The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1889-04-16
SHELTER FOR FOWLS.
Keeping Poultry in Cheap Buildings q
some Distance From the House.

cially designed for the fowls they keep.
They allow them to occupy the farm
and stable with the cattle and horses.
This plan is very Objectionable in
mary respects. All fowls are dirty
creatures Their droppings are scat
tered on every place they pass over
and are deposited under their roosts.
They are so offensive that they ruin
every kind of food they touch and rem
der the air in a building unfit to beathe.
They are very valuable for manure,
but il is likely to be lost if it is
scattered about a barn or horse
stable. Hens will eat much of the
grain that is fed out to animals If they
are kept in the same building with
them. They will also ''hide their
nests" in hay-mows, and in many cases
they will not be found till the eggs
they contain are spoiled. They will
sometimes hatch out a lot of chickens
in a nest on a scaffold, from which
they will fall out and be killed. II
there are rats about barn they will
be likely TO eat many eggs.
Persons who put up buildings for the
special use of fowls are likely to spend
so much money on them that their in
vestuent in improbable. They use
the designs furnished by poultry books
and papers, which are intended for
those who keep fowls for pleasure rath-
erthan profit. They supply these build
ings with "all the modern improve
ments" found in irst-class city resi-
dences. The boxes for nests are all in
this same style and are arranged in uni
form rows. For some reason fowls do
not take kindly to these expensive and
ornate structures. They behave like
Indians quartered in a palace Their
chief desire appears to be TO make their
escape. They want more freedom and
greater variety of nests. They have
every thing their owner thinks they
need. There is no reason why poultry
houses should be made ornamental un-
less they are to stand in town or
city where they will attract consider.
able notice. No one but a poultry
fancier cares for splendid house tc
shelter fowls.
There are good reasons for putting
up buildings on farms expressly for
the use of fowls and for locating them
at some distance from the house and
barn. II more than a hundred hens
are kept on a place there should be
more than one building. as very large
flocks are seldom profitable or healthy.
Probably it would be better to restrict
the number of full-grown fowls kept
in one flock to fifty. In a newly-set-
tied part of the country where farmers
are likely to be poor n pOultry-hOuse |
must be made of cheap materials. A |
building made of turf has many adj |
1t is very cheap. is warm |
in winter, and cool in summer. II /
can be covered by straw placed |
on poles. These will form a root |
that will shed rain and keep out |
the cold. 1t will require no ventila- |
ton, as air will circulate through the |
straw. 1t should stand on a dry place, |
so that water will not collect about it. |
A floor is not necessary. The ground
between the walls can be covered with |
sand or gravel. The roOsts can be
into the turf walls. Frames |
for glass windows can be set in them.
A building that will accommodate
from 80 to 100 hens can be made OF
boards and scantling for about so.
This sum will buy the lumber for a
building 20 feet by II and feet high |
from the stills to the caves. On the
south end there should be a door OF
the ordinary size for persons to enter.
with a window on each side. 1t il
also well to have two windows on the
east side Under the windows should
be small sliding doors for the fowls to
pass through. The north and west
walls should be made tight to keep
put the cold wind. In each gable
should be small sliding window for
when the weather is warm.
Some shelves for nests can be put il
each corner of the building. Half
barrels turned on the side and sunk
lew inches in the ground are good foi
making suitable places for nests.
Nail-kegs and cheap boxes can also
be used for the same purpose Some
hens prefer to deposit their eggs in
lark place. To accommodate them
Iarge boxes may be fastened to the
outside of the building and small doors
cut to afford passage to them.-Chi-
ago Times.