The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1911-08-24

winter and cooler in summer than the
shed roof. The walls should be higher
than is absolutely necessary for the con-
venience of the poultryman. The gen.
eral concensus of opinion among poultry
men is that there should be about one
third as much glass as cloth in the front
of the house. Some poultrymen also
favor placing the windows horizontally
beneath the opening rather than verti-
cally along side Of it, the reason being
that it affords wider band of sunshine
on the floor of the house in the winter
season.
Foundations for Poultry Houses. The
kind of foundation depends somewhat
upon the system of housing. Movable
colony houses should be built on in.
by in. skids, or roughly hewn logs of
about the same dimensions. For the
permanent houses the common founda-
lions are usually one of the following:
stone, cement, or combination of cob
blestones and cement.
Floors for Poultry Houses. There are
three kinds Of floors in common use
earth, cement, and board. The earth
floor makes it necessary that house
stand on well drained soil, and in addi-
ton it is often advisable to provide
thorough drainage by means of drain
tile around the building. A dry
earth floor absorbs moisture, and
gives the birds opportunity for an
excellent dust bath, which is about
the best kind Of exercise they can take.
1t is advisable, however, to replace the
top layer of soil each year. The main
objections to an earth floor are that it is
apt to become tainted and form breed
ing place for disease germs if not prop
erly taken care of. 1t also affords an
excellent harboring place for rats unless
precautions have been taken in the con-
struction of the foundation. If either of
these conditions arise cement floor may
be laid. This is difficult to construct in
such manner as to keep out dampness.
The board floor is easy to keep clean and
has proved very satisfactory.
Amount of Floor Space per Bird. Two
things govern the carrying capacity of
any house. First the amount of floor
space available; second the cubic feet of
air space. The latter is not of so much
| Importance as the former because any
house that is high enough to permit the
movement of the average person within
will usually contain sufficient air space
for the number of birds the floor space
will allow. The amount of ventilation
has some influence. An open or curtain
front house will admit of carrying more
birds in relation to air space than will
closed house. At the present time from
to So. 1T. Of floor space per bird is
the unit usually recommended, although
in the open front house the floor space
may be reduced to even less than that
amount. The size of the pen should also
hot bn g
space allowed. 1t is clearly evident
of floor space in large pen will take
more exercise than one which has from
to so. tt. IN small pen.
Poultry House Appliances. The main
features to be kept in mind in equipping
poultry house are that the various
forms of equipment should be as simply
and as economically constructed as pos
sible, and that they should be movable
in order that the house can be given
thorough cleaning. Ordinary pieces of
timber of in. IN. dimension with
the edges slightly rounded make very
satisfactory roosts. 1t is a good plan to
place them in frame which is hinged
on hook attached to the rear wall
Some suspend the loose end of the frame
work with Wire from overhead One
should figure roostlng space at the rate
Of from IN. to 10 in. per bird. 1t is
much better to have slight excess of
roost room than overcroWding The
question of having dropping board is a
much debated one. On the farm where
there is only small flock the probability
is that the dropplags will not be cleaned
out every day. In such cases the health
of the poultry will be better if no drop
ping board is used. Fence off section
of the floor below and keep the odor of
the droppings down by the use of soil or
some other good deodorizer. In the long
continuous house on the larger plants
dropping boards may be used to advant-
age. Nest boxes should be simple in
construct ion and if possible be darken-
ed. Nest boxes should not be placed be-
meath the dropping boards because they
are apt to become infected with lice and
mites.
Many different kinds of feed hoppers
are used. A home made one (slatted
'front.' seems to give as good satisfaction
as any. Some difficulty may be encoun-
tered through the birds wasting the feed,
but this may be overcome by attaching
v-shaped trough on the outside, or by
fastening narrow strip in the form of
an alighting board some two inches from
the edge of the hopper in such manner
that when the birds attempt to pull out
the feed they will fall off the board.
Probably the best water utensil is an
ordinary 8 or 10 quart galvanized iron
pail. A stand should be provided so that
the birds will not upset it.
In conclusion would state U that the
general tendency among poultrymen is
toward the more general use of the open
front and curtain front house; (2) that
the colony house system of handling
poultry seems to offer some special ad-
vantages to the farmer who has small
flock; (3) that any house will give better
satisfaction if placed on high, dry,
well-drained location; (D that dryness is
the first essential to be looked for in
good poultry house; (5) that the carry
ing capacity Of house seems to depend
not only on the size of the house, but
also on the amount of fresh air obtain
able in that house; (6) that all appliances
used in house should be simple and
economical in construction and as readily
movable as possible.
PITTSFlELD PERSONALS.