River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1907-01-17
WINTER POULTRY WORK.
How the Cold Days May Be Profita-
bly, Employed.

Last winter a man yawning sleepily
by the fire was asked by a neighbor
if he had nothing to do in cold
weather and the reply was that he
knew of nothing that could be done
in the house, except what his wife
was capable of accomplishing, and
out of doors it was too cold. The
neighbor asked him to walk home
with him, and there in comfortable
rough shed by a fire, he showed him
what he had accomplished for the
benefit of the chickens for the next
summer. The fire cost very little, be-
ing built out of refuse wood, and
many were the tasks accomplished in
that little room to tighten the labor
for the warm months.
feeding pen in three sections
was the most important work done,
according to the owner of the place,
and he displayed it proudly The pine
Stats of which it was constructed
were far enough apart to admit the
little chickens and yet keep out the
big ones. This was made to be wired
in triangular shape, or be fastened to
light posts, but the whole thing was
made with an eye to cleanliness
since it could be moved from place to
place as soon as the ground became
foul. Three long packing boxes at
ten cents each supplied the material
for the feeding pen which would give
comfort and aid to the busy house
wife during the following summer.
Any lady who has gone about from
coop to coop trying to get each hen
and her brood into the proper place
to feed them, would welcome porta-
BILE feeding pen.
Then there were little coops with
movable floors, or, rather, separate
floor, light enough for a woman to
handle. The little platforms were
securely fastened to cross pieces, and
could easily be scrubbed by lifting off
the top, which was the old-fashioned
V shape. The man thought square
coops would have been better after
finishing what he had, but that is
matter of opinion. Unless the "
shaped coops are rather wide they
are much warmer on hot nights than
the higher ones. After the chicks are
of good size, and the weather is not
so cold as in spring, the. platforms
may be scrubbed and stored away for
the next year, but early in the sea-
son every coop should have it's floor.
The refuse bits of the store boxes
were used for making nests to be
placed out of doors in warm weather
in convenient places. There was
also long dust box into which the
man had been sitting wood ashes out
of doors on calm days, since he had
been too busy in the fall to gather
road dust. 81 really wasn't too busy"
he explained, "but l was too busy to
make something to put the dust in.
Now am prepared for next summer"
Of course the ashes were not as good
as the dust, but the chickens enjoyed
many delightful bath in the big
box
On mild days it would be well to
get a few loads of gravel or cinders
from some factory in town to fill up
the low places in the chicken yard.
Soil is better than nothing, but good
gravel run is worth a great deal, says
a writer in Farm Poultry. Some peo-
pie use sawdust, but this is a great
place for vermin, besides being too
springy in wet weather. Winter is
also a good time to repair the fences,
fasten the wire securing the ground
boards, burn off any dead weeds that
may remain, and dispose of old in
fected chicken coops.