St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1910-04-20


to take up poultry keeping as pro-
fession, very frequently lose money by
building more elaborate and expensive
poultry houses than there is any need
for
Indeed. many houses are built so
tight and warm that poultry kept in
them are less healthy than they would
be in a house of a small fraction Of
the cost. There are throughout the
eastern states a number of defunct
poultry plants in which the cause of
failure is now attributed to the idea
of poultry house construction which
prevailed ten or fifteen years ago. At
that time houses were made with pad
ded walls and entirely inclosed so that
the chickens while rooSting in the
house at night were kept so warm
that they caught cold upon going out
into the weather next morning. The
present tendency is toward lighter.
cheaper, better ventilated buildings.
The two general forms of poultry
houses in use are the long house and
the colony house. The long house has
several pens under one roof and is
adapted to the village poultryman who
wishes to keep several breeding pens
of fowls and who must keep them
yarded. The farmer or egg farmer
will almost invariably construct his
poultry house or houses on the type of
the colony house-that is, the house
which is to contain one flock of fowls.
Simple Houses Best.
T.
hens comfort. Any embellishments or
fancy work that is added to please the
owner should not be charged up
against the productive powers of the
hen, for she needs a place to sleep, eat
and scratch out Of the weather and
cares little whether this protection be
in the form of painted building with
a silver plated weather cock on the
lightning rod or a piano box covered
with tarred paper.
The poultry house should be only
high enough for the keeper to stand
erect. any greater space being a
waste and making the house colder in
winter. The house should contain
about five square feet of floor space
per hen If the fowls are yarded. while
the fowls on free range may get on
with somewhat less space. The mild
er the climate the less indoor accom-
modations will be required by the hen.
Good Drainage Is Vital.
The poultry house should be located
upon the best drained soil available on
the farm. The sandiest soil that will
still grow crops is desired for poultry.
If the poultry house be located on
pure sand there will be no green crop
or insect life for the fowls to furnish
feed and amusement, and then results
will be little better than upon bare
board floors.
On the farm the hen should be Sepa-
rated as far as possible from the hog
pen. especially if heavy breeds are
kept; otherwise the hogs in swapping
at fowls that are stealing their feed
may learn the taste of chicken flesh.
Poultry may be placed near the or
ehard. but coops for young chicks
should not be put under trees, especial
ly with Leghorns, as the young stock
will form the habit of roosting in
the trees. and serious trouble will be
experienced when the cold weather
comes on 1t is usually impractical to
locate poultry houses so that the hens
will not find the garden, and we must
chose between fencing the hens or the
garden
A stone foundation is best for the
poultry house that is permanently 10
Gated, but where stone is expensive
this may be replaced by cedar, hem
lock or Usage orange posts. Colony
houses are best built on hemlock mud
sills cut like sled runners so they may
be moved to fresh ground.
Floors may be constructed of rough
boards or cement Cement floors are
excellent, but If well constructed are
expensive. Cheaply constructed ce-
mont docrs viii not last BOARD floors