4 inch cedar should be cut 6 feet 10
inches long for the sills or runners; one end of the pieces
should be bevelled and ironed, and either rings placed at the
ends or one inch holes bored through thesills and achain and
clevis used for hauling. These
sills are placed 4 feet apart
and on them a 6 by 5 feet 10
inch floor is nailed. The bey-
elled ends of the sills should
project 10 inches beyond the
floor. The floor boards should
be cut 6 feet long of % inch
matched lumber planed on one
side. At each of the two sides
of the floor a 2 by 4 inch scant-
ling should be nailed. These
two seantlings require to have
their outer edges beveled; they
must be well secured to the
floor.

The slanting sides should be covered with (1) dressed %
inch lumber with % by 2 inch battens over the joints; or (2)
matched siding; or (3) half-cut siding or weather boarding.
We prefer the third covering on account of its lightness, dur-
ability and low cost. The dressed and the matched siding
should be laid vertically; the half-cut siding and weather
boarding horizontally.

As the length (height) of the slanting sidesis 8 feet,
when the dressed or matched siding is used the boards
should be 8 feet long. The
half-cut siding and weather
boarding is 6 feet long. Two
boards are fastened in position
at each end of the house, and
the triangular piece at the peak
set in. The sides can then be
boarded. The upper ends of
the boards (or edge of board
when the weather boarding is
used) on one side of the house
are bevelled: the ends of the
boards on the other side are
nailed to the face of the bevel-
led ends.

One inch inside each end
of the house, four pieces we
inch thick and 3 inches wide
are nailed the full length of the
slanting sides. Theend boards
of the house are nailed up and
down to these pieces.

There is a hinged window, 2 feet 6 inches long and 2
feet wide, opening outwards, in the front end of the house;
the bottom of the window is 10 inches from the floor. In
the rear or north end of the house there is a door 2 feet wide
and 4 feet 6 inches high. Above and below the window and
on a level with the top of door are 144 by 3 inch cross pieces.
Two 6 inch holes should be sawed in the front and rear ends
of the house near the peak for ventilation. In the front of
the house there should also be a small chick door.

107—THE CONSTRUCTION OF
THE FLOOR

108—-THE DETAIL OF ONE
LOWER CORNER

STATIONARY COLONY HOUSES

While portable colony houses are preferable to stationary
houses because they can be hauled to favorable positions
throughout the different seasons, the latter houses placed in
good locations are satisfactory for rearing in each house one

brood of 50 to 75 chickens to the market age. If the sta-
tionary house is in a moderate size plot (1000 square feet) it
is not possible to rear on that plot two or more broods of 50
to 75 chicks during the year—the chicks of the younger
broods will be affected by the tainted ground and they will
be stunted in growth.

One Type of Colony House

Ill. 109 shows an excellent colony house that can be built
of any suitable dimensions. A large size dry goods box
covered with roofing paper and with a window and door in
the front similarly arranged makes an ideal shelter for a
small flock of chicks.

The floor of the house is 12 inches from the ground. In
exposed locations it is advisable to board up the back and

We ity
\ " HW ne Mh Kil,
dl AY | Nah,

pik TON) \\ vain

a aa
Re Ht iy iawn i cm i ee
109—AN EXCELLENT COLONY HOUSE

two ends of the space below the house in order to provide a
warm day shelter.

The front window should be hinged outside at the top
and there should be a 4% inch mesh wire netting frame in-
side. The frame should be removable. Chickens should be
raised in a house or coop that is well ventilated and as cool
as possible at night. To secure these conditions the window
and door should be open on the warmer summer nights—
the window almost constantly throughout the summer.

An Eastern Colony House

The colony houses in use at Fishers Island Farm are 5
by 7 feet, floor measurment, 5 feet high in front and 3 feet
high in the rear. There isan ordinary door in frontand a
window with a double glass sash, one sliding each way, also

110—AN EASTERN COLONY HOUSE

a stout wire screen back of this for summer. use. The exit
is in front, as shown in the III. 110, and is closed securely a

EXTERIOR FIXTURES 83

night by use of a sliding door. Fifty chicks are placed in
each house and given from a quarter to half an acre of
range. Each house is enclosed by a 6-foot wire fence. This
fence is built of ordinary 2-inch mesh wire netting simply
strung between posts. There are no foot boards nor are
any top stringers required.

Southern Colony Houses

Colony houses for the south do not require to be as
tightly built as those previously described. Most Southern
fanciers prefer a house
without a wooden
floor, simply a wood-
en ‘‘shell’’ a foot or
more trom the
ground.

Mr. Morris states
that the most approv-
ed plan for asouthern
colony—and also a
regular poultry house
is what is called in
California a ‘‘mush-
room house”’ This
house is usually built
of redwood stakes, or

ae, hi
LI-INTERIOR OF “MUSHROOM" House 8h, round, thin
SHOWING ROOSTS AND pieces of lumber, and

OPEN SPACE NEAR THE GROUND is raised 10 to 12

inches above ground
by blocking up the four corners. The size varies according to
the flock, but small houses are preferred and the usual di-
mensions are 4 by 5 feet, up to 6 by 10 feet. The roof is cov-
ered with Ruberoid ar paper, or similar material, and the

112—A POPULAR STYLE OF SOUTHERN COLONY HOUSE

house is made air tight from 1 foot above the ground. This
1 foot of open space around the bottom carries off the ob-
noxious odors, while the tight roof conserves the heat gener-
ated by the fowls’ bodies and keeps them warm through the
cold nights. The radiation of heat is so great in this clear
atmosphere in the fall or winter months, that while it may be
quite warm, or even bot at noon, thin particles of ice may
form on shallow water at night. During the day the door
and windows are both opened and the shell is ‘‘aired’’. The
cleaning away of the droppings is so convenient that they

113—ROW OF “MUSHROOM” HOUSES
COVERED WITH ROOFING PAPER

are removed frequently and never allowed}to accumulate.
The nest boxes are all outside. (Ills. 111-118.)—F. C. Hare.

A PRACTICAL COOP AT LOW COST

J. D. Stevens

The maxim, ‘‘a penny saved is twopence earned’’ is
nowhere more applicable than on a poultry plant. There is
no business that we know of that requires more room, more
facilities or more expedients than to properly care for a
large number of fowls. Unless one has money to throw to
the birds (his birds), he must make use of all the labor,
time and money-saving appliances at his command.

Anticipating, this spring, the need ofseveral brood coops
for our turkeys, we figured first on the cost of the lumber
necessary to build them. A moment’s computation showed
that it would cost $2.60 for sufficient lumber to build a coop.
We then interviewed an enterprising young fellow in the city
who bought and sold all kinds of boxes, and secured from
him four large dry-goods boxes of 34 inch matched boards,
at a cost of 60 cents each. These boxes are 4 feet long, 3
feet 6 inches deep and .2 feet 6 inches wide. By turning
them on the side, taking one of the cover boards and rip-
ping it diagonally from corner to corner and nailing one of
the pieces across each end we made a shed roof, which we
covered with tarred felt. The balance of the cover boards
were utilized in making the door and wire frame. The
frame swings on hinges and is covered with l-inch mesh
wire. There is also a ventilating door above, which can be
opened or closed as desired. Outside the mesh door and
hinged to the top, we made a solid door to let down and be
fastened by a button at night to keep out rain or night
prowlers. This outer door can be raised or lowered to any
desired height in the day time and utilized either as a sun
shade or awning or to prevent a sudden shower driving into
the coop.

“A Saving of Over $8 In Cash”

Ill. 114 shows how this coop can be adjusted to satisfy
different weather conditions and how inexpensive it is. The
only expense was the cost of the box and about two square
yards of tarred felt. You will note that even the hinges are
home-made, being evolved from two pieces of zinc, the bolt
of the hinges being a short piece of smooth fence wire.

It took considerably less than two days to build these
four coops, which was much less time than would have been
consumed had we purchased the lumber; we therefore saved
in time, and over $8 in cash. The turkeys outgrew them in
a few weeks, after which they were used and are still in use
as colony houses for the growing pullets, temporary perches
being placed in them for that purpose. As they are made of
matched stuff and snug and tight, they would be satisfactory
houses for a few fowls all winter, if desired.

84

A GOOD ROOST COOP

John J. Yelton

I have a method different from the majority of poultry
breeders in the handling of my birds in the fall of the year.

I raise all my young stock in brooders and in small
coops, until they are large enough to put into small colony
coops, about thirty to forty birds ina coop. This coop is
made of linch by 2 inch spruce or hemlock 6 feet 6 inches
long by 3 feet 4 inches wide and 3 feet 4 inches high. It is
made into a regular frame and covered with rubber canvas
cloth the same as
carriage makers use

POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

fifteen to twenty-five cents each, according to the disposition
of the merchant who sells them.

Illustration 117 shows one of these coops, and is intend-
ed to show how all the parts are puttogether. It will be
seen that one end of the box which has the cleats on is sawed
off, and the other cleated end is the bottom. I remember
when a boy of making a coop out of a dry goods box, but
left the top square, with the cleats on. Of course when it
rained the top caught water, which ran down into the coop.
The next box I turned it down on its side, making the top
side slanting. This worked some better, but the water still
got inside by the
rain beating against

on the roofs of car-
riages. I find I can
get this cloth cheap,
and a coop of this
size costs me less than
$2 by doing the work
myself. The bottom
of the coop is covered
with wire netting, 1
inch mesh, 18 inches
high, and on the in-
side I have two perch-
es 20 inches from the
ground. This gives
the birds fresh air and
prevents them getting
wet; at the same it
stops all drafts.

I never have a:
ease of roup among
my birds when I use
this style of coop. Ij
have the coops loca-

the end of the coop,
and running behind
the cleats; the bot-
tom came out even
with cleat and caught
the water. I kept
on experimenting
until I feel that I
have a coop as perfect
as can be made for
ordinary use. The
points in this coop
which I wish to call
especial attention to
are—have the boards
forming the floor run
toward the front in-
stead of crosswise,
as it makes it easier
to clean; see that the
floor is well nailed
to cleats, so that the
boards will not warp,

ted in different parts
of my orchard, and in
November I gradually
carry them day by
day nearer the house
where I intend to
winter the cockerels
and pullets. I find
no trouble with the
ehickens when the
coops are moved, as
each flock of chickens
will always go into
their same coop at
night. (Ill. 115.) c

2—Lower doors open.
4—Outer door raised; ventilator open.

THE DRY GOODS BOX COOP

An Inexpensive Practical Coop for Hens and
Chicks Which Can also be used

for a Roosting Coop

Miles Grecian

HE main points to be considered in making a_ brood-
el coop are convenience, simplicity and economy.
When I say economy is one of the points to be con-

sidered I do not mean the cheapest coop that can be

made; my idea of economy is to build substantially. I make
my coops out of heavy dry goods boxes which cost from

114-A PRACTICAL COLONY COOP

1—Outer door raised; ventilator open.

and saw the end of
box off with a slope
of 6 inches to the foot
and cover with shin-~
gles. Boards will
turn water for a
while, but shingles
will last long enough
to pay well for using
them. A coop made
this way is worth
painting and especi-
ally should it be
painted underneath,
as that is the part
which is apt to decay first, being near the ground.

The second illustration shows the front. A frame is
made of 1 inch square strips to fit the front of coop, and cov-
ered with screen cloth except an opening 7 by 11 inches,
which is provided with two slides, one 244 inches wide, and
the other 414 inches wide, leaving room for play. On damp,
chilly days the small side is taken out to allow the chicks to
run out or in, and on fine days both slats are lifted to allow
the hen freedom. These slats are put in place each night,
making a rodent proof coop. The frent is held’ in place by
one screen door hook on each side. Each coop is also pro-
vided with a storm front; made of boards, and targe enough
to lean in front of coop and shield it from driving rains.
The cost of these coops, exclusive of work, is about seventy -
five cents.

3—All doors closed.
5—Lower door closed; ventilator open.

EXTERIOR

PIANO BOX WEANING COOP

It takes men and women of intelligence to produce good
poultry, and these people, after they have had experience
enough to get down to bed-rock, know better than to waste
their money on fancy coops. The fact is, they need all this

money in order to get well started with the right kind of
standard-bred fowls.

Accompanying these remarks is shown
weaning coop used by Mr. Davis.

(Ill. 116) the
He bought, at fifty cents
each, several piano
boxes, knocked off
the tops, as shown
in Ill. 116 tipped
them over on the
long side, fastened
two removable roost
poles in each, and
his coops, with a
capacity of twenty-
five to forty chicks
each, were complete.
Under each corner
of each box he
placed two bricks
to keep them off the ground out of the wet and
allow room enough underneath for his small-sized dog
to take care of rats or any other kind of prowlers
that might seek to prey on his chicks. A door
consisting of a wooden frame covered by poultry
netting (1-inch mesh) fits snugly into the opening of each
piano box and is buttoned securely for night service. Over
the top of the box, to keep out the rain, is tacked red rosin
building paper. ‘‘No, I don’t paint it,’’ said Mr. Davis;
“St will last without painting during one season and is so
cheap that it is not worth while to paint it. Each season I
put on new paper.”’

These piano box coops are scattered over the eighteen-
acre place at a distance of from 200 to 300 feet apart, and
the chicks have free range. On Mr. Davis’ land there is a

115-A CANVAS COVERED ROOST COOP

116—PIANO BOX WEANING COOP AS USED BY WILLIAM B. DAVIS

roomy chaparral of elderberry bushes and shrubbery. By
July 25th, one hundred and fifty or more of his young stock
had graduated from the piano boxes and were roosting at
night in the bushes and shrubs. Said Mr. Davis, ‘‘That
suits me exactly. They will be healthier there and will do
better than in any coop I might be able to build. That is
my opinion, at least, based on experience. I have never
yet caught a chicken with a cold out of that clump of bushes,
and they stay there until November Ist or later. It is when
we poultrymen, in the fall, put our chicks in houses that are
closely built and badly ventilated that they take cold. They
get overheated during the night and then if allowed to run
out at sun-up in the morning while the air is chilly, and per-
haps damp, they take cold in spite of anything we can do,
and a cold that is not attended to may develop into roup.

FIXTURES

If we will use judg-
ment in cooping
our chickens in
the fall, in the
way of preventing
them from over-
crowding, and will
provide plenty of
ventilation without

any drafts, and
will also make a
practice of not

letting them out
on cold mornings
until the sun is
well up and they
have been exercis-
ing in the coop and
have their blood in good circulation, we will have much less
trouble with colds, especially in the fall. I have had practi-
cally none the last two or three years, simply because I have
looked after these matters.”

We have shown several styles of weaning or small colony
coops and wish to impress on the minds of beginners with
poultry the importance of using coops of this kind. Itis a
common practice among the inexperienced to let the chicks
shift for themselves after the hen abandons them, or after
they are really too large to be keptin brooders. When chicks
are fairly well feathered out, say at ten to twelve weeks old,
they should be divided up into lots of twenty-five to forty
and placed in weaning coops.

117—A DRY GOODS BOX COOP

SHELTER FOR WEANED CHICKS

The shelter for weaned chickens, Ill. 118 is 12 feet long, 3
feet 6 inches wide, 2 feet high in front and 12 inches high at

sie

ai)
ft v4

eit

118—SHELTER FOR WEANED CHICKS

the back. There is required for its construction 7 boards 12

al POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

feet long by 1 foot wide; 50 running feet of 2 by 1 inch strips
for cleats and front frames, and about 22 square feet of 1-
inch mesh wire netting to cover frames. Bottom of shelter
should be filled in several inches deep with dry earth, and if
desired a couple of footwide boards can be laid down at
back for a hovering platform. This shelter will afford pro-
tection to 150 to 200 chicks in two flocks. Yards, as indicat-
ed in illustration, can be added where necessary, but chicks
can be easily trained to go to their own side without the yard.

COOP AND RUN FOR HEN WITH CHICKS
Mrs. S, E. Hurlbut

I have seen many sketches of coops, runs, etc., and pre-
sent herewith one that I have used for the past ten years with
good success.
Some of my friends
have adopted this
style of coop, and
one man says of
it, ‘‘It is the only
thing with which
I can have any
success in the vil-
lage, as cats areso
thick that they get
all my chicks if
they are allowed
torun.’’ This coop
is proof against
hawks and crows
as well,or anything
that does not dig.

I like the old-fashioned A coop for several reasons. The
chicks can get down near the bottom of the coop under the
sides, and if the hen scratches they are out of the way.
They are cheap and can be readily moved, are water-proof
and easy to keep from vermin. I cut the sides 30 inches
long, 20 inches wide, using 10-inch wide boards with a bat-
ten of tin or wood overthe middle joint. Take three pieces
of board, 1 by 2 inch, one for the ridge pole, and the other
two for battens near the bottom. Nail these to the sides; as
shown in shaded places in front of coop. Take a piece, 1 by
3 inch, and put across the front 5 inches from the bottom,
as shown in the sketch. Nail a piece 2 feet 6 inches long,
in the middle, leaving a space 9 inches wide at each
side. Then nail the rest: solid. Nail a board of matched
stuff lengthwise on the back, or bevel the edges so the water
will shed properly if not matched. You can leave a small
hole at the top of back for ventilation if necessary. I usual-
ly cover the ridge with a strip of tin to make it water-proof.
When the chicks get large enough to jump up onto the cross-
piece and get out, put a piece of l-inch wire netting across
the upper part of the front.

To make the runs take a 16-foot board 10 inches wide,

119—A SERVICEABLE COOP

120—SAFETY RUNWAY TO BE USED WITH COOP SHOWN IN ILL. 119

cut in two for the sides, 8 feet long. Then take another
board and cut in two pieces 3 feet 10 inches long for the
ends, and two pieces 4 feet 2 inches long for the cover and
top boards. Take four pieces 10 inches long, 2 by 2, for
corner pieces. Nail the 3 feet 10 inch pieces to them, place
them between the sides and nail them securely. Take one
piece of the 4 feet 2 inch, place it on the end of the run, lay
the other piece next to it and nail it securely. Take two
straps or T hinges and hang the first board to the one nailed
and you have the door by which to feed and water. Cover
the balance of the top with l-inch mesh wire netting 4 feet
wide. Saw a hole for the opening in one end 8 inches long
and 5 inches wide from the bottom. Move the coop up to it
so that the opening will correspond with the end of the run.
On cold nights or in rainy weather put a board in front of
the coop on top of the run. This is necessary during rain
storms, as the rain falling on the boards will spatter into the
coop and make it damp unless protected

In hot weather I put the coop and run in the shade, and
move them every few days to fresh ground. These dimens-
ions are not arbitrary, as the runs can be made longer or
shorter, or higher, to suit the fancy of the breeder. The
cover and board adjoining make a good shelter forthe chicks
to feed under when it rains and furnish a shade when the
sun shines. (Ills. 119-120)

COOPING CHICKENS
A. F. Hunter

COOPS for chickens play an important part in chicken
yas raising, and a brief description of them will be in-
structive. The A coops are3 feet 6 inches by 2 feet
3 inches on the ground and 2 feet high at the apex
of the roof. They are built throughout of 4 inch tongued
and grooved pine and well painted. The front is all slats, as
shown in Ill. 121, with a slatted gate sliding in grooves to
close the front. We
originally built these
A coops to slope
down to the ground,
but found it an im-
provement to have a
square base, 4 inches
high, with the cor-
ners turned at an
angle, to prevent the chicks from crowding back under the
eaves and smothering one ortwo at atime. We find ita
most decided advantage to have these well built coops
always at hand, and as we have coops now in use which
were built ten years ago and are as good to-day as when
made, the economy of well made coops will be apparent.
When we say that the tongues and grooves of the roof pieces
are painted before they are put together, the reader will
realize that they are thoroughly well built.
~The roosting coop, which is chiefly intended for raising
the pullets in, is 6 feet long, 3 feet wide, 2 feet high at the
back and 3 feet high in front. The roof, ends
and back are all of }4-inch tongued and grooved
pine, the front being all laths, set 3%¢ inches
apart, except the detachable gate thatis describ-
ed later and a 3 inch board at each corner for
stiffening the front. Two roosts of 2 by 3 inch
scantling, slightly rounded at the top, run the
whole length and are a foot apart, being securely
nailed to a frame of furring (1 by 3 stuff) 9
inches from the ground. To this frame we nail
the ends, back and front corner boards
and then fit in at the top a frame of 1 inch

12I—A SHELTER FROM RAIN

EXTERIOR FIXTURES 87

square stuff to nail the roof boards to. A coop like
this will comfortably house twenty-five to thirty chickens
until they are nearly grown; in fact, we sometimes
have pullets begin to lay betore they are brought in from
these roosting coops. It is quite light and can be easily mov-
ed by one man its length or width to fresh ground, or it can
be tipped up and the
droppings removed,
and it is a perfect
summer shelter. If
it is to be used in
the spring or fall,
when the nights are
cold, an improve-
ment would be to
make a front of l-inch boards, hinged at top edge, so it could
be swung outward and upward and rest upon folding legs
hinged at the bottom corners which would become a roof to
shelter the birds from rains. One disadvantage of this light
coop is, that it may be easily tipped over by a high wind,
especially when the chickens are all out of it, as during the
day. To prevent it from tipping over a flat stone should be
placed on each front corner of the roof.

The gate in front of the coop gives access to the inside
when the pullets are to be removed. The gate is made of
laths nailed to two strips 1 inch square, the left hand ends
of which are long enough to slip in behind the lath front,
the right hand side
being secured by one
ortwo buttons. If one
prefers, these gates
ean be hinged at one
side or the other and
secured by a hook or
button, but we have
found it a conven-
lence to have them
wholly detachable,
and so make them.

Shelter from rain and sun is of quite as much help as a
good coop to sleep in. By experimenting in different ways
we learned that it would pay well to have ‘‘shelter boards’’
always ready, just as are the coops, hence we make them of
the l-inch, tongued and grooved pine, taking five strips 3
feet long by 6 inches wide for each shelter board. These
strips are securely nailed to pieces of 1 inch square spruce at
the top and bottom, and then the weather side is well paint-
ed. We make a light frame of the l-inch square spruce

122—A SHELTER FROM THE SUN

123—A PORTABLE SHELTER

124—-BROOD COOP FOR HEN AND CHICKS

strips and laths to fit up to the A coops when we want to put
the shelter close to the coop, using one of the2 feet 6 inch
by 3 feet shelter boards as shownin Il. 121. As the chicks
get older we move the frame out a little and put two shelter
boards over it side by side, setting it so that it furnishes
shade if the sun is shining, or protects from a driving rain,
of course adapting it to the direction of the wind.

When we move the pullets out into the field and into the
roosting coop we set upon stakes and a strip of furring, a
shelving roof 7 feet 6 inches long by 3 feet wide, slightly
sloping to the south, about 18 inches high in the front and a
foot high at the back. By these devices we more than
double the available shelter from ram and sun and corres-
pondingly increase the comfort of the growing chicks. Ob-
viously, if they have to be crowded into their narrow sleep-
ing quarters on a rainy day or to get away from the hot sun,
they are not making good growth.

BROOD COOPS—DOOR FASTENER

We illustrate the favorite brood coop fora hen with
chicks, in use by Mr. J. H. Thompson, (Ill. 124). This coop
provides shelter in which to exercise and allows the chicks free

125—CONVENIENT WEANING COOP

range. A slide door of woven wire mesh should be provided
for safely locking the hen and chicks in the closed half of the
coop during the night. Ill. 125 shows a weaning coop in use
by Mr. Thompson. This coop is used for the chicks after
they are taken from the hens, thirty to forty being placed in
a coop 3 by 6 feet in size, floor measurements. The roost
poles extend through the ends of the coop and serve
as handles to move the coop from place to place.
These poles are removable, as shown in the illustration, for
oiling, cleaning, etc. A wire frame that fits snugly into the
front of the coop is buttoned securely in place during the
night, after the chicks have gone to roost. In some respects
this coop is an improvement on any we have seen.

A Wedge Door Fastener

A Yankee device in use on this farm is a simple fastener,
Ill. 126, for holding the doors closed that lead into the pens of
the breeding house. A wedge-
shaped piece of wood was sawed
and one flat edge of it covered with
leather from an old bootleg, the
leather lapping part way around
the wedge. This wedge was then
nailed to the door post breast high,
with the thin part of the edge point-
ing inward toward the pen. The
door swings inward and lacks about
% an inch of closing tight against
the door jam or post. As the at-
tendant passes into the pen he
Swings the door to behind him. It
strikes the wedge about half way up toward the thick part,
binds itself against the leather and is held securely in place
until opened with a slight jerk as the attendant passes out.
This is one of the neatest and most practical home-mad
fasteners we have seen.

126 — DOOR FASTENER

88 POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

BROOD COOP FOR HENS AND CHICKS

Harmon Bradshaw

The brood coop shown in II]. 127, has some points of ex-
cellence not found in most of the coops in use. It can be
made any size, but 2 feet wide and 3 feet long is about
right. Lumber from 4 inch to 1 inch in thickness should
be used, and the coop when completed should be painted

127—BROOD COOP FOR HEN AND CHICKS
white to protect the lumber from the weather. White coops
make a pretty contrast with the green sward.

The roof of this coop is made to extend over the ends
and sides 3 inches, and the bottom is made separate from
the rest of the coop and of a size so that the coop will sit
down over it clear around. The coop can then be used with
or without the bottom, as desired. During dry weather and
warm weather there isno need to use the bottom unless
there is danger of rats, weasels or the like burrowing under
to get at the chicks. Pains should be taken to guard against
these enemies. Where there is danger of rain the bottom
should be used; in fact, a brood coop should be carefully
located on high ground or on a ridge where there is no dan-
ger of the chicks being drowned in a sudden rain storm.

The brood coop is rat proof when shut up for the night.
As shown, the inner slat door is let down so that the hen as

128—FRONT OF BROOD COOP SHOWING MANNER OF
HOLDING DOOR IN POSITION

well as the chicks can pass in. When itis desired to con-
fine the hen and allow the chicks egress, this slat door is
closed. When night comes on and the hen and chicks are
in the coop the raised solid wooden door islet down and
fastened securely. Above this wooden door is a pane of
glass which furnishes light to the interior of the coop when

it is entirely closed up, and under the extended roof in the
rear end of the coop isa strip of wire cloth or window

‘screening, which furnishes ample ventilation, but is rat

proof. By the use of this coop the hen and chicks can be
confined during stormy weather and will still have light and
ventilation.

We do not see wherein this coop could be improved.
If taken proper care of, a coop of this kind will last several
years. Itis small and light in weight so that it can be put
away in the barn, shed, ora dry cellar when notin use.
Cared for in this way it will last along time. Chicks kept
in such a coop will be safe at night and can be controlled
as desired during the daytime.

COOP FOR HENS AND CHICKS
Harvey C. Wood

I bought a dry goods box about 30 inches square, also a
short board 6 inches wide and several pieces of weather-
boarding. I removed the lower boards of one side and
cleated them together, then fastened them with a hinge to
to the box, making a door, as shown in III. 129. I arrange

129-REAR OF COOP

this so that I can fasten it up in the day time and lower it at
night. In rainy weather I lower it enough so that the rain
will run away from the house and at such times the hen and
chickens can be fed inside.

Having finished the door, I took a board the length of
the house and then ripped it from one corner to the opposite
lower corner and place these pieces, the large end to the
front, one on each side of the top of the house. Across this
I laid the weather boarding. being careful to lap it, so that
the rain could not penetrate. To insure ventilation at night,
I bored several holes near the top of the rear end and cover-
ed the holes with screen.

I made a lath coop 4 feet square and 2 feet high. One
side I left open and fitted it close against the coop, then
the chicks can be confined in the coop and the old hen can
be let out in it for a little exercise and fresh air.

PLAN FOR BROOD COOP WITH HOOD

W. S. Templeton

The roof and sides of the hooded brood coop project 6
inches beyond the front. This hood protects the chicks from
cold winds and blowing rains and also the hot mid-day sun.
The coop should face the southeast, and the doors should be

EXTERIOR

on the side shown in the cut, so as to keep the northeasterly
winds out as well as to tet in the early morning sun through
l-inch mesh eee netting.

The coop is 2 feet 6 inches wide (inside measure), the
same in depth, 14 inches high at the rear and 2 feet high in

y

SV

KG WOON WM.

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Cc.
\I\

130—THE FRONT OF THE HOODED BROOD COOP

front. The roof is 3 feet square, made by nailing together
three boards 3 feet long and 1 foot wide. The hen door may
be secured with either one or two hinges, and will confine the
hen while the chicks run through the lower door, which is 3
or 3% inches high and about 12 inches long. I recommend
dressed lumber, for mites do not have as good a chance to
hide in the cracks. This coop soon pays for itself in the
number of chicks saved.

A SAFE BROOD COOP

Herewith is presented an illustration (131) of a chicken

FIXTURES 89

coop which we have taken so much comfort in during two
seasons. We used boxes about 18 by 18 inches by 3 feet,
building the runs of such scraps as are to be found around
a place and that can be manipulated by a woman with a
saw and hatchet. The front of the box is boarded up about
two-thirds of the way across, the other third being left
open for the hen and her chicks to passin and out. The
closed end of the box furnishes a snug, warm corner during
the night and bad weather. Over the yard is tacked, first,
wire netting, l-inch mesh, so that rats, cats and other
prowlers cannot get in. A strip of common table oilcloth is
nailed over the top of the box and hangs down behind the

from leaking in. The
being nailed along the
large enough to cover the

box far enough to prevent the rain
oilecloth is held in place by laths
edges. Another strip of oilcloth,
yard, is rolled upon a stick, one end of it being
the top of the coop on the of the

fastened to
During

front end box.

131—A SAFE AND HANDY BROOD COOP

stormy weather this can be unrolled downward so that the
oilcloth covers the wire netting and thus keeps the ground in
the yards dry After the storm is over this oilcloth is rolled
up, as rolling it up prevents it from sticking or cracking or
being otherwise ruined if left lying around loose. Inthe end
of the box a slide door is placed.

CARL H. KRIPPENE’S COLONY HOUSE

FRONT OPEN

FRONT CLOSED
132—CARL H. KRIPPENE’S FIFTY-CENT COLONY HOUSE it

nights the top door is left open.

These houses vary in size, being
made from large, heavy dry goods
boxes. The top half of the front is
first covered with wire screen to
keep out rats, ete., at night and then
a door is fitted and hinged as shown
in illustration. The large, lower
door swings open instead of up as
shown in the picture and makes a
handy contrivance for catching or
driving the chicks into the coop. The
whole is covered with heavy tar
paper and the entire cost is as fol-
lows:

ID ra erexorolsls Yorore aSbgoccssccasduoo 15
Ath” joy helsiel RepaosonooooMecoeudDOS 15
SCECCDisire a iav-t « elersietelsinsieatemraiateietiel= 05
Roosts and fixtures <<... .......- 10

Total ..~ ) AeA eRe... “50

These houses hold twelve birds un-
til matured enough to be placed in
winter quarters. -

One of the illustrations shows a
coop with front open as it is all day,
the other shows the front closed as
is on stormy nights. On clear

90 POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT WHITEWASH

For years the United States government has been
using on its forts and lighthouses, whitewash prepared
according to the following fermula. It is claimed that,
made in this way, the wash will stick better and retain
its brilliancy longer than any other, and that it is not
easily affected by rain or weather. Of course, it is neces-
sary to strain the material carefully before applying
through a pump, else more or less trouble will result
from the clogging of the nozzle, but with ordinary care
at the start, no inconvenience will be experienced.

Take half a bushel of unslacked lime, slack with
warm water and cover it during the process to keep in
_the steam. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve or
strainer; add a peck of salt previously well dissolved in
warm water, three pounds of ground rice boiled to a
thin paste and stirred in boiling hot, half pound of pow-
dered Spanish whiting and a pound of glue which has
been previously dissolved over a slow fire. Add five gal-
lons of hot water to the mixture, stir well and let it
stand for a few days, covered well. Strain carefully and
apply with a spray pump. It should be put on hot. There
is nothing that can compare with it for outside or in
side work, and it retains its brilliancy for many years.
Coloring matter may be put in to make the wash any
shade desired.

PUTTING UP POULTRY NETTING

Don Harrison

Among the methods employed for putting up poultry
netting, I have found no way which is so expeditious and in
every way satisfactory, as the following.

Nail the boards on which you intend to fasten the bot-
tom of the netting in such a manner as to form a straight
line, as netting cannot be nicely put up over aline, one part
of which is higher than the rest, without cutting and lapping
the netting. Have the posts extend at least 4 feet 4 inches
above the top of the boards.

Now drive six-penny nails about 4 inch into the posts,
4 feet from the board. Next loosen the roll of netting, run
a slender stick lengthwise through the center. I use a
measuring stick, 8 feet long. Havetwo
persons take hold of the ends of the pole
and walk as near the posts as possible,
thereby causing the netting to unroll.
Now your netting lies flat on the ground.
Get on the opposite side of the fence
with staple and hammer, and staple the
selvage strand to the top or edge of the
board, pulling the wire just enough to
take out the kinks. Do not try to
stretch it. Now one edge of the netting
is fastened to the base board and the
other edge lies about 4 feet from you
on the ground. Pick up the free edge
and hook it over the nails previously
driven in the posts. Fasten the ends
of the netting to their respective posts, pulling fairly

taut and fastening securely. Make a notch on the
end of your pole deep enough to hold the selvage.
With this pole push the netting up on the post,

having pulled the nail when you attached the pole un-
til the netting is firm and straight. Staple the selvage wire
to the post, repeating the operation on each post. After
you have done this, staple tothe post as much as you think
necessary. I use two staples between selvages, making four

to each post, and as for the bottom I staple every 2 feet.

With a boy to help unroll the netting, you can put
up a roll in twenty minutes. Our yards are on level
ground and we have posts sawed 3 by 3, and 8 feet 4
inches long. We drive them 2 feet into the ground and
put two, 12-inch boards at the bottom to prevent the
males from fighting.

TEST YOUR FENCING
Ernest C, Bischoff

For some time past there have been complaints as to
the lasting qualities of wire fencing. The trouble seems
to be that the galvanizing did not wear as well as on wire
fence bought in previous years. For the benefit of the
readers who buy wire fencing and are compelled to ac-
cept the word of the maker as to the quality, I give a test
taken from the Western Union Telegraph Co. specifica-
tions:

“The wire will be plunged into the saturated solution of sul-
phate of copper. permitted to remain one minute, and_then
wiped clean. This process will be performed four times. If the
wire appears black after the fourth immersion it shows that
the zinc has not been all removed and that the galvanizing is
well done; but if it has a copper color the iron is exposed.
showing that the zinc is too thin.”

The saturated solution of sulphate of copper( com-
monly called blue stone) is made by putting as much
blue stone in water as will be dissolved. There is no
harm if some blue stone remains undissolved.

This test can be made very easily at the time of purchas-
ing the wire fence—by cutting off a piece of wire and dip-
ping it into a small bottle filled with the solution.

It might be well to try some fencing that you have on
hand now, and note the difference between that which you
have had a long time and fencing recently purchased.

A BOX FOR CARRYING FOWLS

Another useful, in fact almost indispensible article:
around a poultry yard, is a carrying box or crate. It is nec-
essary, especially where one is somewhat cramped for room,
to be continually changing young stock from one yard or
house to another; separating pullets from cockerels or doub-
ling up yards, in order to make room forothers. Without a

140—A SIMPLE CARRYING CRATE

carrying crate you are obliged to carry the fowls by the legs,
five or six fowls at a time, which not only tends to make:
them wild, but you are liable to injure a fine bird by reason
of its trying to escape while you have both hands full. With
this crate, which has a small door or loose lath in the top,
you can catch a dozen or more; put them in it and transfer
them wherever you wish, quietly and rapidly and without
injury to the birds and with much less labor than carrying.
them in the usual way.

Interior Fixtures

How to Build Economical Labor-Saving Roosting Quarters, Nests, Automatic Feeders, Water Fountains,
Grit and Shell Hoppers

Jas. E, Rice

For the most part interior fixtures should be portable to
facilitate the fighting of mites. Generally they should not be
allowed to touch the sides of the house. If they do, the
walls should be kept tight and vermin proof. Roosts should
be on the same
level to prevent
fowls fighting for
the highest place.
They should be
placed in the
warmest spots
out of the reach
of draughts, and
as high as possi-
ble without in-
jury to the fowls
in descending.
They should be
close so that
fowls can snuggle
together and
keep each other
warm, and
enough space
should be provi-
ded so that they
can separate dur-
ing warm weather. Allow 6 to 12 inches foreach fowl. The
form of perch most to be desired seems to be a piece about
2 by 3 inches with the narrow edge rounded. Under the
perches should be a platform to catch the droppings far
enough below to permit cleaning without removing perches.

Hens Prefer Darkened Nests

They like to hide their nests, therefore tnese should be
partly dark. They are less aptto eat eggs in dark nests. A
good place for the nests is under the droppings board. They
should be so placed that the eggs can be gathered without
stooping. Hens like to fly up to lay. Nest boxes should
generally be about 1 foot square and 8 to 10 inches deep so
that the nest material will prevent the eggs from breaking,
and the hens cannot roll eggs from one nest to another. The
partitions between nests should permit hens to go from one
nest to another, otherwise they will fight
and break eggs. Fine hay is the best nest
material; sawdust stains eggs; excelsior
wads up and sticks to hens’ toes; straw is
too coarse. Provide nest eggs. The hens
then feel a sense of security. That is why
hens like to lay in thesame nest. Ills. 142
and 143 are suggestions for roosting and
nesting arrangements which we have been
using with great satisfaction. They can be
modified to suit conditions.

Water basins should be large enough
so that when filled the water will last for 24
hours. Then we will know that the hens
will not suffer from lack of water. They
should be easily cleaned and should be

141 - FIXTURES SUSPENDED

“Leghorns or medi-

made of such material that they will not break if dropped or
frozen. The best water dish is a galvanized iron refrigerator

pan with corrugated bottom and with top larger than bottom.
It should ‘be placed a little above the floor with a cover to
prevent its becoming dirty.

A self-feed grit box should be placed where the hens can
roost upon it.

have constant access to it and cannot
pen should be provi-
ded with a hanging
coop with slat sides
and bottom in which
to place broody hens
or extra males.

The design of
nests is well calcu-
lated to prevent
hens from getting
into the annoying
habit of egg eating.
Dark, shallow nests
are the best and
most practical pre-
ventative known,
and the plan of
building such nests
as shown in the
illustration is a good
one.

If intended for

Every

<M

142—ROOSTING QUARTERS AND
NEST BOXES

um-sized hens, nests
12 by 12 inches at
the base will do; if
for Brahmas, Coch-
ins, etc., do not fail to have the nests 15 by 15 inches in size.
Be governed also in the height of the nests by the size of the
fow!s. Seven to 8 inches will do for Leghorns, while for the
large breeds they will need to be 10 inches high. Fill in
enough nest material so that the hens can only creep on and
off the nest, so that they may Jay comfortably, and yet not
have sufficient room to allow them to stand up in the nests
and get at the eggs to eat them.

The rear bottom board of this row of nests should be

143—A SUCCESSFUL ARRANGEMENT OF ROOSTS AND NESTS

va

92

hinged to the wall of the poultry house, so as to open
downward, thus rendering it easy to clean them out. The
upright which holds the bottom board in position is also
on a hinge, attached to the bottom board. To let down
the bottom, kick the upright from under it. This bottom
board extends 10 or 12 inches all around the box, furnish-
ing a place for the fowls to alight on when going to the
nests or to roost. The roost pole (or poles, two can be
used) is to be seen above the top of the nests. This top
serves as the droppings board and should also be hung on
hinges against the wall. It can then be raised to gather
eges from the nests.

During the time of year when the poultry house is
closed up it is a good plan to clean away the droppings
every day. ‘To do this is a very simple matter where
such nests and roosts as this one are used. Save the drop-
pings for use as a fertilizer and have some slacked lime
or dry earth (lime preferred) to sift on the droppings
board after each cleaning.

A WELL-DESIGNED HALLWAY

In long poultry houses, time and labor ean be saved
by planning the passageway so that all. possible work
can be performed in it. Ill. 144 shows a type of hallway

144—A WELL-DESIGNED HALLWAY

from which the fowls can be fed, watered, and their eggs
gathered.

The slats in front of the feed trough, are 5 by 1%
inches and 20 inches long; they are spaced 21% inches
apart.

The feed troughs are made of two % inch boards 4
and 5 inches wide, and are 6 feet long. They extend the
length of the building.

A water dish can be seen on a shelf above the feed-
ing slats. When the food troughs are removed the water
dishes are placed on the floor.

On the opposite side of the passageway there is a
shelf 12 inches wide, level with the floor of the nests,
also a board 10 inches wide nailed upright at the out-
side of the shelf. The latter board is simply to darken
the interior of the nest and to prevent egeg-eating. The
shelf extends the width of the pen; the upright board is
3C inches shorter than the shelf (leaving a space of 15
inches at each side.) The fowls enter the nests at either
side of the pen by jumping on the shelf.

POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

(By placing the droppings board just above the feed-
ing rack and by hinging the board shown between the
rack and the floor of the nests, the droppings could also
be removed from the passageway. Ed.)

BREAKING UP BROODY HENS
Clark H. Minor

There are many contrivances for breaking up broody
hens, but a trial with the coop illustrated (145) will prove
is to be suecessful. The coop can be fastened from the
ceiling of the poultry house
or can be erected as shown in
the illustration.

Now that incubators are so
cheap and more convenient, the
old hen is used less and less
every year. As all breeds
have not learned
that they are not
wanted to hateh
their eggs there
are more broody
hens to be reliey-
ed of their desire
to sit. Those
who breed _ the
non-sitting class
of fowls have no
use for this coop,
but to all who
breed the Asiaties
or other heavy birds it will be found very useful.

The coop should be made square and fastened up by
a chain or rope from the center of the top; then by this
plan the hen will have to stand up most all the time, and
as every step she takes causes the cage to move, she soon
as the larger size does not work as well unless you have
it full. It is better to have several small coops than one
that is too large.
forgets about her desire to sit.

The coop may be of any size desired. A coop 16 or 18
inches square will easily accommodate three or four me-
dium sized hens. Do not make one over 30 inches square,

CRATE FOR SHIPPING DAY-OLD CHICKS
This shipping
erate consists of
three wooden boxes
each four inches
deep, eighteen
inches square inside
measurements and
divided into four
compartments. Each
box is covered with
burlap — securely
tacked down after
the chicks are load-
ed in while the floor
is covered with a
layer of alfalfa or
bran. The tiers, or
boxes, were ar-
ranged three inches
above one another
with four supporting sticks one tacked in each corner of
the lower box. A handle is securely nailed along the sides
and over the top. The crate will hold about 250 chicks or
twenty-one in a compartment.

145—COOP FOR BROODY HENS

145-A-CRATE FOR SHIPPING DAY-OLD CHICKS

A Successful Automatic Feeder

Will Feed Grains of Different Degrees of Fineness and Dryness, also Beef Scraps and Dry Mixtures
—An Economical, Practical Device which Feeds Uniformaly

Dr. H. P. Nottage

A poultryman who has 8000 fowls asked me recently for a
design of a satisfactory food box. A man who has a large flock
of fowls certainly cannot afford time to be constantly remodeling
food boxes in the search for a box that will feed uniformly all
varieties of grain, beef scraps and cut clover.

It is with satisfaction that I offer a model feeder which has
been developed out of many tribulations with boxes that would
not feed or that would spill all the grain on the ground. It
represents the most successful device for feeding grains of differ-
ent conditions of fineness and dryness and which will also feed
scraps and dry mixtures.

In the sectional view note slanting (45 degrees) top which
prevents the fowls from roosting on the feeder. It is hinged at
the lower edge. The bottom also slants parallel with the cover.
The trough in front is 5 inches wide and1} inches deep, A nar-

.row wooden strip runs the entire length and projects over into the
trough about § of an inch. This prevents the grain from being
thrown out by the hens. The grain banks up under the strip.

The front elevation shows that the openings of the compart-
ments extend to the bottom of the box. The opening for feeding
oats is 4 inches square and for the scraps 8 by 10 inches. These
openings are covered with cellar window netting 3-inch mesh.
The slit in the corn compartment is about § inch in height and
clear across. The upper edge is sawed parallel with the bottom of
the feeder. ‘his makes the opening higher inside than out. It
would be well to havea strip of wood or tin sliding vertically so
as to reduce the height of this opening when feeding wheat or oth-
er small smooth grain. If it is desired to feed dry mixtures anoth-
er compartment can be added, built exactly like the one for
scraps.

If cracked corn or wheat feed too freely in the regular com-

SCRAPS-

146—SECTION AND FRONT ELEVATION OF A SUCCESSFUL AUTOMATIC FEEDER
Outside dimensions: Height 36 inches; front 28 inches; depth 8 inches; width 38 inches—

cach compartment 12 inches,

|
CORA-Ere:

partment try them in the oat compartment. There they will
feed slowly, cracked corn especially; in fact it will feed so slowly
that the hens will
have to peck at it all
day togeta full crop.
This is an advantage
in some cases, Not
so with little chicks
on free range, for
their habit is to fill
up moderately in the
morning, then start
out and be gone all
day. ‘They return in
crowds about four
o’clock to fill up as
quickly as they can
before dark,

Again, some beef
scraps are fine and
dry. ‘The hens will
try to pick out the
biggest pieces, and
shove the finest stuff
under the long strip
of wood until it begins to come oyer the top. If this difficulty
arises, nail a strip of 1 inch netting across the top of this part of
the trough so as to cover it completely. ‘Then the hens will
have to reach down through the netting and cannot throw
the scraps.

147—A SUCCESSFUL AUTOMATIC FEEDER

A PRACTICAL FEEDING
TROUGH

One of the difficult problems for the
poultryman is to devise some means for
feeding little chicks so that they can con-
sume all of the food without soiling it.

A simple and efficient feeding trough
may be made by tacking a piece of tin
about 34 inches wide along the edge of a
34-inch board so that the tin projects
abont 1} inches on either side of the
board, bending the tin so as to form a
shallow trough, and fastening the boards
to blocks which raise it from 1 to 2
inches from the floor.

The trough may be from 1 to 3 feet
long. It is within easy reach of the chicks
and so narrow that they cannot stand
upon the edges. Food placed in such
feeding troughs can be kept clean until
wholly consumed.

Feeding Troughs for Turkeys

Early in the fall I had made two
self-feeders, similar to III. 147, 18 feet long,
1 foot wide and about 1 foot high, each

94 POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES

147—FEEDING TROUGH

holding about 6 bushels of grain. The feeders were opened in the
evening at feeding time and closed in the morning after the turk-
eys had eaten all they wanted. I closed them during the day to
keep my fowls from the grain. The feeders were useful and sat-
isfactory and with them I fatted 165 turkeys quite economically

148—FEEDING TROUGH FOR TURKEYS

A TROUGH FOR MASH

I find that the best size trough for feeding mash to the ave-
rage number of fowls in a pen is 6 feet long and 9} inches high.

On this sketch “A” is the end board,‘B” the V-shaped
trough. A wheel
is built over this
trough to revolve
on axle “D” with
rods ‘‘C’’ connect-
ing the end blocks.

The advantage
I find in this form
of trough is that the fowls cannot get into their food on account
of the wheels over it, and they cannot roost on top of it, as
every time a fowl jumps on the top rod it revolves, and the
birds will soon tire of this performance.

149--TROUGH FOR MASH

CRATE FOR FEEDING CHICKS

Do you keep chicks in the same yard with adult fowls, or al-
low both the run of the place, as on the farm? If so, provision
should be made to prevent the grown fowls, or the larger and
stronger chicks, from consuming most of the food, leaving little or
none for the weaker chicks.

Ill. 150 shows a simple lath coop that,almost any person can

150—A CRATE TO EXCLUDE GROWN FOWLS

construct. The feed trough, a self-feeder, can be seen inside the
coop. The chicks run in and out freely, but the hen is barred..

In the feed trough used the chicks do not trample and soil the
food, but eat it as it falls through.

Where growing chicks of several sizes are running together
it is well to have two or three of these feeding coops with slats
at, different widths apart; then the chicks about of a size will
eat together to their common advantage.

HOME-MADE GRIT BOXES

A money saver that can be easily modeled from a gallon
fruit can and used as
a grit or oyster shell
dish, is shown in Ill.
151. Half the round
part of the can is cut
away in a sort of
compound curve,
leaving the style of
dish shown in illus-
tration. This is nail-
ed to the wall of the
house on the inside
and filled with grit
and shells. One of
these small, inexpen-
sive dishes is used
in each breeding pen.

Ills. 152 and 153
show other types of economical and easily constructed grit and
shell boxes.

151—GRIT BOX MADE FROM GALLON
FRUIT CAN

ECONOMICAL FIXTURES

The arrangement for holding cup for water securely against
the slats of coop is
made of stiff wire—
No. 16 being about
the right size. (156.) |

The grit box isa
common varnish can,
which can be procur-
ed at any drug store.
The point of arrow
shows a wire which
holds the cut part of
the can in place. (155)

152—ANOTHER STYLE OF GRIT OR
SHELL BOX

A Winter Fountain

I determined to be
prepared and not have the
trouble I did last year with
the water troughs. I can-
not be at home during the
day to break the ice in the
troughs, so I have contriy-
ed a fountain which
keeps the water from
freezing.

I made a pan 6 inches
high and 8 inches in diam-
eter with a chimney 9 inches
long running through the
center of the pan. The
chimney extends 1} inches
above the pan to keep the
water from running over
into the lamp, and 14 inches
below the pan, to fit on the
lamp burner. Below this

153—A HOPPER FOR GRIT AND
OYSTER SHELLS

INTERIOR

pan I place a lamp that fits the chimney.
I have a No.2 burner, which will take a
chimney 3 inches in diameter at the bot-
tom and 1} inches at the top. The chim-
ney running through the center of the pan
radiates enough heat to keep the water
from freezing. Around the lamp I shall
put 4 inch wire mesh, to keep the chicks
away fromthe lamp. I have placed my
lamp in the poultry house, on the side
wall. As shown in the IIL 154, there is a
loop rivited on the pan, so that it can be
taken-down and cleaned.

The height of the heater,when finish-
ed and hanging on thé wall is 12 inches.
There should be a box 6 inches high in
front of the fountain on which the fowls
can stand and drink. Any tinner can

: = make a heater if he sees the plan and reads
154~A DEVICE FOR the directions.
HEATING WATER

A SELF-DRAINING APPLIANCE FOR WATER-
ING DUCKLINGS

A practical device for watering ducklings in use at Mr.
Keith’s Pekin duck plant is thus
described: A wooden frame about
18 inches square, to which is fast-
ened a piece of } inch mesh galvanized
wire cloth, is placed over a hole dug in
the earth of each indoor run or pen in
the brooder house. ‘The hole is dug
about 18 inches to 2 feet deep to insure
gocd drainage. On this wire screen the
galvanized iron drinking fountains are
placed, so that all water slopped by
the ducklings is quickly drained away
and the pens are kept dry. One gal-
lon founts are used with pans deep
enough to permit the ducklings to im-
merse their bills above the nostrils—an
important matter from a health stand-
point. Ills. 157-158.

DRINKING FOUNTAIN FOR CHICKS

A handy drinking fountain for small chicks can be made very
easily with but little labor. ‘lake an empty tomato or peach can
and with a wire nail or sharp end of a
file make a hole through the tin can
about } to 4 inch from the open end; fill
the can with clean water, place a saucer
upside down on the filled can and turn
the fountain over. This will leave the
can setting upside down inthe saucer
and the saucer will stand full of water
up tothe hole in the can. This is the
best way to water small chicks. They
cannot get into it with their feet or fall
down and get wet as in an open vessel.

For larger chickens a shallow pan
can be used instead of the saucer. In this case the hole in the
tomato can is about 1 inch or 14 inches from the open end, or
3 inch below the level of the top of the shallow pan.

HOME-MADE DRINKING FOUNTAIN

H. A. Turney
Isubmit my arrangement fora drinking fountain. Of course

156—-A SIMPLE CUP
HOLDER

155—-HOME-MADE
GRIT BOX

FIXTURES 95

the fountain itself is not new to poultrymen, but the holder is
that to which I desire to call attention.
serviceable and valuable.

In Ill. 160, the flat bottom is a block of wood 6 by 6 by 1 inch,

This makes the fountain

157—DEVICE FOR WATERING DUCKLINGS

with a small staple in each end. On this block I place a common
deep saucer and invert in it an old quart tomato or fruit can. The
top is melted off and a notch is cut in the edge } by } inch in size.
The handle is a piece of wire (same size as that used for a clothes
line), bent like a bucket bale and cut just long enough to reach up
over the bottom of the can when it is in the saucer on the block.
The ends are to be hooked into the staples in the block. A little
practice will enable one to cut this wire the proper length, and the
whole affair can be made in five to eight minutes.

Now to operate it: Drop the wire, like a bucket hale.
the can with water,
cover with the saucer
and quickly turn up-
side down. Set the
saucer on the block
and bring the wire
up over ‘the can.
File the smallest of
notches in the top of
the canso that the
wire will snap into
them, remaining till
you want it off. The
saucer now runs full
of water and refills as

Fill

158—CROSS SECTION OF A DEVICE FOR
WATERING DUCKLINGS
as the chicks
They have clean, fresh water for several hours and are
not likely to turn the fount over.

soon
drink.

SAFETY WATER TROUGH FOR CHICKS

The device for a safety watering trough for little chicks ex-
plains itself. A wooden trough is made in the form of a long,
shallow box. White lead may be used in making it water tight,
or if tightly nailed it will soon swell so as to hold water. Next fit
a thin board to go in the top of this trough and float on the water
when the trough is filled. In this board bore a half dozen or more
l-inch holes. You now have a safety watering trough for little
chicks par excellence.

Jndex

Automatic Feeder; A Successful .............. Guododsc 93
Boxeton Carrying, Wows syAwejalsreretreisstaeleerr tert eiaiiarsiatere 90
BroodmCoops Al (Safe yaeirastetevare sles cl potest iver 89
(BEOOGE COOPS pie e's iere: -/alafatolete cyetotemn rete spetetey otalay ohfetetsler tenet terakel eters 87
Brood Coop tor, Hensjand| Chicks are amet site 88
Brood (Coop) withwHoods Plan ifort cette slo tete! «ict 88
Brooding and Laying House; Continuous ............. 32
Brodding House; Scratch Shed and ................... 50
Broody, Hens; SBrea kam oii) tiesisieteersicis/Neleveiove clsis o «ie ele 92
Closed Wronit; SELOUSe Si esrretsta ss eiaic oicisis isis » ois/eteisicis]elepie.stolevoys 14
Colony, Houses sehihtye Cente ccretere\occitieieisie cistern wicrsteis cleielete 89
Colony ‘House; Seratiching Shed! oc). sic dee no wien 42
Colony, Houses; (Stationary. 266.0. occ 0e cece eee ee lees 82
Constractvoncenl) etal Sek gaveraerorars(s(cinlevataisiaieroieyotettersreverveniers 10
(Clopayrianiomisy Jakes AN GonuddoucoocjonodonnbuDoconooacacn 27
(Clojoyoyn AN (EKovovoll IOI Sonnoso sono oobGadoosaKdaosoKOAGoO 84
Coop and Run for Hen- with. Chicks ......°5........... 86
Coops weASSatemBrood Ujy-reiteltetaerits cise eee iar ee 89
Cooprat Low, Cost; “Ay sera chica tej cejereterotste:afareias)<l-reiel sieve 83
CoopHtoneHens sand! (Chicks caeptelererdaleaaeerearia eisrereerele 88
Coop for, Hens: and Chicks; (Brood! (2. 7. oe c. se:0 20). sas 88
Coopine a Chickens eee eet sse scene creer 86
(Crayayoyy TEE haYo) WEtop-< MiVerhalibeke! Gayo an oo ndaqosea dosed osesooIn 85
COODS ay BEO Od yaemas tessa ieee ieee ope aes 87
Coops EhesD ry, G OOS ABO Xer opsiahra wiarstaie te terest ie cents 84
Coop with Hood; Plan for Brood ..................... 88
Crate ory Bee dimpy Chicks air. toilets) sporcvercries eich aeneeitenese<Ustere 94
Crate for Shipping Day-old Chicks .................... 92
Cuintaine Mr Onby EVOUSE wamstarelstesolefasierotelsiersieteist totter acl aicgetsy te 58
Curtain Front House; Maine Experiment Station ....53
Curtain, Front in) Maryland: Them. ...6 et a. assess 53 vcles 57
Curtain: Pront Poultry tous. «occ cememiniasciee cece 57
Curtain Front Poultry House; A .......2.ssssceneenes 55
DETAILS eof COMSELUCULONA Go). nfole iets sterol sitekatotarieriavelsy eter oieiela 10
IDieere INANE” AN \MVCCIRE Eco osccbcnoansoconeagsoscapope 87
EFSUE LONE EER UIE Soi ojesatafetelolorss cleleietmterielareverejeieinisiclerchatuie «fopenetele 81
Hae Me Onli Ty OSS sar yh Crs tayerolacuareiciotelaretershsketetetcncieieasiseetetoks 56
Feeder; A Successful Automatic ............0..c2eceees 93
Heedersand Hountains) Practical )-y-\teec\aterrte-i1iaseie+ saree 9
Heedinioys troughs AU Practical srctercreailerelayeleis ea--ieieiniteer= eles 93
Tenens: MESSY YEOH Seb oconndcbcocoooogn Don DODON GOs NENS 90
axsbure $3) SHG TOL jaye) azoye.exe\ciereis cisisceyare)sicletsrsi stereo tsisscieceratetel cnet 81
Mixtures ili Gero mig sieycrerovn yes sievercle eve charset s ey slossforeievarave saeiereeaels 91
VO UMUU ALIS HAL WV MLOIED yoycteveheiers ia) sis ale cievere ciesotevateleve epeesteneiaerste 94
Kountain) for Chicks; Drinking \y21-)-\- stechiecniisis sees ee 95
Fountain; Home-Made Drinking ... elaiype data EEE 95
HreshoAgrs dD onaty Meat voces ceielon|oeiidt corer eit ciee eae 61
BreshwArreniousine stor Poultirya mainet)tci- serine seistoe el 64
Gripe Boxes: welome-Madeuirecc. sclstereveittcicisiaci a eit erence 94
LEEW ene) WIG Desiemeel - sods Guoaunopooas bon ocsdoos ooL 92
HOUSE A BUSINESS) Ne OUM GIs gaeenaterUajelaietelesieietevaia/sfs-s.otenslsletenctel: 29
Houses Californian HreshoAtnr’ oy. sive clereislsisisielaleisyers clelete evakels 73
soECY LY Wlngeyn Lethe, SoodGoondndoonnoongeesbadcoaus 59
LOTUS Cee Ses © OM GUN OLS Mrvetehateestaielaiczei«) oie) wialefaletelereitre ski arcntanete 27
iousessvA:SHivie-P ema liasyan Pipetesa) cio) < « a/-/s/sicinsete! steele vetereve eeepetoee 14
HOUSe se Ag HAS Geni OMMUbIyie peletaierars oie arcfeseleislaclnteielcteleyeisierrers 31
iiouses, -A) Modified (Rresh=Airmietereie s «<1. yenterae mo rtievaere vera 74
Housejands Sera tehing Shed qamtasrte.:.\c:oiais/ejatsieler=\slei eters 47

House and Scratching Shed; Poultry .................. 39

House;-Al New “Roosting: Coop!) a... .. serene eee 60
House; AvSatisfactory atcha aenke ee. oer eee Bema 19
House; AU Seratehing SCG ger. ceciietict eee eee 49
House;) AY ‘Simple Practical ©.(.- pees «cote ae 31
House; Sled!) Runner Colony {2-2-4 --eer eee 79
House; A) Tennessee Poulliry Cetereelitnie <a ee eae 50
House; A Villase» Poultry, ss.cs0sen eee ee 59
House; ‘Building a Poultry. <ieosect 3. eee eee 5
House; ‘Closed’ Fronts 3.4.0... 32 eee oe ee eee 26
House; Continuous Brooding and Laying ............. 32
House: (Curtain bir onitieesc: --\. ee ee eee eee 58
House; (Curtain irons Poultry) .-).-taeeer eee eee 57
House; Determininosthe My pent. criierce)= -steiittn- tenes 3
House; Double Poultry ..... Woboamermbdacoodscanesso0e 16
House” for) ay Citiyfeotiarcitsslesieletetstoa.daiae si stele 22
House! fora, Vallllaige sBMOCIS yeveyereiesnetsesye=)ey-r=ye)= =) <tr nea 51
House for Bighity” Owls Pore. -tera\tee retail eee 30
House: for bayang) Sens) eie.e1-) cle ate) sete) eee 17
House, torcone shlocks 2 cima dels elses ieee ee eee 48
House for ‘Small Wlocks Cheap”... .-.1- essere 25
House for) Southern Breedensi vs cere -\h)-ie eet 41
House for TE wom locks: 2.20\<)<:jere <:c:slsys)s!s.ors cso eee 46
House; Low’ Cost Poultry *..9s4-. <0. == Bare yato 6 CDS 27
HMouses;: Closedibironit™: -)...s1tcn. ieee me eee Beb06 14
Houses; ‘Scratching Shed) iyysseocr ices cect een 36
House; (SouthernmiOpen-Agr 7.) 3-2) te eee ee 69
Houses; (Stationary, (Colony: arn ccte te = se eel renee 2
Houses) Successfull (Southerm seeececn eee eee ee eee 28
House for Town Dwellers; Fresh-Air .................. val
‘House; The-Harm) Poultry) ceccmsiciiscccitcten ane ae erates 56
House; The ‘Scratching: Shed Poultry, ter crt is rsria 36
House; Wood?svOpenHAin’ sine). -1elclstelel= <lerele) «siete iar 67
Houses Used in England; The Movable ................ V7
House ‘with? Hallways, (Roul try: rete. wlaterejai=aicpnteraistneteeeee rae 20
Housing for) Poultry; Wresh-Airiiec-1-- <9 titer 64
Interior Soixcthur eSprercyata olele)-tallelekatelsteyeiel=leietel tater tet tare eee 91
haying Ouse) At EB VEPe my sapere erereleteretetetesetetetee ia teteye ere eetitats 14
Maine Experiment Station Curtain Front House ...... 53
Movable House Used in England; The ................. nies
Netting sPutting) wip) Poultry ere teler less) ales terete terete 90
Piano-Box Poultry: Housesseeee sce secre eee eee 13
Portable 2 oultiry) SOuUseSs) Bese) elelets ele 2 eee 77
Preliminary Considerations ....%.......0.+-++s0-4- sees 3
Roost Coops VAN GOOG occ creccletteloiclele craleis ieee eee 84
Roosting Room and Scratching Shed .................. 45
Scratching Sheds Colony Ouse) crises celeste eee 42
Scratching’ Shed) Houses A 2.52 ences eee eee 49
Scratching’ Shed; House! andl fice. ect cele siete 47
Scratching Shed @Elouses wcities atest cierto ee 36
Seratching Shed; Poultry House and ...................39
Scratching Shed Poultry House; The...............5... 36
Seratching Shed; Roosting Room and.................. 45
Scratch Shed and Brooding House .................... 50
Shelter for Weaned! Chicks 7 .). .(.'o1e tinier sireisints) safes eee 85
Trouph' for Chicks weateby- Water nesses cee eee 95
Trough lors Mais hlsiesewerctel= =,0)e:s1a)a/vinslslainteestelslsieteteeis) cer ae eens 94
Watering Ducklings; A Self-Draining Appliance for...95
Weaning, (Coop iano BOX: (e<lcte/clelelele clainwels ols cise =e 85
Whitewash; United States Government ................ 90

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One copy del. to Cat. Div.

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