LIBRARY
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.
Class
POULTRY
Appliances
Handicraft
HO W TO MAKE 6- USE
LABOR - SA VI NG DE VICES
WI TH D E S C R I P TI V E
PLANS FOR FOOD & WA TER
SUP PL Y B UILDING <5r>
MISCELLANEO US NE E D S
Also Treats on ARTIFICIAL
INCUBA TION& BROODING
Compiled by
GEORGE B. FISKE
Copiously Illu strated
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY
Ne^v York Nineteen Hundred &r Two
•> \ "t O
V"5
Copyright iqo2
by
Orange yudd Company
1VH1N3D
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
DEVICES FOR FEEDING
Troughs for fowls — Troughs for chicks — Hoppers — Shell
and grit feeders — Automatic feeders — Pens and frames —
Exerciser.
CHAPTER II
FOUNTAINS AND WATER SUPPLY
System for poultry plant — Self-feeding fountains — Covered
fountains — Heated fountains — Water for chicks — Water for
ducks.
CHAPTER III
MILLS AND FOOD MACHINERY
Bone and meat grinders — Food choppers — Fodder cutters
— Grit machines.
CHAPTER IV
CONVENIENT ROOSTS
A model arrangement — Portable perches — Lice proof —
Cold weather plans — Droppings boards and manure bins —
For young chickens.
CHAPTER V
DOORS AND WINDOWS
Divided door — Partition doors — Plan for self-opening —
Convenient windows — Warm windows.
CHAPTER n
NESTING CONTRIVANCES
Essentials of a good nest — Two nests from one box —
A locked nest — Wire nests — Movable arrangement — Nest for
egg eaters — Homemade recording nest box — Combined nest
and roosts — Nests for ducks.
IV CONTENTS
CHAPTER VII
HELPS IN HATCHING SEASON
The incubator problem— Grundy's advice on incubators —
How to make an incubator — Egg tester — Cabinet, cases and
carriers for eggs — Shipping case.
CHAPTER VIII
FROM INCUBATOR TO BROODER.
Brooder management — An expert's directions — Improved
brooders — Cheap brooder — Large hot water system — Home-
made device — Brooders for summer or mild climate.
CHAPTER IX
TRAPS FOR POULTRY PESTS
The rat nuisance — Improved box trap — Cat trap — Skunk
trap — Protection from hawks — Trapping a hawk.
CHAPTER X
THIRTY USEFUL DEVICES
Interior conveniences — Ventilators — Pulleys — Aids in
cleaning houses — Dust baths — Feeding arrangements — Feed
cookers — Anti-scratching devices — Poultry hooks — Exerciser
for ducks — Cutting combs and wings — Protecting injured
fowls.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Feeding Trough ......... I
Slatted Feeding Box 2
Trough for Chicks ........ 2
Dry Feed for Chicks ........ 3
Feeding Hopper . . . . . . . • . 4
Shell and Grit Feeder ........ 5
Automatic Feeders 6
Feeding Pens for Chickens 7
Wire Frame 7
Automatic Trough 8
Feeding by "Clockwork 9
Feeding Board and Exerciser ...... 9
System for Water Supply . . . . . . .11
Tank Fountain ......... 12
Protection for Water Dish ....... 13
Covered Water Dishes ........ 14
Winter Fountain . . . . . . . . .15
Lamp Water Heater ........ 16
Kettle and Heater 17
Fountain Warmer ......... 18
Non-freezing Fountain ........ 19
Chick Fountain ......... 20
General Purpose Fountain 20
Water for Chicks ......... 21
Casing for Water Can 22
Safe Water Dish 22
Oyster Can Fountain 23
Box for Water Dish 23
Pool for Ducks 24
Drinking Water for Ducks 24
Hand Bone Mills 26
Mounted Bone Mills ........ 27
Food Chopper ..... 28
VI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Root Cutters . 29
Fodder Cutter . . .30
Grit Pounder . . . . . . . . .31
Small Grit Pounder . . 32
Grit Mill 32
Improved Roost ......... 35
Low Improved Roost ........ 36
Portable Roost 37
Portable Lice-proof Roost 37
Liee-proof Supporter for Roost 37
Kerosene Pan for Roost ....... 37
Cold Weather Roost 38
Warm Roosts ......... 39
Separate Roosting Pens ....... 40
Roosts and Dropping Boards ...... 41
Roosts and Manure Bin ....... 41
Roosts for Chickens 42
Combination Door . . . . . . . - 44
Combination Door ........ 45
Self-opening Doors ........ 46
Warm Windows , . . . . . . . -47
Protected Windows ........ 48
Double Windows ......... 49
Plain Nest Boxes ......... 52
Secure Nest Box ......... 53
Three Useful Nest Ideas 54
Good Nesting Arrangements 55
Trap Nest Boxes 56
Roost Protected by Nest 57
Nest from a Candy Pail 58
Nests for Ducks 59
Plan for Homemade Incubator ...... 64
Section Plan of Incubator 65
Incubator Drawer and Heater 65
Ventilator Box for Incubator 66
Egg Tester 70
Egg Cabinet 71
Egg Case 72
Egg Carrier 72
Egg Shipping Case 73
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Vll
PAGE
Diagram of Brooder with Drum . 78
Improved Brooder ......... 79
Brooder for Fifty Chicks ....... 80
Small Lamp Brooder ........ 81
Homemade Brooder . . . . . . . .82
The Sure Brooder 83
Heater, Water Barrel and Piping . . . . .86
Diagram of Brooder ........ 87
Section View of Brooder . 88
Brooder for Mild Climate .89
Outdoor Brooder and Run 90
Improved Rat Trap 93
Cat Trap .......... 94
Skunk Trap .......... 95
Protection from Hawks 96
Trapping a Hawk 97
Setting a Hawk Trap 98
Interior Conveniences 101
Good Ventilation 102
Screw Pulley .... 103
Homemade Pulley .......... 103
Conveniences for Inside Work ...... 104
Dust Bath 105
Outside Dust Bath 106
For Dusting Fowls 106
Heater for Poultry House ....... 107
Heater and Ventilator 108
Lamp Heater 109
Feed Cooker no
Small Cooker for Stove . . . . . . . ill
Worm Box 112
To Prevent Scratching 113
Shipping Crates . . . . . . . . .114
Hook for Catching Poultry . . . . . . . 115
Duck at Exercise . . . . . . . . .115
Leghorns with Combs Cut 116
Shield for Injured Fowls 117
Holding a Pigeon 118
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
ABOUT one hundred and fifty handy
devices are explained and illustrated
in this little book. These have been
selected for superior merit from a much
larger number available. Here skilled poul-
try keepers from all parts of the country
have detailed the favorite short-cuts that
have saved them most loss and trouble.
Many new ideas have been added, making
the whole a collection in a condensed form
of the best practice in poultry mechanics
and handicraft. The suggestions cover
every department and stage of progress,
from egg to market, and include all branches
and grades of the business. Not every
poultryman will need them all, but it is
apparent that anyone who keeps chickens,
turkeys or waterfowl will find among the
number abundant practical hints for decreas-
ing labor, waste and worry.
CHAPTER I
DEVICES FOR FEEDING
A considerable part of the soft food is spoiled and
wasted where it is fed on the ground or on boards and
shingles. Where one hundred fowls are kept and
twice the number of chickens raised, the loss by such
methods may be reckoned at three to five bushels of
feed a year. Feeding troughs are easily made, and will
quickly save their value, besides tending to prevent the
spread of disease so often resulting from placing the
food where the fowls can soil it.
FIG I : FEEDING TROUGHS
Troughs and Boxes — Figure I shows at the
left of the illustration a feed trough that hens cannot
roost upon, cannot get their feet into, and at which
they cannot well quarrel. A V-shaped body, with ends
as shown, is made and a hinged cover placed so as to
fold up against the long slope of the ends. A stout
wire is strung from the top of one end to the top of
the other, and from this wires extend down to nails
driven into the front edge of the trough. When the
food has been placed inside and the cover closed, the
hens eat by sticking their heads through the up-
right wires.
2 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
An excellent covered trough or box is shown at the
right of Figure i. The top is hinged, and so can be
raised to put the food inside. The fowls can then
insert only their heads at the sides and ends. The roof-
shaped top, having a sharp apex, affords no chance for
FIG 2 : SLATTED FEEDING BOX
getting upon the feed box, and remaining there, as is
the case with flat-topped covers. This device will also
aid in keeping the hens from pecking at each other
when eating.
A capacious slatted feed box is shown in Figure 2,
suitable for soft feed or for grain. The hens cannot get
into it or crowd each other. The cover, which slopes
so they will not fly upon it, is covered with wire netting
which permits grain to be thrown into the box without
FIG 3 : TROUGH FOR CHICKS
raising the cover. Hens do not like to fly up and light
on this netting. A square pan may be placed in one
end of this box in which to keep water, and in this
position it can neither be soiled nor spilled.
Young chickens while with the hen are serious
wasters of soft food, whether fed wet or dry. Figure 3
DEVICES FOR FEEDING 3
illustrates a little trough for chicks. It is of wood
two inches deep and ten inches long for thirty chicks.
The ends are one and one-half inches higher, so a slat
can be put on it to keep the dirt out of it. It should be
placed in a coop where the larger birds cannot enter.
A good feeder for dry cooked feed or dry meal and
grain for chicks is shown in Figure 4. Make a trough
exactly as for a pig except that it has a crack one-fourth
of an inch wide at the bottom. Raise the trough a little
above the ground by means of two strips, c, fastened
to the ends, b, and* place a board, d, beneath the crack
of sufficient width that the chicks may eat from it ; two
and one-half inches is sufficient. Cover the top, d, and
the trough is complete. By it the food is kept fresh and
clean, yet the chicks may help themselves at any time.
FIG 4: DRY FEED FOR CHICKS
Bement's feeding hopper is not a patent affair,
and is a serviceable contrivance for those who practice
the plan of letting the fowls help themselves to their
ration of whole grain. In Figure 5, the end section
shows size and operation, a is a flap or hinged door,
to be opened and shut at pleasure; b, a hinged cover,
through which feed is supplied ; c, an incline, throwing
the corn or other grain as wanted into the feeding
trough. This feeding hopper will answer a very good
purpose where there are no rats or mice.
Feeders for Shell, Bone and Grit — Sharp grit,
broken oyster or clam shells and charcoal in granular
form are necessary for the health and productiveness
of fowls. An excellent box for supplying these is
4 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
shown in Figure 6. It is self -delivering, but the grat-
ing or wire netting over the front keeps the fowls from
throwing the material out with their bills, and thus
wasting it. Kept before them in this way the hens
need never be out of the necessary articles.
A similar feeder with single compartment and no
grating is shown at the right of the preceding in Figure
7 finches.
FIG 5 I FEEDING HOPPER
7. It is filled at the top and is self-feeding. For winter
use as grit nothing is quite so good as the small quarry
stone fragments which may be obtained for almost
nothing at any stoneyard. These are kept on hand,
sifted to the right size, at the poultry supply stores and
are now quite commonly used by the best professional
poultry men. If there is no quarry or stoneyard near by,
a grit that will answer very well is a barrel or two of
gravelly sand, some of which should be shoveled into
DEVICES FOR FEEDING 5
the coop every week or two in winter. Oyster shells
are not hard enough to take the place of grit.
A simple and effective shell or grit feeder is de-
picted in Figure 8. It can be made of any desired size.
The essential points to the box are : The lid for filling,
at i ; a board, 2, to prevent the shells becoming scat-
tered about ; check board, 3, slanting backward with
small space of one to two inches to hold grit, and the
lower edge should be on a level with top of board, 2.
FIGS 6 — 7 I SHELL AND GRIT FEEDER
Hang by hole, 4, just high enough so poultry can get at
the grit easily. The fowls pick it out over board 2, at 5.
A shell feeder very easy to make is that shown at
the right of the preceding in Figure 9. It is a good
style where the shells and grit are mixed and fed from
one box. The dotted lines, b b, indicate a sharp piece
of tin bent to cover half of the holes in the inside to
prevent shells from coming out too fast. The hole, a,
in the back of the box, is to hang up the box. The box
is filled with ground shells and hung up within easy
6 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
reach of the hens, who soon learn to pick the shells
from the holes, c c.
Feeding Pens for Young Chickens — -Where large
and small chickens run at large in the same lot the feed-
ing of them becomes a difficult matter, as the larger
crowd the weaker and take most of the food. Get one
or more big but low dry goods or grocery boxes and
remove a part of each side, as shown in Figure 10, at
the left, making the opening just high enough to per-
mit the small chicks to enter. Stretch a wire trom
TTT
FIGS 8 9: AUTOMATIC FEEDERS
side to side at the top and throw feed inside for the
younger broods. They will quickly learn to start for
their own quarters when the feed dish appears.
The cut at the right of Figure 10 shows a frame-
work low at one end and much higher at the other,
under which chickens of all ages and sizes can be fed,
and each one allowed to eat in peace. All sizes of chicks
fed together in an open space results in the big ones
trampling on the smaller, and robbing them of their
share. Some such arrangement as that shown is abso-
DEVICES FOR FEEDING 7
lutely essential where chickens have to be hatched dur-
ing a considerable space of time in the spring. An ideal
condition is to have the chicks all early and all of a
size, but few can accomplish this desirable end.
A wire-topped feeding frame appears in Fig-
ure ii. The framework of the rack proper is about
FIG lO: FEEDING PENS FOR CHICKENS
forty inches square and consists of two-inch strips
nailed to four small two by two posts about five inches
high, thus leaving a space of about three inches between
the frame and ground for the chickens to enter. The
top is covered with wire netting and the cross sticks
are inserted to keep it from sagging.
FIG II
WIRE FRAME
Automatic Feeder — This plan, shown in Figure
12, may be used for grain, shells, scraps or grit, and
may be adapted to fowls of any age and size. It is
simple in construction and may be of any size desired,
but for thirty or forty hens it should be about one foot
wide, three feet long and one and one-half feet high.
8 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
"-*^
The ends, a a, should be cut as shown, then a board
as wide as the ends and as long as the feeder should
be nailed horizontally between the ends as they stand
upright and four inches below the shoulders. Cut
the sides, b b, and nail in position, next make a V-
shaped trough as long as the feeder and invert between
the lower edges of b b to keep the food from running
out too much at once. Nail on strips, c c, which should
be four inches wide, and put on a cover with hinges.
Feeding by Clockwork — A feed box as in Figure
13 may be quite easily arranged to open at a certain
hour each morning or afternoon, thus providing for the
FIG 12: AUTOMATIC TROUGH
fowls during the keeper's absence. Any alarm clock
with a fixed key will answer. Unscrew the key that
winds the alarm by turning it backward. Have a piece
of thin but strong iron, about four inches long, welded
to the key, so that it protrudes beyond the clock.
Make a box, of any desired shape, but with a
cover on hinges that protrudes beyond the box, having
the part that protrudes heavier than the part that covers
the box, so that the box will open when not prevented
from doing so by the piece of iron, a, or the alarm key
of the clock. Set the alarm for the hour it is desired to
feed, do not wind it too tight, and have the alarm key
DEVICES FOR FEEDING 9
pointing in the same direction as the minute hand does
when five minutes before the hour.
Have the clock secured to a block of wood, so that
the lid of the box is kept closed by the alarm key, a.
When the alarm goes off, at feeding time, the alarm
FIG 13: FEEDING BY CLOCKWORK
key will turn and the feed box open. The hens will
soon get used to the alarm bell, and run for their feed
when they hear it. The same plan can be used for
feeding a horse, by having the alarm key support the
bottom of the box, which opens with a hinge and allows
FIG 14: FEEDING-BOARD AND EXERCISER
the feed to drop in the manger. The alarm key must
be well screwed on to the clock, using a small piece of
twine or glue on the thread of the screw, and the clock
must be set well back on the block of wood, so as not
to prevent the alarm key revolving.
IO POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
Feeding for Exercise — Plenty of eggs and fertile
ones never come from fowls that are allowed to stuff
themselves arid sit on roosts and boxes all the time until
they become sluggish and overfat. The feed board
illustrated in Figure 14 is recommended by H. H. Stod-
dard. A series of boards are firmly joined to reach
across all the pens, being attached by wires to the raft-
ers. A supply of fine grain, like wheat, is placed on the
boards over each pen, and shaken down a little at a time
by a blow from a hammer applied at one end. The
grain falls into several inches of litter below, and the
fowls scratch for it.
CHAPTER II
FOUNTAINS AND WATER SUPPLY
The weak point about most large poultry plants is a
poor water supply. Usually the water is carried to
each flock in pails and poured into the dishes or foun-
tains, with much labor and with poor results.
When large numbers of birds are kept, it is of
course desirable that a system be adopted for saving
labor. A practical system in use is where the water is
FIG 15: SYSTEM FOR WATER SUPPLY
supplied by inch pipes and having a cock in each pen
directly over the water trough. Figure 15 shows a
diagram drawing of this plan. The flow of the cocks
is regulated by having the one in the first pen run very
slowly and gradually increasing the flow of water in
each pen. Thus all the troughs will be full at the same
time. The pipe may rest on the fencing which divides
12 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
the runs. This plan of watering, designed by G. C.
Watson of the Pennsylvania experiment station, can
also be used in brooder houses to good advantage.
It is important to give fowls fresh, clean drink. A
tank shown in Figure 16 is well worth copying. The
upper part may be a syrup can with the bottom cut off.
FIG l6: TANK FOUNTAIN
In front at the lower edge a V-shaped notch may be
cut three-quarters of an inch deep. On the opposite
side, at the top, a bucket ear may be soldered. At the
sides of the bottom and near the corners, narrow strips
projecting outward should be soldered to slide under
FOUNTAINS AND WATER SUPPLY 13
corresponding strips on the bottom pan. The pro-
jecting tins should be double to gain strength. Let
the pan be an inch and a half deep and at least one inch
larger in front. It may fit comfortably at the sides and
back to slide easily. Let the can be turned bottom side
up, filled and inverted. It may then be hung up to suit
the fowls, the ear soldered on at the top of the back
slipping over the hook in the wall. Such a tank is best
made of galvanized iron. It is a satisfactory affair for
poultry of any age.
FIG 17: PROTECTION FOR WATER DISH
For Clean Water — Where plain open dishes are
used, as on most farms, they should be put inside a
crate to keep the birds from stepping into them or sit-
ting on the edge. An old berry crate will do very well.
One made to order is shown in Figure 17. It is a box
and it needs no back, as the highest side is to be set
against the wall. The top is hinged so it can be raised
to set the basin in, and there is a shelf six inches from
the bottom to hold the basin and slats in front. The
hens cannot stand on it nor in it, nor scratch dirt into it.
14 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
Another ingenious plan for keeping the water clean
appears at the left of Figure 18. A board bracket is
nailed to a post or to one of the studding timbers and
on the under side of it is horizontally fastened a square
piece of broad board which serves as a shelf to keep the
droppings from falling into the drinking vessel below.
The vessel should be of such a hight that the fowls can-
not get between it and the shelf so as to roost on the
edge of the vessel. Blocks may be placed below it
for this purpose. At the same time the shelf should
be sufficiently high that the fowl need only to stoop
FIG l8: COVERED WATER DISHES
very slightly to drink. This simple contrivance will
be found of great service in protecting the drinking
water which must be given to the fowls in their houses
on stormy or very cold days.
The fountain shown at the right side of Figure
1 8 will also keep the water fairly clean, besides having
a distinct merit of its own. Such breeds as the Leg-
horns, Minorcas and some others have such large combs
and wattles that there is much danger in watering them
in winter from open dishes. They wet these head appen-
dages, then become chilled and many times frozen. A
device for avoiding this is shown in the cut. A dish,
FOUNTAINS AND WATER SUPPLY 15
whose sides do not flare at all, is fitted with a circular
piece of board that will loosely fit inside. In this
board are four or more small round openings, through
which the fowls can thrust their beaks, but not their
combs or wattles. As the water is consumed the board
falls, bringing the surface always within reach.
Heated Fountains — Water from which the chill
has been warmed away is a stimulant to egg produc-
tion, just as it is to the milk flow when given to cattle.
The illustration shows a plan which has been used in a
FIG 19: WINTER FOUNTAIN
cold climate all last winter, keeping the water free
from ice during the severest weather.
The one in Figure 19 holds about thirteen
gallons, but could be made to contain twice that
quantity if desired. It is a capital idea for both
summer and winter. Anyone can make the frame for
the fountain and any tinsmith can make a galvanized
tank after this pattern. The cost of the frame, includ-
ing end rods and braces, will not be over fifty cents,
while the tank will cost about fifteen cents per pound,
all made. In summer it should be kept out of doors,
l6 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
either on grass or a wood platform, so the ducks and
geese cannot foul the water. A shade of some kind
should be furnished.
During the winter the fountain should be fur-
nished with a base, as indicated by dotted lines. Use
a brooder stove in freezing weather. It will be unneces-
sary to burn the stove during the night, for a very
FIG 2O : LAMP WATER HEATER
little heat will thaw it out in the morning. It will be
better to set the fountain between two pens, for the
birds can drink from both sides, as may be seen in the
picture.
In constructing one of these fountains, loose pin
butt hinges are used to fasten the bottom to the top.
FOUNTAINS AND WATER SUPPLY 17
The rod or axle on which it rests goes completely
through the fountain and is of galvanized iron, being
soldered around it to make it tight. When filling, the
fountain is turned bottom up and made fast by the
little hooks, as seen in the cut. The rod should be
exactly in the center of the tank. The principle is the
same as in all fountains that turn in the hand, only the
frame in which it rests makes it possible to increase
the size.
A fountain like that in Figure 20 may be kept from
freezing at very little expense for oil, and it works per-
FIG 21 : KETTLE AND HEATER
fectly if the funnel part is carefully soldered where it
joins the dish. Take a plain side, cake-baking tin
with a funnel in the center ; also, a butter firkin or nail
keg, and a small naphtha hand lamp (without the cot-
ton filling). Place the lamp on the bottom of the
firkin, lower the tin until the wick of the lamp is half
an inch up the funnel, now insert four screws in the
bottom of the firkin, opposite to each other, and just
above the bottom of the tin. These pressing against
the slanting sides of the tin will support, and turned
out or in will raise or lower the tin. Tack the firkin
l8 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
hoops at the top, middle and bottom, between top and
middle hoop on two sides, cut out one or two staves
to allow the fowls a place to reach the water. Nail a
piece of tin, loosely, on under side of cover, also a
strap or rope on firkin for a bail, and it is complete.
Use kerosene, and regulate the flame to prevent
smoking.
Figure 21 shows a very simple but effective heated
fountain which can be rigged up in fifteen minutes
with common tools. The top of a box is covered with
zinc or sheet iron, projecting at the ends enough to
make a stand for the fowls, while drinking, or if pre-
FIG 22 : FOUNTAIN WARMER
ferred, the box may be partly sunk in the earth and
banked a little at the ends. A common hand lamp is
placed in the box under the metal cover, which should
not come within three or four inches of the chimney.
A very small blaze is enough, and none is needed on
mild days. The iron kettle holding the water should be
a large one. Keep the fowls off the edge by a partition
of tin, as shown.
Fountain Warmer — Figure 22 shows a patent con-
trivance furnished by the supply stores, and so ar-
ranged that food and water or water and milk may be
FOUNTAINS AND WATER SUPPLY IQ
kept warm and free from ice. Fountain and feed box
work automatically. Oil is burned. The idea could be
combined with the fountain shown in Figure 19 or 21
so that more than one substance may be kept warm
from a single lamp.
Anti-Freeze Fountain — An earthen jug is so fas-
tened into the half barrel by means of crosspieces that
its mouth will come near the bottom of the tub, upon
one side — a piece of a stave being removed at that
FIG 23 : NON-FREEZING FOUNTAIN
point (Figure 23). The space around the jug is rilled
with fermenting horse manure, and slats are nailed
across, when the "fountain" is ready for use. Fill the
jug with water and cork it ; then invert the tub, bring-
ing the mouth of the jug over a basin, as shown in the
engraving. When the cork is withdrawn the water will
flow until the mouth of the jug is covered ; it will then
cease, and as the water is used, more will come from the
jug, and so on, forming a continuous self-acting foun-
20
POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
tain. Such a contrivance will keep the water from
freezing, except in the coldest winter weather. The jug
should be emptied at night.
FIG 24: CHICK FOUNTAIN
FIG 25 ! GENERAL PURPOSE FOUNTAIN
Chick Fountains — A fountain for little chickens
should be so arranged that they can always get water
without soiling it or running the risk of drowning.
Many of the chick fountains are also very good for
FOUNTAINS AND WATER SUPPLY 21
fowls of all ages. The simplest form is that of the
bottle or can filled and placed mouth down over a plate
or shallow dish. An improved form is shown in Fig-
ure 24. Select one of the gallon-size fruit cans and set
it upside down in a tin cake dish from the five-cent
counter. Make two dents in the edge of the can, as
shown, and fit a wire from one edge of the plate up
over the can, and down to the other side. If preferred,
a pail may be used, as shown at the right of the basin,
FIG 26: WATER FOR CHICKS
the cover fitting air-tight and holes being punched near
the bottom.
Figure 25 is also a fountain from an old fruit can
with the top soldered tight again, a hole punched near
the bottom and a lip soldered on to hold the flow. All
the preceding chick fountains, as also the bottle foun-
tain in Figure 26, depend on keeping the tank air-tight
above the water line, so that the water can escape only
as fast as the chicks drink it, thus admitting air from
below.
Figure 26 explains itself. A bottle holding one or
two gallons will work as well as the small one shown.
22
POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
It should be fitted with a cork having a groove at one
side for convenience when replacing the bottle after
refilling. A shallow dish may be used instead of the
wooden box.
Figure 27 shows the invention of an exasperated
poultryman whose hens with chicks insisted on scratch-
FIG 27 : CASING FOR WATER CAN
ing over the water dish as soon as possible. It is of
four square pieces of plank, all but the lower section
being hollowed out enough to admit the water can.
The whole thing being quite heavy, it cannot be upset
by the fowls. If the dish is a deep one, a stone should
be kept in it to prevent chicks from drowning.
FIG 28: SAFE WATER DISH
A water dish in which chicks are never drowned
appears in Figure 28. There is a wooden box eighteen
inches long and four inches wide. It should be about
two inches deep on the inside. The cover is a board
one inch thick, with four or five three-fourths-inch
FOUNTAINS AND WATER SUPPLY 23
holes bored through it. Make the cover a little smaller
than the box, so it will go easily inside. Fill box half
full of water and allow board to float on top. The
board will support the weight of the chick and the
water will rise about half way through the holes.
Using this, the chicks will not get wet.
FIG 29 : OYSTER-CAN FOUNTAIN
A similar effect is secured in a very simpie way
in Figure 29. Take an oyster can and cut an opening
on one side, as illustrated. It cannot be turned over,
and water will not spill out when carrying it. When
FIG 30: BOX FOR WATER DISH
full it will hold enough water for about fifteen chicks
one day. It will cost but little, as it can be made of any
24 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
size by a tinner in a short time, if desired of larger
capacity.
Protection for Water Dish — Make a shallow box
and hinge to it a cover of slats made of laths, as in
FIG 31 : POOL FOR DUCKS
Figure 30. Through these the fowls can reach the
water, but cannot soil it. Have the box just large
enough to set the dish of water within, and shut the
FIG 32 : DRINKING WATER FOR DUCKS
slat cover down over it. A similar device for giving
water in a way to keep the fowls out of the water vessel
is to have a moderately high box, with slats up and
FOUNTAINS AND WATER SUPPLY 25
down one side. Then set the water dish within, and
the fowls can drink through the slats. The top of the
box, or cover, should be sloping, to keep the fowls off
from it.
Water for Ducks — Where no pool of water is at
hand for ducks, a small pool can easily be made for
them, as in Figure 31. Dig a square hole eight inches
deep and as large as desired. Put eight-inch boards
around the sides. Now tamp down the bottom hard
and level, and coat the surface with an inch of cement,
bringing the coating up to the top of the boards at the
sides, of the same thickness as the bottom. Drive shin-
gle nails thickly into the boards to give the cement
something to cling to. In the same way a pool for a
"water garden" can be made for the growing of
aquatic plants.
Where the object is merely to supply the abun-
dance of drinking water so necessary to young ducks
at feeding time, a large flat trough, as in Figure 32,
will answer the purpose.
CHAPTER III
MILLS AND FOOD MACHINERY
Prepared foods, grit, shells, meat and clover, may
be bought at most large agricultural stores. Special
home machines for such purposes are therefore not
positively required even where a complete food assort -
FIG 33 I HAND BONE MILLS
ment is wanted. But where home resources are to be
utilized to full extent and every penny saved, a few
good food machines will pay well for the keeping.
Bone Mills — One of these machines is needed on
every farm, since it affords the only means of making
MILLS AND FOOD MACHINERY 2 7
full use of the bone refuse which is constantly accumu-
lating. A first-class mill will work bone and flesh of
dead animals and the waste from the table or market
into pieces that can be swallowed by the fowls.
By grinding and feeding the bones their full value
is secured, as they furnish a first-class egg food, while
most of the fertilizing value is secured in the manure.
Manure from animal food is nearly as rich as guano.
Several types of the hand bone mill are shown in
Figure 33. The two upper mills are for dry bones
FIG 34: MOUNTED BONE MILLS
only, and are therefore less useful for general pur-
poses. They cost about five dollars each, but some of
this type are sold as low as two dollars and a half.
The two mills at lower part of Figure 33 are for
green bones. The first pattern works with a chopping
motion. The secc ; d, one of the oldest and most popu-
lar styles, has a cutting action. Both are good for their
size, but to operate them with heavy bones is tedious
work. For a good-sized flock it is best to have a large
28
POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
mill as shown in Figure 33, arranging it to run by
power attachment if possible. A one-horse sweep
power will drive a good-sized machine. Figure 34
shows the Ohio, Mann and Adam makes, besides
which there are many others equally effective. Bones,
if tolerably fresh, and meat may be quite freely fed if
the fowls are watched and the quantity reduced at first
sign of bowel disorder. The larger machines cost from
FIG
FOOD CHOPPER
eight dollars to twenty-five dollars, according to size
and style.
Food Choppers — Where plenty of liver, lights or
other solid meat can be had cheap from slaughter
houses, such meat will furnish the best form of animal
food. It can be worked up very fast in a large, strong
meat cutter like that shown in Fig-are 35, which will
cut three or four pounds a minute, fine or coarse, and
MILLS AND FOOD MACHINERY 2£
can be bought of the supply stores for about two dol-
lars, with a choice of several different makes. These
machines will work up any kind of soft refuse food.
For Vegetables and Fodder — For reducing green
vegetables, root pulpers, as shown in Figure 36, are
FIGS 36 — 37 : ROOT CUTTERS
useful. Machines may be had which will answer for
cattle and for poultry also. Fowls will consume large
quantities of finely-cut vegetables, reducing the grain
bill and maintaining the relaxed condition of the sys-
tem favorable to egg production.
Cut fodder will always pay for fowls in close
quarters or in winter where snow covers the ground.
The old style hand lever cutters will cut clover or
rowen fine enough f-jr chickens. Some styles of the
wheel cutters, like the one in Figure 37, are made with
3O POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
special reference to needs of poultry and can be set to
cut very short. In summer the lawn mower affords a
convenient supply of short, tender grass for chicks and
older fowls in yards. The surplus should be kept for
winter use.
FIG 38: FODDER CUTTER
To Balance a Small Mill — Attach a small crank
mill such as is used for grinding coffee and grain for
household use to the balance wheel of a corn sheller,
fodder cutter or similar weight/ machine, simply tying
the handle of the mill to a spoke of the large wheel.
The mill, if not already secure, should be bolted to the
wall at the right hight for the power. A mill geared
MILLS AND FOOD MACHINERY 3!
this way may be driven very fast for coarse grinding,
and is very convenient for preparing special mixtures
for poultry or for cooking purposes. A small bone
cutter may be operated in the same manner.
Grit Pounders — To keep poultry in thrift, and
furnish material for eggshells, lime is necessary, as we
have said. Oyster shells and clam shells are much
used. To pound these, a log of wood may be slightly
FIG 39 : GRIT POUNDER
hollowed at one end, and surrounded with a piece of
tin (Figure 39), an opening being left to admit the
handle of the pestle, which is like a wooden mallet, the
striking end being armed with small bolts, driven into
the wood so as to leave the heads exposed. A ring to
prevent splitting will be an improvement.
Another style, good for crockery and glass, is
shown in Figure 40. Take a piece of railway iron
about two feet long, and make a box without top or
32 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
bottom, one foot high, and just wide and long enough to
fit neatly over the rail. Place the dishes, etc, in this
mortar and break up with an old ax or sledge. When
done remove box and let the chickens at the grit.
FIG 40: SMALL GRIT POUNDER
FIG 41 I GRIT MILL
MILLS AND FOOD MACHINERY 33
A very powerful grit machine is that in Figure
41. It does rapid work with crockery, glass or shells,
crushing them with an action much like that of a pair
of strong jaws. The grinders are the six-foot arms,
d d, shod with roughened iron plates above the pivots
at I, and moved to and fro by means of the lever, K.
The frame, a b a b, is four by five feet, made of tim-
ber four by six inches. The hopper, / /, is one foot
deep. The pivots at /, bf e, e, are stout bolts set to play
freely, but the bolt at g i is screwed tight. The small
side drawing shows construction of grinder arms.
CHAPTER IV
CONVENIENT ROOSTS
The most simple form of good roost comprises a
series of straight poles, two inches thick and with bark
left on. They should be all on a level and not more
than three feet from the ground. They may extend
straight across the building, each pole resting in a
socket cut into a frame joist of each side, thus allowing
each or all poles to be easily removed for cleaning.
Lightness and a neat appearance will be gained if two
by four building joists with two of the corners rounded
off are used in place of poles.
Another decided improvement it to attach the
roosts to a frame, and attach the whole-by hinges and a
cord, as in Figure 42, thus allowing the frame to shut
down close against the wall. The cord, c, is hung from
the roof and is hooked to the frame. At d is a support
to steady the frame.
A modification of this plan is shown in Figure 43,
which represents a very low roost for young chickens
or for heavy breeds. The frame of roosts simply rests
upon the floor, and when moved it is leaned back
against the wall in direction of dotted lines, c c. The
bars of this roost are made flat to prevent crooked
breast bones, often resulting in heavy young birds
from pressure against small or sharp roosts.
Portable perches are shown in Figures 44 and 45.
They are very handy, not only at cleaning time, but to
be transferred from one house to another. In Figure
44 is a simple form of single pole on V-shaped frame
CONVENIENT ROOSTS 35
with droppings board below. In Figure 45 are two
poles. It prevents the chickens from crowding at ends
of perches, as the ends do not connect with the sides
or ends of building. The kerosene cups prevent ver-
min from working to and from any part of the building
FIG 42 : IMPROVED ROOST
on the chickens at night. The coop is more easily kept
free from vermin, and does away with whitewashing
and cleaning in a great measure. They are not expen-
sive, and in many cases the standards can be mortised
30 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
in the four beams, and then would require only four
pieces of timber. Perches are fourteen inches high,
made of two by fours, and are twenty-two inches wide.
The perches are not mortised all the way through and
are not fastened.
Vermin Proof — The preceding cut, Figure 45,
shows the supports of the roost protected by an oil cup.
FIG
LOW IMPROVED ROOST
In Figure 46 appears a somewhat similar device, where
the pole rests on the point of a malleable iron bracket.
In the illustration, A is a saucer-shaped collar, B the
cavity in the collar, D a hole bored through the two by
four roost scantling C. It is designed that kerosene oil
be poured through D until B is filled and this will keep
the little red mites from crawling from the ground and
CONVENIENT ROOSTS
37
FIG 44: PORTABLE ROOST
FIG 45 : PORTABLE LICE-PROOF ROOST
FIG 46: LICE-PROOF SUPPORTER FOR ROOST
FIG 47 : KEROSENE PAN FOR ROOST
38 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
sides of the building to the roost, The brackets
should be placed upon opposite sides of the building,
so that each roost will extend clear across. The hole
in the roost should be made so large that it can be
easily taken off.
A plan slightly more simple is depicted in Figure
47, where the roost pole rests in a square pan or metal
box. The pan is charged with water, on top of which
floats a layer of oil.
Cold Weather Plans — Where a small flock of Leg-
horns, or other tender, large-combed breed, is kept, it
is important to provide a very warm roosting place for
them if winter eggs are to be looked for in severe
FIG 40 : COLD WEATHER ROOST
climates. Figure 48 shows a simple way to make such
a warm roosting place. The barrels shut up close to-
gether in use, and the fowls enter and leave by the
opening that is shown. The barrels can be removed
as warm weather approaches, and the usual roosts
substituted.
In Figure 49 is shown one end of the poultry house
partitioned off, and the separated portion divided in
two by a platform at the middle point from floor to
ceiling. The upper part contains the roosts and below
is a dusting place, with a small window toward the sun.
In front is a hinged door that shuts up before the roosts
at night to provide warmth, and shuts down over the
CONVENIENT ROOSTS
39
dusting room in the daytime for warmth. Two round
openings give entrance to the dusting room and ventila-
tion to both places.
Writes J. E. Jones of Wayne county, New York :
"My plan of keeping Light Brahma fowls warm winter
nights is as shown in Figure 50, at the left of the illus-
tration. It appears, after due experience, to be best
FIG 49: WARM ROOSTS
with Brahmas and Cochins to have no roosts, but to
have the fowls sit upon the floor at night. The floor
should have a thick coating of road dust or loam, and
upon this a thick coat of leaves or straw. On such a
floor fowls will rest most comfortably. If roosts are
provided, even low ones, some of the fowls will not go
40 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
upon them, their great weight making them timid.
They will huddle on the floor under the roost, where
they would become cold, and their plumage probably
soiled in the morning. A low, small addition is made
to the regular poultry quarters, the hight not being
more than half that of the latter. Across the front
of the opening is a burlap curtain, hung on a wire,
which is drawn across the opening on cold nights, mak-
ing the fowls very warm within. This low addition
FIG 50: SEPARATE ROOSTING PENS
can very easily be made if the poultry quarters are in
another building, the night quarters being let out into
the room adjacent."
Another curtain plan for cold weather appears in
Figure 50 at the right. Have all the perches, b, in one
end of the coop and fasten rings to the ceiling so that
a heavy burlap or flannel curtain, a, may be hung,
dividing the coop. There will be enough natural heat
from the fowls' bodies to warm this smaller space in
the coldest weather. Hang the curtain in place after
the fowls go to roost.
CONVENIENT ROOSTS 4!
Droppings Boards — These are convenient where
the droppings are removed often, as they should be in
summer, at least. The convenient roosting device
shown in Figure 51 is submitted by Mrs J. Fairbank,
a successful Pacific coast poultrywoman, who writes :
^ ffoosrj
FIG 51 : ROOSTS AND DROPPING BOARDS
FIG 52: ROOSTS AND MANURE BIN
"To arrange this plan of roosting and dropping boards,
first take a two by eight plank, sixteen inches long, nail
one end to the floor, five feet from the north side.
Take a one by eight-inch board, five feet long, to which
nail a cleat sixteen inches from the floor and nail the
42 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
other end of the board to the side of the wall. Nail the
bottom board, one by eight feet, on top of a short end
piece. Cut rafter two by four inches by six feet. Nail
rafter to short plank and to meet other rafters, and nail
on boards to make slanting platform. Chaff should be
placed in the space under the dropping boards, thus
making the entire floor available for exercise. Hoe
the droppings from the bottom board into a box."
Roost and Manure Bin — Figure 52 shows one of
the best plans for caring for poultry manure. The
FIG 53 : ROOSTS FOR CHICKENS
manure bin is built against the side of the pen, and has
a single roost in the center above it.
The front of this triangular box is detachable and
is taken away when the manure is to be removed. This
need not occur until the box is full, plaster or road
dust being scattered over the surface every morning,
which will prevent the giving off of ammonia or un-
pleasant odors. A special advantage of this plan is
that it takes no floor space and does away with the ne-
CONVENIENT ROOSTS 43
cessity of removing the droppings every day, as in the
case of the ordinary platform beneath the roosts.
Roosts for Chickens — As the chickens obtain size,
they may be taught to go to roost in some room that is
not occupied. Here they will be always under cover
and safe at night from their enemies. Make the roost
of broad strips of board, to prevent crooked breast
bones, and to reduce the risk of vermin use the plan
of hanging the roosts shown in Figure 53. The strips
rest on horizontal wires, to which they are stapled be-
neath, and are held firmly up by wires from the ceiling.
Number 12 wire is stout enough. The same plan may
be used to advantage in the regular poultry house.
CHAPTER V
DOORS AND WINDOWS
A poorly made, badly hung door will be a prime
nuisance so long as it lasts, and becomes worse year
by year. The doorpost should be large and heavy and
well braced to prevent sagging. If set in the ground
it should reach down several feet. Leather hinges
should not be used even for a slat gate, but rather the
FIG 54: COMBINATION DOOR
strap iron hinges, which are not costly and a good
supply of which should be kept on hand.
A divided door for a poultry house appears in
Figure 54, giving a combination for both summer and
winter use. The lower half has laths nailed to the
inside and covering the space filled by the upper half
DOORS AND WINDOWS 45
of the door. The latter may be opened in summer for
ventilation. When shut and secured by the button
on the lower half, the whole becomes a solid door.
The same arrangement will also be found useful in
ventilating the poultry quarters upon warm days in
winter. Such ventilation, with plenty of sunlight
to keep the place warm, and litter in which the fowls
must scratch for food so as to get exercise, are prime
requisites to success with poultry in winter.
77 / / M
FIG 55 : COMBINATION DOOR
Door Between Pens — Where a long poultry build-
ing is divided into a number of pens the divisions
must be boarded at the bottom to prevent the fowls,
particularly the males, from righting. A good door
for such a division is shown in Figure 55. It is made
of lath in the ordinary way, but has the laths at the
lower part very near together, the spaces growing
more open as they go up. This prevents fighting,
makes a handsome gate and one easily constructed.
40 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
Self-Opening Door — Fix the coop as shown in the
diagram (Figure 56), and the chicks will let them-
selves out of their coops. When one gets upon the
board with grain upon it, he pulls the latch open over-
head, and the door in front falls. Even without the
grain, chicks will open the door. The same device can
be used for hens in their houses.
Still another plan to avoid early rising appears
in Figure 57. Have boards fitted to slide across the
FIGS 56 57 : SELF-OPENING DOORS
doorway of the chicken quarters, and a long hook, to
keep the door partly open. Put in one board at first,
and teach the chicks to fly up over it at night. Then
put in another board, and presently another. Then
animals cannot get in at night, while the chicks can go
out at dawn. By varying hight of board the device
can be adapted to chickens of any age.
Good Windows — Common square or rectangular
sashes are best for general purposes, and they can
DOORS AND WINDOWS
47
usually be had cheap at auction sales or from dis-
mantled buildings. These windows are, of course, set
vertically into the wall, as they will not shed water well
if set at much of a slant. Slanting windows must be
without crossbars and the ends of the panes must over-
lap, as in hotbed sashes. Slanting windows usually
give more trouble than they are worth, are constantly
leaking or breaking, and are not durable. One window
to a pen is enough and each one should be made easily
FIG 58: WARM WINDOWS
removable in summer. The space may be protected
with wire netting, which may be left on the whole year.
If new glass must be bought, the second or third grades
will answer. For doing a cheap job, crossbars are not
absolutely needed, as if the panes are fitted closely and
firmly in the upright bars, the ends of the panes may be
brought together without a bar between. Brads may
be used instead of putty glazing. A window thus
made is a cold affair and is not desirable for severe
climates.
48
POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
Warm Windows — Many poultry houses have
twice the glass that is desirable. The houses get very
warm in the daytime and very cold at night in winter.
An excellent remedy is shown in Figure 58. The upper
portion of each sash is removed and a solid board shut-
ter substituted. This can be opened during the warm
part of each day, giving the fowls outdoor air with
indoor scratching opportunities. Even on cold days
these shutters can be opened for a half hour, to thor-
FIGS 59 60: PROTECTED WINDOWS
oughly air the building. In summer the shutters can
be opened a little way and fastened, the open space
being slatted to prevent the fowls from going out.
This will keep the house cool at that season.
Ordinary windows let in much cold about their
sides. A helpful plan is to screw wide pieces of board
around the outside of the sash, allowing the strips to
project two or more inches all around the sash, as
shown in Figure 60. Nail strips to the wall around
this extended sash and hinge the strips to the exten-
DOORS AND WINDOWS
49
sion of the sash. The window can thus be opened
readily, but when closed no cracks are left unstopped.
With sashes hinged in this way, the windows of poul-
try houses may be opened during the warmer and
sunnier portions of the day, giving almost the same
conditions as are found in open scratching sheds, but
without the inconveniences of the latter.
FIG 6l : DOUBLE WINDOWS
No farm building more greatly needs double win-
dows in winter than the poultry house, but there is the
trouble of securing proper "airing out" of the house
on pleasant days in winter, where double windows are
used. A double window that can be opened and then
closed tightly against the entrance of wind is shown
in Figure 61. The top and bottom are fitted to pieces
of wood of such shape and fitting that air cannot enter.
5O POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
The whole is then hinged and swung as one window.
One window in a house fitted in this way, with the
outside door, will give ample opportunity for ventilat-
ing the house every sunny morning. The rest of the
windows can be of the ordinary double pattern.
CHAPTER VI
NESTING CONTRIVANCES
A good nest is both safe and attractive. It should
be large enough so that two hens at the same time will
not break eggs. It should be low at one side so that
hens need not jump down upon the eggs. It should
have a cover for seclusion and to keep idle fowls from
roosting on the edge. The opening should face away
from the light, as darkness discourages egg-eating and
other forms of interference on the part of mischief
makers. For similar reasons the box should be about
two and one-half feet above the floor. An alighting
board in front of the entrance will afford the layer a
chance to enter carefully, as her instinct teaches. The
nest filling should be renewed twice a year, and also
whenever used several weeks by a sitter. The filling
should be abundant enough to prevent breakage and
should be free from coarse or thorny material. The
presence of a nest egg will usually prevent scratching,
but if very young birds are there, they may pull the hay
about somewhat. In such cases a filling of shavings or
excelsior may be used, and care should be taken not
to drop grain into the nests. Nests should be numer-
ous and all about alike, so that none will be over-
crowded. If raised well above the floor the space they
occupy will not be missed. Every box should be ar-
ranged for easy and quick removal when desired.
A very simple nest and easily made, is de-
scribed by A. B. Hewitt, who writes: "I make them
of old soap, candle or starch boxes. Take the box
52 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
with the lid nailed on and four inches from one end
rule a line as shown by the dotted line in the first illus-
tration in Figure 62. Then mark the other end of
the box on the opposite sides in the same way, also
shown by the dotted line. Now saw the box where
these lines are, and it will make two nests like the one
shown in the second half of the figure. Nail a cleat
of one-inch stuff just at the top, and inside of the high
sides of the* box. This cleat makes a convenient han-
FIG 62 I PLAIN NEST BOXES
die, and at the same time strengthens the box. The
nests should be placed beneath the droppings board with
the high sides next to the entrance of the pen or hen-
house. By tarring all the joints or painting them with
a solution of carbolic acid, they are easily kept free
from vermin. They will be found much better than a
long box, as one can be removed at any time for set-
ting a hen in another part of the building. I never
have any trouble from the hens flying off their nests
NESTING CONTRIVANCES
53
upon my approach. The boxes should be bought for
from eight to ten cents each."
The cuts in Figure 63 show how a contrivance can
be made for laying hens which will keep out hogs,
dogs, or any animals liable to destroy the eggs. The
framework is two by three scantling. Then ordinary
boards are used for the sides and roof. The hens go in
at the entrance and pass around either end of a, gain-
ing access to the nests. A little door, b, at the end,
shown in the right-hand cut, closed, by means of a hasp,
permits entrance for the removal of the eggs. This
FIG 63 : SECURE NEST BOX
little nesting place can be moved to any convenient part
of the yard and the eggs deposited there are secure.
The hens will soon learn to go to it. The material re-
quired is eight pieces of one by twelve inches eight feet
long, two pieces of one by fourteen inches three feet
long, two pieces of two by three inches three feet long,
eight pieces of one by twelve inches twelve feet long,
two pieces of one by three inches eight feet long, and
one piece of one by ten inches six feet long, with two
pounds of eightpenny nails.
Open-work nests, as in Figure 64, at the left of
the illustration, are easily kept clean and free from
54
POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
lice. They may be bought ready-made, or may be
woven from old bale hay wire or from willow wands.
A thorough singeing or scalding will renovate the nest
at any time. The nest should have a wooden edge-
piece for the hen to alight on, and a large card for
dates of sitters is a convenience.
A plan for transferring sitters is shown at the
right of Figure 64. The nest boxes, b, d, are placed
on a board platform, e, extending through the partition
between a room for layers and another for the sitters.
FIG 64: THREE USEFUL NEST IDEAS
When a hen is to be set, the box with hen and eggs
is simply pushed through the partition.
Prevents Dirty Nests — Fowls can be prevented
from roosting on the edge of their nest boxes by plac-
ing a two-inch roller at the front of the boxes, as
shown in Figure 64, 1 1 1. The roller revolves easily
upon a wooden pin at each end. The sides of the boxes
are made slanting for the same reason.
A New Nesting Arrangement — To make dark
nests inside a henhouse is a matter involving not a
NESTING CONTRIVANCES
55
little work. And even then the nests often prove
a nuisance, since the fowls roost on them and soil
them constantly. A handy contrivance for securing
dark nests is shown in Figure 65. Where the fowl-
house is inside another building, or has a hallway, this
plan can be easily and conveniently used. Long boxes
are used for the nests, each having a partition across
the middle with a round opening through it large
enough for a hen to pass through. Two other round
openings for each nest are made. One in the outside
FIG 65 : GOOD NESTING ARRANGEMENTS
of the box, as shown, another in the partition of the
henpen. Place the box against the outside of the parti-
tion so that -the two openings will come together, when
the hen can enter and pass around into the dark nest.
A hinged cover gives access to the eggs.
Homemade Recording Nest Box — One of the best
non-patented devices for keeping egg records is that
used at the Maine experiment station and illustrated
herewith ( Figure 66 ). In the drawing are shown two
of the completed nests from side to side, one of them
closed after the entrance of a hen and the other re-
50 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
opened for the entrance of another layer. After each
hen has laid, the attendant removes her, and each hen
has a band with a number attached to her leg and the
eggs may be numbered to correspond. This process
is gone through in the attempt to pick out the best
layers to keep over for breeders and the experiment
station hopes to establish a strain of wonderful layers.
FIG 66: TRAP NEST BOXES
For those who wish to make their own boxes,
the following directions are supplied by Professor
Gowell of the Maine station:
It is a box-like structure, without front end or
cover, twenty-eight inches long, thirteen inches wide
and thirteen inches dee- inside measurements. A
NESTING CONTRIVANCES
57
division board with a circular opening" seven and one-
half inches in diameter is placed across the box twelve
inches from the back end and fifteen inches from the
front end. The back section is the nest proper. In-
stead of a close door at the entrance, a light frame is
covered with wire netting. The door is ten and one-
half inches wide and ten inches high and does not fill
the entire entrance, a good margin being left all round
to avoid friction. It is hinged at the top and opens
up into the box. The hinges are placed on the front
of the door.
FIG 67 : ROOST PROTECTED BY NEST
The trip consists of one piece of stiff wire about
three-sixteenths of an inch in diameter and eighteen
and one-half inches long, bent as shown. A piece of
board six inches wide and just long enough to reach
across the box inside is nailed flatwise in front of the
partition and one inch below the top of the box, a space
of one-fourth of an inch being left between the edge of
the board and the partition. The purpose of this board
is only to support the trip wire in place. The six-inch
section of the trip wire is placed across the board and
the long part of the wire slipped through the one-
fourth-inch slot and massed down close to and in front
58 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
of the center of the seven and one-half-inch circular
opening. Small wire staples are driven nearly down
over the six-inch section of the trip wire into the board
so as to hold it in place and yet let it roll sidewise easily.
FIG 68 : NEST FROM A CANDY PAIL
When the door is set, a section of the wire comes
under a hardwood peg or tack in the lower edge of the
door frame. The hen passes in through the circular
opening, and in doing so presses the wire to one side,
which lets the door down and fastens itself by a wooden
NESTING CONTRIVANCES
59
latch or lever. The latch is five inches long, one inch
wide and one-half inch thick, and is fastened loosely
one inch from its center to the side of the box, so that
the outer end is just inside of the door when it is
closed. Pieces of old rubber belting are nailed at the
outside entrance for the door to strike against.
Roosting and Nesting Device — Figure 67 shows a
very excellent roosting and nesting device that has
done duty in the cold of a Maine winter. It is in use
for a small pen of Leghorns — a breed that must be
FIG 69 : NESTS FOR DUCKS
kept warm at night, if eggs are to be had at this season
of the year. The roost is put across the corner of the
pen and a piece of burlap is stretched before it. A few
crosspieces are laid across the corner at the curtain's
upper edge, and on these is piled a lot of waste hay,
making a very warm roosting place. The Leghorns
delight to fly up on this hay and lay their eggs under
the impression that they are stealing away their nests.
Humoring a Leghorn in this way is conducive to lay-
ing, and the eggs can easily be reached. As the whole
thing can be put up in five minutes' time, there is no
excuse for frosted combs on the Leghorns.
6O POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
At stores where candy is sold, one can buy for a
few cents the light, but large, wooden pails in which
broken candy and certain grades of chocolates are
shipped from the factory. These pails make excellent
hens' nests when hung from two hooks in the manner
shown in Figure 68. The weak point of this nest and
several others described is that no alighting board is
provided and no shelter to keep fowls off the edge.
These improvements, however, can be added. Such
nests can be taken out of doors, emptied and cleaned in
a moment, and having no corners or open joints, as do
boxes, there is no place for vermin to hide about them.
This is a special point in favor of the use of such pails
as nests, for the ordinary nest is usually a breeding
place for these troublesome pests.
Nests for Ducks — Some duck raisers use a plain
nest, as shown in Figure 69. These nests are made of
one-inch boards, twelve inches high and sixteen inches
long, set fourteen inches apart, and held together in
front with a three-inch strip. The nests are nailed to
the back of the house.
CHAPTER VII
HELPS IN HATCHING SEASON
No doubt but that a good operator can hatch per-
fect chicks by incubator and keep up the vigor and
excellence of his stock year after year without using a
single sitting hen, but complete success requires care
and experience. Very complete manuals on the sub-
ject may be had free by writing to those who advertise
the machines. Of late years many very practical incu-
bators have been placed on the market, while the older
makes have been greatly improved, especially in regard
to heat regulation. The incubator catalogs contain
plenty of testimonials, and by writing to some of the
more prominent of these, the intending buyer may soon
decide which machine is best suited to his taste and
conditions.
While there are still many points of difference
between manufacturers as to hot air or hot water heat,
moisture or no moisture, cooling and ventilation, yet
most of the incubators now on the market will hatch
eggs satisfactorily in the hands of a careful operator.
By the use of common sense and following the instruc-
tions laid down by the makers, even a beginner can
expect good hatches from fertile eggs. With experi-
ence, hatches of seventy-five to ninety per cent of fer-
tile eggs are commonly obtained.
Incubators vary in capacity from fifty to four hun-
dred eggs. One size is as easy to run as another. For
the practical farmer a machine of one hundred, one
hundred and fifty or two hundred-egg capacity is the
62 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
best size. Three hatches in a season will, with average
success, give as many chickens as ordinarily wanted.
Something depends on the machine, but more on
the operator, and most of all on the eggs. Any ma-
chine that will keep even heat can be made to hatch
successfully. If the temperature is kept at one hun-
dred and two or one hundred and three degrees, if
ventilation is reasonably good, if eggs are all of the
same kind of shell so that the air will enlarge at the
same rate, and if the air cell is watched and by ven-
tilation or moistening, if necessary, made to cor-
respond with the air-cell charts furnished with the
machine, the eggs having also been turned as directed,
then a poor hatch is almost surely the fault of the eggs.
Early in the season eggs are less likely to be fer-
tile. Very late in the season many are infertile, and
the germs are feeble, causing many to die in the shell.
Eggs with thick, dark shells are harder to hatch than
others, and many germs die in the shell or turn out
feeble chicks. Eggs should be of about the same age,
should not be kept over two weeks before starting and
must all be put into machine at same time. Extremely
large eggs and long slender ones do not hatch well.
Better operate the machine empty a few days at
beginning of each season. Fill the lamp every morning
and trim the wick by scraping off the top. Have a
new wick for every hatch and use good oil. If acci-
dents happen and temperature goes above one hundred
and five, chicks will be somewhat injured. Even one
hundred and ten for a few hours does not necessarily
kill, but most of the chicks will be weakened. Eggs
should be sprinkled and cooled at once after having
been much overheated.
In five days from the start, test the eggs, take out
those that are not fertile, mark doubtful ones, putting
them back to be inspected ten days later. Give no
HELPS IN HATCHING SEASON 63
/
moisture the first week, very little the second and a
great deal the latter part of the last week. But follow
the directions from the manufacturer as to moisture
and depend more upon the size of the egg air cell than
upon any set rule. Turn the eggs at intervals of twelve
hours and change the position of the drawers each time.
Drawers that are nearest the lamp should be placed
furthest away once in twenty-four hours, the front
end of the drawer being turned to the back of the
machine. When the eggs begin to pip do not disturb
the hatch till it is well through, as taking out moist
chickens from the machine lowers the temperature,
lessens the degree of moisture and impairs the hatch
of the remainder.
A well-known Illinois poultryman, Fred Grundy,
was asked to give some elementary incubator advice.
He wrote as follows :
"Practice with the machine until you can run it
steadily day and night without any change in the tem-
perature of the egg chamber. You should be able to
do this in a week. Then put in the eggs. This will
lower the temperature of the egg chamber very much
unless the eggs are first warmed. I prefer warming
nicely before putting in. Very early in the morning is
the best time for starting, for the thermometer can be
looked at at least once each hour until ten o'clock the
following night. If it remains steady everything is
right. At the end of ten days you may test out the
infertile eggs, and put in one pan of lukewarm water
for moisture. Repeated experiments have thoroughly
satisfied me that each hatching should be placed in the
machine at one time, and no eggs added thereafter
even if two-thirds are tested out as infertile.
"At the end of two weeks the heat of the hatching
eggs will be such that you must watch closely lest the
temperature rise too high. Be sure that it never goes
64
POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
above one hundred and three degrees. If there must
be a variation, ninety-five degrees is far better than one
hundred and five. If the air in the room is constantly
warm and dry, place a second pan of lukewarm water
in the machine at the end of the second wreek. If the
room is in a cellar and moisture shows on the windows,
one pan of water under the eggs is quite sufficient.
"When the eggs begin to hatch don't open the door
for love or money. Have the thermometer fastened so
the chicks cannot knock it over and see that the tem-
perature does not rise above one hundred and three.
Don't remove the chicks from the chamber until they
FIG 70: PLAN FOR HOMEMADE INCUBATOR
have been hatched at least twenty hours ; then quickly
place them in a brooder heated to one hundred. When
you buy an incubator see that the egg tray fits the
chamber, so that newly hatched chicks cannot possibly
fall over its edges into the moisture pans below."
How to Make an Incubator — Scores of machines
have been made according to the following description,
and good success in hatching has resulted. This incu-
bator requires closer or more frequent attention than
do machines with a more elaborate system of heat
regulation, but with care and experience first-rate
hatches may be obtained.
HELPS IN HATCHING SEASON 65
Figure 70 gives a general idea of what is to be
made. A side sectional view showing the internal ar-
rangement and construction is shown in Figure 71.
The egg drawer is at e, the heater box at h, the sawdust
L
FIG 71 : SECTION PLAN OF INCUBATOR
filling to retain heat at ^ s s and the ventilator box is at
b, filled with sawdust up to the dotted line.
Use well-seasoned matched pine boards one inch
in thickness for all parts except the sides and ends of
the egg drawer, which should be a quarter of an inch
heavier.
FIG 72 : INCUBATOR DRAWER AND HEATER
The heater is made first and is shown at a in Fig-
ure 72. It is three feet by four feet and six inches
high. It takes two boards six inches wide and four
feet long for the sides ; and two boards six inches wide
and two feet ten inches long for the front and back ;
the top, being made of matched boards nailed on very
66
POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
tightly, has eight holes bored in it. The center holes
are for a three-eighths-inch bolt seven inches long, with
a large flat head on one end and a thumbscrew on the
other. The other holes are for six escape pipes, which
are fifteen inches long and three-fourths of an inch in
diameter. Bore three holes on each side three inches
from the outside edges of the sides ; the first three
inches from the corner, the second fifteen inches from
the corner, the third twenty-seven inches from the cor-
ner, as shown in Figure 72, a.
'
-1
'
O C 0
O O 0
o o O
X
X
FIG 73 : VENTILATOR BOX FOR INCUBATOR
Now cut two holes, eight inches from opposite
corners (one is shown in the drawing), in the center
of the sides and four inches in diameter ; and over both
the inside and outside tack stout pieces of tin contain-
ing round holes two and one-half inches in diameter.
These holes are for the lamp pipes, and the tin protects
the wood from fire. Directly under each of these holes
inside, nail a piece of tin a foot square, putting it half
an inch from the bottom, bending down the two cor-
ners not nailed half an inch. When the zinc is nailed
HELPS IN HATCHING SEASON 67
on, this will make two thicknesses, with half an inch
air space, and will prevent overheating below the lamp
pipes. Use stout zinc for covering the bottom, with a
hole for the bolt in the center of it. Nail it on with
double rows of lath nails, about an inch apart, and it
will be air tight. Put the bolt in and tighten up the
thumbscrew.
The drawer, Figure 72, b, is five inches deep in
front, four feet nine inches long, and two feet eleven
and one-half wide. After saving a space in front eight
inches wide for sawdust, take a piece of heavy, coarse
muslin or tow and stretch tightly over the bottom and
fasten with tacks. Nail a board nine inches wide under
the front space for sawdust, but cover the other parts
with slats one inch square, nailing them on crosswise
through the tow, and place them about an inch apart.
A very convenient and complete egg turner may
be made by making a frame with beveled cross-slats.
This should be three inches shorter than the inside
measurement of the drawer, and just wide enough to
slide nicely. The sides of the frame should be seven-
eighths by three-eighths of an inch ; the ends, seven-
eighths square. The slats are seven-eighths of an inch
high and one-half an inch across the bottom, and are
one and seven-eighths inches apart at the top. It is
well to put the slats two inches apart for extra large
eggs or duck or turkey eggs. By moving or sliding
this frame back and forth, the eggs turn very nicely.
The ventilator box, with the bottom of the incu-
bator, is represented standing upright in Figure 73.
The box proper is three by four feet, the same as the
heater, but eight inches high. By noticing the draw-
ing, it will be perceived that the bottom of the incu-
bator is eight inches larger every way than the
ventilator box, and that the same matched boards
answer for both. The twelve half-inch holes are for
68 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
twelve tin pipes to furnish ventilation from below.
These pipes are eight inches long. The sides of the
ventilator box extend out even with the bottom of
the incubator for the drawer to slide on.
Having made this, place the drawer on it, and
the heater on the drawer, and fasten the heater and
ventilator together with boards nailed on the sides
and back. The boards should be one foot wide, and
be nailed so as to allow the drawer to work nicely
between the heater and ventilator. These boards on
the sides must project the same at the front as do the
sides of the ventilator. Next fit an eight-inch board
over the front of the drawer, keeping it level with the
zinc. This keeps the sawdust from falling into
the drawer.
Now with the bottom as a guide, build the outer
box for sawdust, making it nine inches higher than
the top of the heater, and taking care to fit the front
boards around the end of the drawer nicely. To
allow the lamp pipes to enter, cut holes in the outer
box the same as was done in the heater, but using tins
on the outside only. Where the lamp pipes pass
through the sawdust, a box for sand must be made
of sufficient size to properly protect the sawdust. The
tinsmith must make the lamp and escape pipes as
stovepipe is made, but the ventilator pipes may be
soldered, as they are in no danger of melting. The
escape pipes must be cut off so as to come to a point,
so that when they are pushed down and touch the
zinc, only a small draft is allowed, and the draft cannot
become closed.
The lamp pipes should be two and one-half inches
in diameter, with elbows in them allowing the pipes
to extend into the heater three inches at one end, and
at the other end to fit a tin lamp chimney with an
isinglass window in it one inch in diameter. This
HELPS IN HATCHING SEASON 69
isinglass window is to see the flame of the lamp and
should be cut where the flame can be readily seen. A
large fount lamp with a Number 2 burner is placed
on a slide that can be pushed under the incubator (as
shown in Figure 70), when removed for trimming.
The legs hold up the drawer when drawn out,
and t the handle is merely a crosspiece fastened to
them. ' The legs extend three inches below the bottom
of the incubator, and they just clear the floor when
the incubator is placed on two pieces of scantling to
allow air to pass up through the pipes in the ven-
tilator box.
After setting the incubator in the place where it
is to be used, put sand into the boxes around the lamp
pipes, and put sawdust in the ventilator box up to
within one inch of the top of the pipes; also in front
of the drawer and all around the sides, and on top of
the heater up to within an inch of the top of the escape
pipes, being careful not to allow any sawdust to get in
the pipes. Cover the sawdust with paper, allowing
the pipes to be open.
You are now ready to light the lamps. Use head-
light oil (one hundred and fifty degrees test), keep the
lamps at a medium hight, and in a few days you will
have the incubator thoroughly heated. By observing
the two good thermometers in the front and back ends
of the drawer, you can easily keep the temperature at
one hundred and three degrees by turning the lamp
screws up or down. When you have the machine
under proper control, put the eggs in, and in about
twelve hours they will be warm enough without turn-
ing up the lamps, and they will remain so unless the
lamps are changed when filled and trimmed.
By trimming every other day, and filling daily,
the temperature can easily be kept uniform by looking
at the thermometers every six hours and turning the
7O POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
lamps up or down. From one hundred and two
degrees to one hundred and five degrees is the proper
temperature. Good, reliable thermometers must be
used and the bulbs should rest on eggs with the tops
slightly elevated.
Egg Tester — Figure 74 represents a contrivance
for testing the freshness or fertility of eggs, useful in
FIG 74 : EGG TESTER
the household or to the poultry fancier. It consists
of a small handle, with a cup in the end of it; around
the cup is fastened a frame of sheet tin or stiff card-
board. This frame has a hole in the center, of the
shape and size of an egg, and a strip of black ribbon
or cloth is fastened around the frame, projecting a
little beyond the inner edge. To test the egg, it is
placed in the cup, so as to fill the space in the center
HELPS IN HATCHING SEASON Jl
of the frame, the edge of the black cloth or ribbon
fitting close to the shell. When the egg is held close
to a bright light, the light passes through the egg, and
shows a fresh or infertile one to be perfectly clear,
while a fertile one that has been sat upon, or that has
been in the incubator two days, will show the embryo,
as in the engraving, as a dark cloudy spot.
Handling Eggs — They should be picked up twice
a day in summer at least, and it is better to keep up
the practice all the year round. They should be care-
fully assorted, putting in one class only large, clean-
FIG 75 : EGG CABINET
shelled eggs. Into the other basket should go all the
very small ones, all the thin-shelled ones, all the poor-
shaped ones, all with discolored shells. Some of the
dirty ones may very likely be carefully washed and put
with those of the best grade. For a grade of eggs
selected like these and always to be depended upon,
there should be no difficulty in rinding a regular mar-
ket at several cents per dozen above the average price.
The few culls that remain can be sold to boarding
houses or bakeshops, if offered in a strictly fresh state.
72 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
Eggs for hatching may be kept three or four
weeks if properly stored. Figure 75 shows a cabinet
for the purpose. The drawers are fitted with the
pasteboard fillers from old egg cases, which may be
bought for a few cents at the grocery stores. Turning
the eggs is not essential if they are to be set within
FIG 76: EGG CASE
two weeks. For turning, a lath cover must be made
for each drawer so that drawer and eggs may be
turned in one movement and replaced with the cover
beneath. At next turning the whole is reversed. The
drawers must be so planned to allow for cover if
turning the eggs by rapid process is to be practiced.
FIG 77: EGG CARRIER
Another plan for keeping choice eggs is shown in
Figure 76. The eggs if kept long should be turned at
least every other day, to keep them in good condition,
and this is lots of work if done egg by egg. Make
a box just shoal enough to hold one section of paste-
board fillers. Lay some soft papers beneath the fillers
HELPS IN HATCHING SEASON
73
and tack others (or a sheet of corrugated paper) to
the under side of the lid. The whole box can then be
gently turned over with one motion, and in a day or
two turned back again. Shoal pasteboard boxes that
would answer the purpose can often be obtained at
dry goods stores.
Carrying and Shipping — Before shipping eggs for
hatching, the first thing to decide upon is a method
JULLL.U
FIG 78 : EGG SHIPPING CASE
of packing, so that they are likely to reach their des-
tination in safety. There have been many forms of
packages devised for transporting eggs, but the old-
fashioned basket method is about the best of all. The
small, flat-bottomed fruit basket can be purchased
cheaply, and being light and conveniently handled is
not so likely to be knocked around as a box would be;
rough handling is apt to kill the germ or prove
74 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
detrimental to its keeping. The bottom of the basket
should be lined with dry, soft hay, and each egg
wrapped separately in paper and placed in the basket
with the large end downward, so that they will not
quite touch; fill in chaff or dry sawdust between each
egg, then cover with another layer of hay; over all lay
smoothly a stout piece of muslin the size of the top
of the basket and sew on with strong twine, drawing
firmly to prevent eggs moving about. Packed in this
manner eggs may be sent long distances without being
shaken sufficiently to injure their fertility.
When a basket of eggs is to be carried over a
rough road, either the horse must be made to walk all
the way, or broken eggs be carried back. Saw off the
bottom of an empty grocery box and mount it above
its cover by four small springs from the upholsterer's,
or from a worn-out chair or couch. Set the basket
of eggs in this (Figure 77) and it will ride safely over
rough roads with the horse at a trot.
For shipping in large numbers, a cheap case is
shown in Figure 78. Nail handles on a small shoe
box. Cut pasteboard to fit together, as shown in the
illustration. Fasten the slits well together by pressing
the top piece crosswise into the bottom piece. Illus-
tration shows the construction of the pasteboard slips
and appearance when complete.
CHAPTER VIII
FROM INCUBATOR TO BROODER
Some style of mother is necessary to take care of
the early hatched chicks, so the brooder and incu-
bator go hand in hand. Both the pipe system,
using hot water for heat, and a drum heated by a
lamp from below, are used ; each has its advocates and
gives good results. Aside from the matter of cost
there is little to choose between them. Up to within
a few years, incubators and brooders were used only
by fanciers and commercial poultry keepers, but of
late they are being very generally adopted by farmers
who raise from one hundred to five hundred chickens
a year.
Warm the brooder pipes a day or two before the
hatch is due. Take care not to bare the chickens in
transferring them from incubator to brooder. Use
large flat baskets for the purpose. Put a newspaper
in the basket first, then a thick woolen shawl or old
blanket under and over them. Take them rapidly
from the basket, put them under the pipes and shut
them in tightly for a time. Do not feed the chickens
for twenty-four hours after hatching. Good food
for the first week is cracker, ground in a bone
mill quite coarse and mixed with as much milk
as it will absorb, heated quite hot. It is not a
bad plan to heat all the food for the first two
weeks. After the first clay or two teach them
to drink milk. Grind broken crockery quite fine and
put a little pile beside their food for grit. Use a
smooth, clean board on which to spread their food and
76 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
clean the board after each meal. Get them out of
doors the first week if possible during the midday sun.
Give bits of onion or cabbage to keep them busy while
out of doors. When they stop running or lose in-
terest, take them in again.
After the first week give three feeds daily of shorts
and corn meal scraped to a crumbly mass. In one
feed put one-sixth beef scraps, in the other two feeds
put onions or cabbage chopped fine and spread over
the plates of dough. For other feeds during the day-
make a mound of sand, putting in with it meal to be
scratched for and eaten as soon as light. Wheat, corn
and barley, all cracked, are good for a feed at noon and
the last feed at night. It is a good plan to store sods
of grass for the first two hatches, as the earth is quite
bare when they come out. Sow the yards and runs to
rye for late hatches. The brooder must be cleaned
out under the pipes every day, putting in clean sand.
Clean out the entire pen when the brood is changed
into another pen.
Very clear and practical directions are sent by
L. Richards, who has used incubator and brooders
with great success on his Massachusetts farm:
"The chicks are left in the incubator two days after
they are hatched, then they are removed to the
brooder, which is heated by a kerosene lamp in the
rear, outside. The brooder is warmed by top heat,
through tin pipes running on either side within, one
in the middle and another across the front, all con-
nected, of course, with two outlets in the rear portion.
I have six brooders, each large enough for seventy-
five chicks. The first week I keep the temperature
between eighty degrees and ninety degrees. When
two weeks old seventy-five degrees will answer, and at
four or five weeks, seventy degrees. In the bottom of
the brooder there is a platform slide resting on the
lower one and covering it, on which the chicks rest.
FROM INCUBATOR TO BROODER 77
After a few clays I pull out the slides and remove the
droppings, then re-cover with hayseed and replace
them. They should afterward be cleaned every day.
Have a coarse sand floor or ground for them to run on
and pick to grind their food. The first week, if cold, I
use outside of the brooder a small seventy-five degree
oil stove or heater to warm the house for them, espe-
cially while they are out feeding.
"For the first two weeks they require a great deal
of warmth, and I am convinced that the cause of death
among so many small chicks is due to lack of warmth.
I speak from experience. The same is true with
chicks brooded by the hen. We have often found an
apparently dead chicken, chilled outside, and brought
it to life by warming it; in nine cases out of ten it will
revive and thrive. When the small chicks are out
feeding in the brooder house during the first week,
watch them more or less and see that none get chilled.
After the first week they will generally go in and under
the brooder at their own option, and when the sun is
out and shining through the glass they will crowd
together in the sunshine, and during a very cold day
they will get chilled even in the sun's rays (unless the
house is very warm) rather than go under the brooder
where it is warmer. They like the sun. During the
first week I have a fine wire shutter with which to
close them in the brooder when they have been out
long enough, and always at night for a week, and
perhaps two, if cold. If not so restrained, they would
get out too early in the morning, become chilled and
die. After the first week or two I do not use it; let
them go out and in at will. One other point should
be mentioned and that is, I should advise one not to
touch an incubator until he has raised chicks success-
fully by the hen. It is one thing to hatch chicks and
quite another to raise them successfully.
70 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
"In regard to feed for chicks, which, of course,
applies to chicks with the hen as well as those in the
brooder, we give them the first day or two, when they
are old enough to eat, cooked eggs chopped fine. Get
the hen well filled with corn or some soft feed before
feeding the egg to the chicks, otherwise the hungry
hen will gobble it up. After this give them some
baked Indian meal and flour bread mixed, chopped
fine, and milk to drink.
"After the first week give them ground oats,
cracked oats, cracked wheat and sifted cracked corn,
boiled broken rice and white flour bread or graham
bread. Milk if vou have it, if not, water for the
FIG 79 : DIAGRAM OF BROODER WITH DRUM
brooder chicks. Give them meat scrap which con-
tains ground bone, and also cut fresh bone. You can
perhaps keep a small chick alive on cracked corn
alone, the same as half the farmers do, but that is not
what the man or woman wants who is raising chicks
for profit and who desires to get three pound per pair
chicks in ten, or, at the farthest, twelve weeks, and to
do this you must work them for all they are worth.
But do not feed on cracked corn alone. I assure you
they get tired of it, the same as we would upon a diet
of bread alone. Let them have free access to coarse
sand or any kind of grit. Don't leave any holes open
at night in your houses for rats to crawl through."
FROM INCUBATOR TO BROODER
79
An Improved Brooder — Figure 79 shows the lamp
below a sheet of iron that securely shuts off the lamp
chamber from the space above. (See also Figure 80.)
Bed the sheet iron in white lead to make it air tight.
Above the sheet iron is a floor of matched stuff, and in
the center is a five-inch drum opening into the space
between the floor and the sheet iron. Around the top
of the drum are openings that let the hot air out into
the brooder.
The top of the drum extends out for ten inches
all around the drum and from the outer edge a flannel
FIG 80: IMPROVED BROODER
curtain is hung, inclosing a circular space with the
drum in the center. The curtain is "slashed" up every
three inches. Within this curtain will be the warmest
place in the brooder. It will always be warm in there.
If it becomes too warm the chicks will go outside the
curtain. The addition of this inclosed hover renders
it practically impossible for the chickens to be chilled
or overheated, and makes a very excellent brooder into
one that cannot well be improved.
The dotted line (Figure 79) shows where the
cover can be placed for an inside brooder. If it is to
be used out of doors it must have a sloping cover.
8o
POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
Put two lights of glass either in the cover or on oppo-
site sides.
Brooder for Fifty Chicks — The brooder used by
Mr A. F. Stewart of Monmouth county, New Jersey,
is shown in the diagram (Figure 81), being two and
one-half by two and one-half by two feet, having can-
ton flannel flaps around the heating drum, in which the
young chicks can cuddle. The holes, a a, are for venti-
FIG 8 1 : BROODER FOR FIFTY CHICKS
lation. About fifty chicks are confined in each pen or
brooder. The feed of the young chicks for the first
week or two is mainly stale wheat bread (wheat being
preferred to rye), which can be bought cheap from
the baker. This is broken up fine and wet with milk
or water, milk if possible. After a few weeks the chicks
are kept in small houses.
A Handy Little Brooder — Take a box three feet
square and eighteen inches deep; remove top and bot-
FROM INCUBATOR TO BROODER 8 1
torn. On this box (Figure 82) nail a square of zinc,
tin or sheet iron, which will exactly cover it, as at a a.
Nail on top of this zinc cover, around the outside
edges, strips of board one inch square, cutting a space,
b b, three-fourths of an inch wide, in center of each
side. On these strips nail board cover or floor, c c.
Bore in center of this cover a two-inch hole, d, insert-
ing a two-inch zinc tube three inches long. For hover,
e, take a board eighteen or twenty-four inches square,
nail four legs four inches long to the four corners.
Tack three-inch fringe or strip of felt or flannel around
edges, slashing the same every three or four inches.
FIG 82: SMALL LAMP BROODER
A fence will be required around the top to keep
chicks from falling off, also a cleated run for them to
go up and down. Place a common lamp underneath
this box to warm air in space, which is drawn in
through spaces b b and passes up through tube and
radiates out over chicks, keeping them constantly sup-
plied with fresh air. Bore hole in hover and insert
thermometer, h. Keep the temperature at one hundred
the first few days, the second week lower to ninety,
third week eighty or less is sufficient; do not keep
them too warm.
82 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
Cheap Brooder — As a substitute for expensive
brooders, the device illustrated in Figure 83 will make
a good home for early hatched chicks. It is two and
one-half feet square and about the same hight in
front, while behind it is enough shorter to give the
shed roof a nice pitch. Nearly the entire front is glass,
beneath which is a place for chicks to pass in and out.
This can be closed when desired by a slide door as
shown in the illustration.
FIG 83 : HOMEMADE BROODER
A curtain is let down over the sash during the
night and rolled up out of the way in the daytime.
It is warmed by a common barn lantern, which is held
in position by a square box, which extends through
the roof, and also serves as a ventilator. The cap of
the ventilator is adjustable, permitting the lantern to
be taken out and put in at pleasure. The ventilator is
perforated at the base to permit the heat to radiate
through the room, and also near the top to allow the
gases from the burning oil to escape. The entire bot-
tom is arranged to slide in and out as a drawer, so it
FROM INCUBATOR TO BROODER 83
may be taken out and cleaned, which should be done
every day. It costs but a dollar or so, according to
material used.
The "Sure" Brooder — A small poultryman often
wants a cheap and suitable brooder that he can make
himself with little or no expense, as he cannot afford
five to twenty-five dollars for a brooder. The one out-
FIG 84: THE SURE BROODER
lined in Figure 84 can be made in an hour or two by
any person at all expert with tools. A box three feet
long by two and one-half feet broad and eighteen
inches deep should be made of matched pine lumber.
A tight floor of tin or sheet iron should be put in just
below the letter a in the cut. This should support
from one-half to one inch of sand, which will need re-
84 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
newing every week. The metal floor should project
outside the box as shown by c and be nailed down
firmly. This will prevent any odor from the lamp
entering the chicken room, a. At c? is the front of the
brooder and it is made of a strip of heavy flannel or
felt and hangs to the floor from the ceiling of the en-
trance to the little chamber. There should be small
slits made in the flannel but not extending too far up,
though every third or fourth cut may be longer than
the others. This keeps out the cold and makes the
room dark.
The platform e outside the brooder is two and one-
half by three feet, which will be ample room until the
chickens are a week old. It is hinged to the brooder
and the board / is hinged to the platform so as to keep
it level while the chickens are using it. When a larger
room is required, / can be folded under e, and e be-
comes an incline to a larger pen. b is the lower part of
the brooder in which a small hand lamp is placed to
heat it and several inch auger holes should be bored in
the sides of b to supply fresh air and enable the lamp
to burn, g indicates the iron floor whose edges project
and are nailed down, h is a smaller piece of metal at-
tached to it underneath, and about half the size of the
floor. It must not strike the floor at any point, but
preserve an air space one-half inch between it and the
floor, so as to take the first heat from the lamp and dis-
perse it evenly over the floor that supports the sand on
which the chickens stand. If this be omitted the lamp
will make the sand floor hot in one spot and not warm
enough in another. Too much heat is worse than cold
for young chickens.
A window brooder is described as follows by F. J.
Sheldon, Hartford county, Connecticut : "A box with
a side or top wide enough to occupy a window, say
three feet square and one and one-half feet deep, is
FROM INCUBATOR TO BROODER 85
obtained. This is so arranged that a heater is made
with a lamp and the chicks allowed a space on top.
For the top of the box, or floor on which the chicks are
kept, matched boards are best. A radiating space for
hot air is made by tacking two-inch cleats inside of the
box to the floor. To these should be fastened a sheet
of galvanized iron which fits inside of the box quite
snugly. This gives a heating chamber two inches high
and three feet square. This chamber may be warmed
by a common hand lamp, set on a shelf in the box
directly under the center, about three inches being
allowed between the lamp chimney and the iron. To
allow a good circulation in the radiating chamber bore
half-inch holes into it on all sides of the box ; also
bore one, with a one and one-half-inch auger, through
the center of the floor. Make a door in the side of the
box most convenient to put the lamp into. A chimney
to afford an outlet for the hot air is necessary. This
may be made of hard wood with a hole in it the same
size as the hole in the floor and cut down to about two
inches in length and as near round on the outside as
your time may permit. This may be glued down with
bits of tin in position over the hole.
"The cover over the chicks is generally made about
six inches smaller all around than the floor, and is so
framed that it will not warp if heated. Bore four
holes, one in each corner, and get an old broom handle
to fit into these holes. Cut the handles into four-inch
lengths. These make the legs and may be raised or
lowered according to the size of the chickens. When
first out, the cover must be only one-half inch above
the top of the chimney and stands with a piece of
woolen cloth tacked on the sides. A wire fence about
one and one-fourth feet high may be tacked around
the top of the box. This will keep the birds in place
and also protect them from rats, etc, if they are around.
86 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
Some may hesitate about putting fifty chicks in a
brooder, but here are the first steps. The brooder is
built and the lamp lit. Now fit a piece of newspaper
carefully on the floor or top of brooder, and around
the chimney. This done, cover the paper with dry
sand that is formed of grit or fine stones about one-
fourth inch thick. Place a thermometer on the sand
near the chimney and place the cover on."
Large Hot Water Brooder — Figure 85 shows a
box six inches deep, three feet wide and fifty feet long.
Two-inch iron pipes are arranged as shown in the illus-
FIG 85 : HEATER, WATER BARREL AND PIPING
tration, the top of the box being removed to show the
interior. The hot .water may be supplied by an ordi-
nary stove "water back," or by a coil of pipe in a
stove. This is heated by a piece of pipe one inch in
diameter, coiled in a stove, holes being cut in the stove
for the purpose of admitting pipes. The hot water
flows out and the cold water flows in. The floor of the
box is made close, with tongued and grooved boards.
The cold air enters through tubes reaching to the out-
side of the building. It is heated by coming in con-
tact with the pipes, and enters into the tubes on the
top of the floor, which are two and a half inches high.
FROM INCUBATOR TO BROODER O/
Another Homemade Brooder — This brooder has a
heater four feet long, one foot wide and six inches high.
The top is covered with zinc nailed on tightly. There is
no bottom except over one-third of the back end. The
front has a sliding door with a window to look at the
lamp. The inside of the sides is lined with tin, and
the chimney hole is one inch from the bottom in the
middle of the back, and is for a tin pipe one and three-
eighths inches in diameter. The neater is shown in
\
\
FIG 86: DIAGRAM OF BROODER
Figure 86, giving a bottom view without the sliding
door in front, and with boards one foot wide nailed on
the top through the zinc.
Figure 87 gives a top view of the same after strips
two inches wide have been fitted in at each end of the
zinc to make a level surface all around the edge. Next
nail strips, also two inches wide, all around the edge,
except at the corner opening one and one-half
88 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
inches wide to admit fresh air; b is a strip ten inches
long nailed on to conduct the fresh air to the zinc.
Now if this is covered with matched boards there
will be a chamber two inches deep over the zinc and
one inch elsewhere. Bore a hole in the center for a
pipe three inches long and one and one-eighth inches
in diameter. Around this pipe and on this floor the
chicks keep warm and sleep under a cover, also made
of matched boards, two inches smaller every way than
FIG 87 I SECTION VIEW OF BROODER
the floor. This cover has four round legs which go
through holes and raise and lower by means of nails,
used as pegs in stay pieces which hold the matched
boards together. Around the edge of the cover tack
carpet or blanket cut in slits every four inches so that
the chicks may run in and out. The blanket should be
four inches wide and the cover kept two and one-half
inches from the floor when the chicks are first put in
the brooder. When the brooder is in operation, warm
FROM INCUBATOR TO BROODER 89
air is thus constantly flowing over their backs and ven-
tilation is perfect. A tin chimney twenty inches long
will carry off the fumes from the lamp.
Put the brooder under a warm, sunny shed, and
set it on the ground, or bank up nearly level with the
floor and make a pit for the lamp with an open cover.
Be careful not to cover the hole where the fresh air
enters the brooder. Place the lamp as far under as
you can reach, using straight tin chimneys with isin-
glass windows in them. The same kind of lamps and
oil should be used as for an incubator. The lamp need
not be turned up high, nor must the chimney be nearer
the zinc than two inches ; eighty degrees is warm
FIG 88: BROODER FOR MILD CLIMATE
enough for them. No thermometer need be used in the
brooder. Keep dry sand on the floor and clean off the
droppings every morning. Let their run be small at
first and do not let them out when young in damp or
stormy weather.
Warm Weather Brooder — A brooder which will
answer very well for late-hatched chicks or for loca-
tions where the climate is mild, is that devised by a
successful California poultryman, who writes:
"I have constructed a brooder (Figure 88), six feet
across the front, four feet in depth and six feet in hight.
The walls are of common rough lumber and battened ;
the roof is made of shakes and has a sharp pitch each
9O POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
way, the gables closed with grain sacks for better ven-
tilation. There are set in the front three sash doors
twenty-four by thirty inches each, and made to swing
outward for convenience in getting to the chicks.
"About one-half of the interior is floored and
sanded. Six inches below the sash doors a solid door
is hung to admit of lighting the lamp, etc. There are
three compartments, separated one from the other by
means of wire cloth or netting, about eighteen inches
high from front to rear, and situated in front of the
mother, with hight sufficient to permit the ready egress
and ingress of the chicks. Such a house as described
FIG 89 I OUTDOOR BROODER AND RUN
can be built at a cost not exceeding six dollars and
fifty cents. The material employed consists of one
hundred and fifty feet of lumber, four pairs of strap
hinges, three sashes, fifty shakes, and two pounds of
nails. As soon as the chicks are dry I place them in
this brooder, in the sun if it is shining brightly, if not,
then they are placed with the mother, taking care to
provide a shady retreat which the chicks will seek if it
should become too warm."
A very convenient size is one that will accom-
modate fifty chickens until three months old, two
feet wide and four feet long; the sides are twelve
FROM INCUBATOR TO BROODER Ql
inches high under the glass, sloping to three inches at
the back ; the cover of the back or inclined part should
be movable, and lined with sheepskin or with pieces of
flannel cut into strips three inches wide, and tacked to
the under surface of the lid so as to hang down length-
wise with the lid ; from the highest part of the lid
should hang a curtain made of flannel all across the
box, and to within half an inch of the floor ; this keeps
the cold air out of their roosting place. The front half
of the brooder is covered with four panes of glass ; this
admits the sun. The black dots in each peak are in-
tended to represent one-inch holes for ventilation.
An ordinary stone gallon jug (placed beneath the
lid) filled with hot water four or five times a day, will
furnish all the heat needed.
Figure 89 represents another artificial mother for
outdoor use in mild weather,, and a wire run for the
chicks. It is very simple in its construction ; it is made
on the same principle as the mother previously de-
scribed, excepting the bottom is separate from the body
of the coop, which can be removed to clean. It is very
important that it should be kept free from the drop-
pings of the chicks, for if they are allowed to accumu-
late they will breed lice. If the weather should be too
cold for the comfort of the chicks then a jug of hot
water should be placed within the box; this will not
be necessary unless very cold, as a large number of
chicks huddled together will generate a considerable
amount of heat.
CHAPTER IX
TRAPS FOR POULTRY PESTS
Rats are no doubt the prime nuisance in most
poultry raising sections. They steal grain and eggs,
disturb sitting hens and kill young chickens by whole-
sale. By reason of their numbers and boldness they
usually give more trouble than the wild pests of the
swamp and forest. To fight them with cats is to invite
a remedy which may prove nearly as bad as the dis-
ease. A trained rat dog is the best policeman for pests
of this kind, and he may be taught to drive off strange
cats. He will in fact fight or at least give warning of
any dangerous intruders except hawks. Rats often
nest and burrow directly under chicken houses and
coops. When the owner suspects anything of the
kind let him call his dog and pry up the coop or tip it
over, and Snip will do the rest.
A simple, but where rats are numerous, very effec-
tive trap is made by taking a large shallow box with
the lid shut down and but one small hole in the side
near the bottom. For this hole have a sliding lid which
will stay open and can be shut suddenly. Place the
box on the barn or stable floor, put some grain or other
bait in it, and leave it for several days. Put everything
else that is eatable as much out of the reach of rats as
practicable. Renew the grain in the box if it is taken.
Then when the rats have got used to the box and re-
sort to it regularly for their feed, come up to it softly,
shut down the sliding lid, take the box off into some
open space, where the rats will have fair play, call
the dogs and let the rats get away — if they can. Then
TRAPS FOR POULTRY PESTS
93
take back the box and proceed as before, using another
bait or putting the box in another place as soon as you
fail of success.
An old-style box trap with a modern improvement
or two is a sure and secure rat catcher. Get a com-
mon box, remove the top and one side and put them
together as at e (Figure 90), and fasten with a hinge
as at a. Fasten a spool, c, in the end of a board, b, and
nail it to the back of the box. Then bore a one-inch
hole about six inches from bottom of box, and at h cut
FIG
IMPROVED RAT TRAP
a notch in the outside of the end board. Sharpen stick,
g, at each end. The stick, / i, should be twelve inches
long, notched at k, so as to balance in the hole. The
end / should be pointed, and the end i notched and
pointed. Fasten a string at m, bring over the spool at
e and down to g, and tie at middle of stick g.
Have the string short enough so that when set the door
will be wide open, about eight inches. Place bait of
any kind on /. When a rabbit or other pest sniffles it
he will dislodge stick, g, by moving it at i, and the
94
POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
cover will drop. Sometimes a weight can be used on
the cover to advantage.
Cat Trapj — A slight modification of the common
box trap, as in Figure 91, makes it the best kind of a
cat trap. A robber cat in a trap is a desperate tartar
to handle and if drowned while inside, no other cat
will soon enter. To organize a quiet funeral, have a
slide, a, just large enough for the prisoner to poke her
head through. Then push down the slide and finish
her catship with a mallet stroke.
FIG 91 : CAT TRAP
Trapping and Killing Skunks — These are a nui-
sance about a farmhouse or barnyard, and where they
get into the habit of raiding the chicken yards, must
be gotten rid of at any cost. Often they are allowed
to make and occupy nests in the vicinity of the barn
and house and remain undisturbed on account of the
disagreeable consequences an interference would bring
about. The average man would rather beard the lion
in his den than risk an encounter with a skunk. A
pair of these animals made their abode beneath the
TRAPS FOR POULTRY PESTS
95
floor of a neighbor's summer kitchen, and as the floor
was not tight, got into the habit of coming into the
room above. The farmer captured them by use of
the trap shown in the illustration (Figure 92).
A small-sized dry goods box, not so large but it
can be easily carried, is fixed with a trap door, which
is attached to a lever connected with a trigger in such
a manner that when sprung, the door will drop. The
FIG 92 : SKUNK TRAP
box can be carried with its captive to a safe distance,
where the odor will not be disturbing, and the pris-
oner shot or dispatched by a trusty dog.
The illustration shows the trap ready set. The
trap door, a, is attached to a lever, b, which rests on a
fulcrum at c. The other end of the lever is fastened
to the trigger, d. The trigger passes through the top
of the box, the notch, /, catching on the edge of the
hole in the box, which should be large enough to give
90 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
plenty of play. The trigger stick should be long
enough to reach within an inch of the bottom of the
box, where the bait, e, is fastened. A hinged door in
the side of the box makes the last act easy — that of
dispatching the entrapped animal. If the box is car-
ried carefully, there is no danger of the skunk opening
hostilities until immediate danger threatens him.
' /'/'Jl V ' ' "'
FIG 93 : PROTECTION FROM HAWKS
A safe and quick way with skunks is narrated by
A. H. Binney of Massachusetts, as follows: "I take
an ordinary box trap and bait it with a chicken's head
or piece of liver by tying it onto the spindle, but
before doing that I drag the bait around on the ground,
and every time drag it into the trap so as to give them
a scent to follow. Then I dig a hole in the ground,
two and one-half feet deep, about eighteen inches
across, and now I am ready for the skunk. I am sure
to have him the first morning. I then take trap and
TRAPS FOR POULTRY PESTS 97
drag it to the hole I have dug, lift the trap up and
slide the skunk into the hole. I have my gun handy
but do not have to hurry, as he is a clumsy animal
and would have hard work to get out of the hole, if
FIG 94: TRAPPING A HAWK
he ever could. I have a shovel handy and immedi-
ately after shooting him, cover him with dirt. There
is not the least danger of getting any scent on the
clothes from getting him out of the trap in this way."
90 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
Protection from Hawks — Where hawks abound,
young chicks must be closely guarded. If shut up
closely in pens, growth will be greatly retarded. A
good plan under such circumstances is shown in the
accompanying cut. Plow two furrows parallel to each
other and just far enough apart so that the distance
from the outside of each shall be just six feet. Make
the furrows one hundred and fifty feet long. Stretch
a roll of six-foot wire netting along the furrows,
fastening the edges down with loose stones. This
Trap
FIG 95 I SETTING A HAWK TRAP
gives a long run on both grass ground and plowed
land for the chicks, and hawks cannot molest them.
The coop can be set at one end, the other end being
stopped with sod. The plan is shown in Figure 93.
In Little Compton, Rhode Island, which town
produces annually from thirty thousand to forty thou-
sand chicks, a bounty of twenty-five cents per head is
paid for hen and chicken hawks. The same sum is
paid for crows per head, they being nearly as inimical
TRAPS FOR POULTRY PESTS 99
if not equally so to the career of the chicken. This
bounty is usually voted at the town meeting. At times
it has been left for the town council to fix the sum,
never being more than twenty-five cents per head, and
some years a lesser sum.
Various devices to prevent the near approach of
the above-mentioned birds are noticed about here,
among which may be mentioned the small windmill
so arranged that at each revolution a rapid and noisy
clapping is produced. Another arrangement quite
generally in vogue is to erect long poles about the
chicken yard, a stout cord extending from pole to
pole at top, to which cord are appended multicolored
strips of cloth. This method, while it prominently
advertises the location of the tender morsel, is sup-
posed to intimidate its wary foe.
For catching hawks, the only effective device
seems to be a common steel jaw trap set where the
bird is most likely to alight. A good location is on
the top of a common fence rail or a long pole, set
firmly in the ground. It is best located on some
moderately high point in the middle of a field near the
chicken lot, as indicated in Figure 94. In Figure 95
are shown details of arranging the trap.
CHAPTER X
THIRTY USEFUL DEVICES
A convenient inside arrangement which allows
all common work to be done from the passageway is
indicated by the plan, Figure 96. Drop doors enable
the attendant to fill the dishes and troughs, get the
eggs, clear off the droppings board, and even to take
fowls from the roosts without going into the pens.
The diagram shows also a cloth cover to be drawn in
front of the roosts on cold nights.
A ventilator that can be opened and closed at the
will of the attendant will give good results if given
proper attention, and without attention no ventilator
will give the best results. All ventilators that are in
continuous operation either give too much ventilation
during cold and windy weather or not enough during
still, warm days. As a rule, they give too much ven-
tilation at night and too little during the warm parts
of the day. The one illustrated in Figure 97 can be
readily controlled and is used by G. C. Watson of the
Pennsylvania experiment station.
Ventilators are not needed in severe cold weather,
but during the first warm days of early spring, and
whenever the temperature rises above freezing during
the winter months, some ventilation should be pro-
vided. Houses with single walls will become quite
frosty on the inside during severe weather, which will
cause considerable dampness whenever the tempera-
ture rises sufficiently to thaw out all the frost of the
side walls and roof. At this time a ventilator is most
needed. A ventilator in the highest part of the roof
THIRTY USEFUL DEVICES
101
that can be closed tightly by means of cords or chains
answers the purpose admirably and may be constructed
with little expense. The ease and convenience of
operation are important points, and should not be
Way
FIG 96 I INTERIOR CONVENIENCES
neglected when the building is being constructed. It
is a simple matter for the attendant to open or close
a ventilator as he passes through the house if the
appliances for operating it are within easy reach.
102 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
Pulleys — Figure 98 shows a screw pulley, sold at
hardware stores very cheap, and useful about the
poultry house for operating ventilators, small doors
and windows and feed boxes.
Figure 99 shows a simple way of making pulleys
for raising henhouse windows by a cord operated from
a hallway, or for any other position about farm build-
FIG 97 : GOOD VENTILATION
ings where light pulleys are desired. An empty spool,
from which the thread has been used, has a round plug
driven through it, the ends projecting, as shown.
Two screw eyes of the proper size slip over the ends,
after being screwed into the wall or ceiling. Use
small spools and long screw eyes.
Clean Houses — Useful implements for cleaning
and renovating a poultry house appear in Figure IOO.
THIRTY USEFUL DEVICES 103
The force pump should have nozzle and valves coarse
enough for use in whitewashing. With rather thin
whitewash and a pump, the interior of a lousy hen-
house can be coated in a few minutes. Outside white-
washing can also be done" in this way. A force pump
is good for applying kerosene emulsion where lice,
FIG 98 : SCREW PULLEY
FIG 99 : HOMEMADE PULLEY
nest bugs or fleas are very plenty. The emulsion is
made by adding kerosene oil to soapsuds and shaking
them together in a covered pail until they mix, or by
pumping them a fe\v times from one pail to another.
For applying disinfecting solutions of sulphuric acid
IO4 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
and water, solutions of corrosive sublimate, etc, a
good pump is also convenient. Brass pumps of this
kind cost about five dollars each.
FIG IOO: CONVENIENCES FOR INSIDE WORK
For careful application of whitewash, one of the
brushes shown in Figure' 100 is useful. It is of bristles
outside and fiber within strong and durable. The
THIRTY USEFUL DEVICES
105
large size costs about seventy-five cents. It may be
fitted with a homemade handle.
To clean poultry roosts, feed troughs, and for
scraping trees. Figure 100 shows a handy implement.
It is an old hoe with the edges, a a, cut as illustrated
so as to make it of triangular shape. The blade should
be sharpened occasionally to scrape easily. The
points often come handy in loosening hard or sticky
matter in the corners.
FIG IOI : DUST BATH
In the lower corner of the illustration, Figure 100,
is shown a barrel with roosts around the top, so that
the greater part of the manure from the roosting fowls
is caught in the barrel, where it gives no further
trouble, except to add a little dry earth or coal ashes
once in a while.
Dust Baths — Figure 101 shows a space boxed off
as a dust bath in the sunniest spot in the house, just
below a window. If the box is raised a foot or two
from the floor, the floor space beneath will be avail-
able for the fowls or for nests. For a flock of twenty, a
IO6 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
bath box three by six feet is a good size. An old sink
makes a fairly good receptacle. Fill with dust, ashes
and a little sulphur, all perfectly dry, and the fowls
will use all winter. The space above the dust bin can
also be used as a scratching place or as a shelf for
nests, by putting in a kind of platform. Thus we
have three stones in use; earth floor, dust bath and
FIG IO2t OUTSIDE DUST BATH
FIG IO3 : FOR DUSTING FOWLS
platform floor. An outdoor dust bath is shown in
Figure 102.
To dust chickens by wholesale with any kind of
insect powder, fix a small box with sliding cover, to
revolve, as indicated in Figure 103. Put three or
more chicks in the box, with a spoonful of powder,
close the slide and revolve slowly and carefully three
THIRTY USEFUL DEVICES
107
or four times. There will be a great fluttering inside
and the dust will fill the chicks' feathers very com-
pletely. Then replace these chicks with three others,
and more of the insect powder.
Heating a House — For a brooder house, hot
water systems have the advantages of economy of fuel,
FIG IO4 : HEATER FOR POULTRY HOUSE
with safety and ease of control. The piping is larger
and costs somewhat more than for steam. The style
shown in Figure 104 is quoted by an agricultural
supply company at eighteen dollars to eighty-four
dollars, according to size, and including all piping,
IO8 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
valves and tank. Anybody can set up a heater, and
it is almost as easy to operate as a coal stove. Steam
heat has some advantages for a large plant carefully
planned with all the buildings supplied from a large
boiler. But for the great majority of establishments
a hot water system is to be preferred.
Houses for layers are seldom heated, owing to
the impression that the stock would become feeble
and cold or roup increase. But the tests at the Utah
FIG IO5 : HEATER AND VENTILATOR
experiment farm have attracted much attention as
tending to show that a moderate amount of heat may
be profitable for mature fowls, decidedly increasing
the egg yield. On estates where a greenhouse or
brooder plant is located, there would be little trouble
or expense in turning on a little heat in the henhouse
during very cold days and nights.
Among the many plans in use for warming the
poultry house, the heater illustrated in Figure 105
THIRTY USEFUL DEVICES
109
supplies heat and ventilation or a supply of fresh, warm
air. Any kind of a flat top stove or even a kerosene
stove will give sufficient heat. The size of the stove
should depend on the size of the house, but forty
degrees is a sufficient heat. The illustration shows a
closed box a yard square and an inch deep, made of
ordinary sheet iron. The box or heater is placed on
a small stove, or if legs are attached to each corner of
FIG IO6: LAMP HEATER
the heater, a lamp may be placed under it. The cold
air comes in at a, passes through the box, becoming
heated, and emerges at the pipe b. The cold air pipe
is one-half inch in diameter and the warm air pipe one
inch. The pipe a should be long enough to extend
through the walls to the outside, so as to bring in the
pure air. No ventilators on the top of the building
will be required, and the air will keep the house dry.
Always bring the air in and discharge it near the roof,
IIO POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
as the birds will not then crowd or become lame as
they will when the warmth is below them.
Oil is too costly for poultry house heating except
on a small scale, or in a limited way. For small
flocks of choice hens, the device shown in Figure 106
may help to secure more eggs and to save combs in
zero weather. It is a cheap heater, by which the foul
air is carried off through a smoke pipe, and the air
FIG IO7: FEED COOKER
warmed around the heater, thus avoiding the odor
from the burning oil. The heater was made at the tin
shop and is of good sheet iron, but it would do to use
old milk or oil cans if one has large ones to spare.
The gas from the lamp passes out of the building-
through the pipe funnel, f. The outside shell is two
inches larger in diameter than the inside one, allowing
THIRTY USEFUL DEVICES
III
the air to pass up, become heated and go out to warm
the house. A few holes should be punched around
the base of the heater as shown, to admit air for the
lamp. A common incubator or brooder lamp is used.
Feed Cooker — Where much soft feed is used, a
cooker and warmer is needed. A useful style appears
in Figure 107. It can be had to burn coal or wood,
and costs four dollars to twelve dollars, according to
size. In this connection the feeder is advised to cook
all refuse meat fed to fowls in order to kill any possible
germs of disease. They sometimes get consumption
FIG IO8: SMALL COOKER FOR STOVE
and bowel troubles by eating sickly raw meat.
Cooked meat is also a better keeper than when raw.
Figure 108 represents a cheap feed cooker, which
can be made by cutting an ordinary wash boiler in two
in the middle, having an end soldered on and a handle
attached near the top. Into this during the day throw
all potato parings, vegetable parings and other matter
from the kitchen. Add water and place on the stove
after the evening meal is cooked and let it remain
until the space is needed in the morning for cooking
breakfast, when it is removed. After breakfast is
cooked, it is again replaced and by the time the owner
112 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
is ready to feed the chickens, the whole mess is
thoroughly cooked and is excellent for making a
warm feed for laying hens. The cost is very slight
and old boilers otherwise useless can be utilized.
Worm Box — An abundant supply of worms suit-
able for winter chicks can be bred without the bad
odor caused when meat is used as a breeding
FIG IO9 I WORM BOX
stance, by use of the frame box and filling indicated in
Figure 109. The larger it is made, the better it will
work. Fill with six-inch layers, using horse manure,
loam or garden soil, and the cheap mixture of meal
and dirt which can be had of large grain dealers.
Keep indoors in a warm, light cellar or similar loca-
tion, and the worms will be bred whenever there are
flies to lay the eggs. If earthworms are stored in this
THIRTY USEFUL DEVICES 113
box, they will live and thrive if watered occasionally,
and can be used at convenience.
To Prevent Hens Scratching — Take any stout
piece of cloth about six inches long and two and one-
half inches wide, lap together around the hen's foot,
as in Figure no. This is sure to prevent scratching
and will last all summer. A piece of bagging -will
answer. Do not fasten so tightly as to stop circula-
tion. Use soft cord.
In this connection, C. W. Shorter, Chenango
county, New York, writes: "My hens bothered us
some by digging in the garden and flower beds until
I fixed what I call a poke (Figure no), and fastened
it on their leg. It is made of a piece of white ash
FIG IIO: TO PREVENT SCRATCHING
about six or seven inches long, flattened at one end
and sharpened on the other. The flat end is bent
around the hen's leg and tied with some strong thread.
It drags behind when they walk, but when they go to
scratch, they sit down, and seem quite surprised.
Heavy wire would furnish good ones, and are more
easily made."
Shipping Crates for Fowls — The top strip on each
side of crate (Figure 1 1 1 at the left of the illustration)
should extend four inches at each end of crate, as no
handles can be placed on the coop that will be quite
so convenient. The bottom should be boarded, never
stripped, as in the latter case the birds get their feet
bruised and broken.
114 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
Most transportation companies will return ship-
ping crates free of charge, and m this case it pays to
have good, neat coops. Such coops should be made
strong, but of light, thin material, lath for instance.
Trapdoor in top, side strips up and down, not length-
wise. Wheat or other food in the bottom of a coop
often hurts the sale of fowls if they are sold by weight.
When coops are stripped up and down, then, when
desirable, feed may be given the fowls in vessels
placed outside the coop. Neat appearance helps to
sell all products and is one of the essential factors in
securing top-notch price.
More fowls are shipped by express in cloth coops
in winter than at anv other season. A cloth-covered
FIG Hi: SHIPPING CRATES
coop is scant protection to prevent frozen comb. Take
the same coop, put cover pieces on outside the cloth
cover, as suggested in the sketch at the right of Figure
in, and over these stretch another covering of cloth,
and we have an air space between that will protect the
fowls from cold. Have a tight cover except the slit
for the hand of the expressman, which will also afford
ventilation. With plenty of chaff in the bottom to
keep the feet warm, birds ought to be very comfort-
able in such quarters, even in very cold weather. For
mild weather the crate shown at the right of Figure
1 1 1 is one of the best and is quickly made from a box
or second-hand egg case.
THIRTY USEFUL DEVICES 115
For catching poultry, use. a hook as in Figure
112. It is made from a rod three or four feet long
with a bent wire at the end. The end of the rod should
be ferruled or bound with fine wire. The fowl is
looped by one foot and carefully drawn in the de-
sired direction.
FIG 112: HOOK FOR CATCHING POULTRY
Exerciser for Ducks — Duck breeders often have
trouble in securing fertile eggs because of lack of ex-
ercise for the breeding birds. The method described
by H. H. Stoddard in the New Egg Farm, published
FIG 113: DUCK' AT EXERCISE
by Orange Judd company, overcomes this obstacle by
providing a series of swimming tanks- under feed
cylinders or feeding boards, as shown in Figure 113.
A ditch is cut and boarded1 at sides and bottom, c
showing the original surface of the ground, e an
Il6 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
inclined plane of boards with lath tacked on to secure
foothold, and d a platform with a slight slant for
drainage. The feed cylinder is at a, and a yard or run-
way begins at 3'. If the location allows a shallow
ditch, the approach, e, may be omitted. This tank
may be two, three or four feet wide or even more,
according to the supply of running water. For an ex-
tensive duck ranch the idea is to have the tank three
hundred or four hundred feet long, divided by wire
into sections for the accommodation of scores of fowls.
FIG 114: LEGHORNS WITH COMBS CUT
The ditch and the tank which lines it may be so
constructed that the depth will be just sufficient to
allow the ducks to assume the position shown in the
illustration, being enabled with a little effort to reach
the food which has been dropped from above into the
tanks. While searching for the food, their necks and
legs will be actively employed. The author describes
a system of cylinders or feed boards which extend the
whole length of the tank, and by striking with a ham-
mer at one end food is dropped from the board or
THIRTY USEFUL DEVICES
117
cylinder into each tank. This operation, repeated sev-
eral times a day by the attendant, provides ample
exercise.
Cutting Wings — If a person cares to, it is possible
to cut the wings when the chickens are so young that
their flying ability will be effectually impaired for all
time. This will often prove to be a great advantage,
especially with fowls of the Leghorn, Hamburg and
Minorca breeds. This is not difficult nor painful to
the chick, if done at the right time, and consists simply
in cutting the wing at the last joint; the portion cut
FIG 115: SHIELD FOR INJURED FOWLS
off is but a trifle when the chick is young, but when
it is developed it makes quite a material difference in
its wing power, so much so that it is a comparatively
small matter to confine them, and so far as practica-
bility is concerned, it does not impair their useful
qualities in the least. If the work is done when the
chicken is about ten or twelve days old, it is scarcely
painful, and the chick soon recovers its usual activity.
Trimming Combs — The drawbacks of large
combs and wattles are freezing in our northern states
and the discomforts and strain resulting from carrying
Il8 POULTRY APPLIANCES AND HANDICRAFT
so much weight on the head. It appears as though
the circulation of blood in the head is somewhat
affected by these excessive appendages, for it has been
observed that a Leghorn having frequent spells of
giddiness and staggering can sometimes be quickly
and permanently cured by trimming the comb, and
we would always recommend the trimming of both
comb and wattles for both sexes when two-thirds
grown, as in Figure 1 14, especially in view of freezing
when zero weather occurs. Use shears or scissors in-
stead of a knife so as to pinch the blood vessels and
mitigate the flow of blood.
FIG Il6: HOLDING A PIGEON
Shield for Injured Fowls— This blanket, made of
burlap or bagging (Figure 115), is used to protect
hens or turkeys injured on back or sides during breed-
ing season. Narrow bands or soft cords at sides and
front attach the shield to the fowl under the legs and
in front of breast. Without such precaution, the
wounds made by spurs or claws are constantly being
reopened and become sometimes incurable.
To hold a pigeon firmly but without hurting it,
take the bird as in Figure 116, the breast resting on
the flat of the hand, so that the head is over the little
finger, the legs between the first and second fingers
and the thumb across the back of the bird. The wings
are held closely by the palm and ends of fingers and
the bird will seldom struggle or try to escape.
INDEX
PAGE
Balance for small mills ........ 30
Barrel with roosts ............. 105
Bone mills ................... . 26
Box trap, improved ........... 92
Brooder, a cheap
a handy
a small lamp
an improved
filling a
for fifty chicks ............. 80
for warm weather ........... 89
homemade .................. 87
hot water .................. 91
large hot water ............. 86
operation of ................ 89
the sure .................... 83
window .................... 84
Brooders, various ............. 75
Cabinet for eggs .............. 71
Cat trap ..................... 94
Chickens, carrying young ...... 75
feeding pens for ............ 6
feeding young ........... 75, 78
roost for ................... 43
temperature for ............. 76
to dust ..................... 1 06
Combs, trimming ............. 117
Cooker ....................... no
small ...................... in
Crates, shipping .............. 113
rinder
Crockery, gr
for
31
Door, between pens ...... , ..... 45
combination ................ 44
requirements for . . .......... 44
self-opening ................ 46
Doors, drop .................. 100
Ducks, exerciser for ........... 115
nest for .................... 60
pool for .................... 24
Dust baths ................... 105
Dropping boards .............. 41
Exerciser
PAGE
. . 10
Feed box, protected
slatted
cooker
Feeder, automatic for grains. . .
for chicks
for shell, bone and grit
Feeders, automatic
simple for shell grit
Feeding board
by clockwork
hopper, Bement's
pens for chicks
Fodder cutter .
2
no
7
3
3
4
5
2<J
Food chopper 28
Fountain, covered 14
for chicks ,
for lamp
general purpose
non-freezing^-
oyster-can
protected ,
warmer
-inter .
Grit machine, powerful 33
pounder 31
Grundy's advice on hatching. ... 63
Hawks, bounty for 98
protection from . , 98
trapping . , 99
Heater and ventilator 108
for poultry house 107
for water 1 6
Homemade incubator 65
Hook, poultry 115
Houses, cleaning 102
Incubator for farmers 61
problem, the 61
running an 62
starting an 69
to make 64
Egg carrier „ 72 I Incubators, Grundy on 63
tester
. 61
turner
Eggs, handling ....
:::::::::: 67
71
Injured fowls, protecting
Insect powder, to apply
Kerosene emulsion, to make. .
..118
. .106
..103
68
keeping
72
71
testing ... o
62
.. 6^ Lamo nines •> ° • •
120
INDEX
PAGE
Manure bin 42
Mill for green bones 27
for grit 32
Nests and roost 57
dark 54
for ducks 60
model 51
movable 54
secure 53
simple 51
recording 55
wire 54
Passageway, convenient 100
Pigeon, holding a 118
Pulley, homemade 102
Pulleys 102
Pump for whitewashing 103
Rats, trap for 92
Roost and nest 59
a low 34
a model 34
for cold weather 38
for heavy fowls 39
in oil pan 38
Roosting plan, a warm 38
room separate 40 j
Roosts and dropping boards.... 47
and manure bin 42
cleaner for 105
cover for 105
for chickens 43
improved 35
lice proof 36
on barrel 105
portable 34
support 37
PAGE
Scratching, to prevent 113
Shell, feeder for 5
Shield for fowls 1 1 8
Shipping case for eggs 73
crates 113
Skunk trap 94
to dispose of 96
Stories, three, using 106
Tank for water 12
Tester for eggs 79
Trap for cats 94
for hawks 99
for skunks , 94
nests 55
Trough, covered 2
protected i
wire i
Vegetable cutter 29
Ventilation, when needed ...... 100
Ventilator, box 67
convenient « 100
Warm box 112
Waste of food i
Water can, casing for 22
dish, box for 23
dish, safe . 22
for ducks 24
heater 1 6
supply plan of . . it
Whitewashing, brush for 103
with pump . . 103
Window brooder 84
Windows, double 49
good 46
warm 48
Wings, cutting 117
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