The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1912-04-18

desirable In regions where the winters
are extremely cold. 1t does not pay to
paper the inside of the house. as the
mites will find Il congenial home be-
tween the paper and the wall
Roosts and Nest Boxes.
Part of the main part of the house
should be given over to roosts and the
rest used for nest boxes. 1t is better
to have the roosts along the north side
A muslin curtain arranged on a roller,
so that it can be let down In front OF
the fowls on cold nights, does much to
keep them comfortable. The roosting
space to be allowed to each fowl is
six to twelve inches, according to size
Two by fours set edgewise, with the
sharp corners rounded off, make good
roosts. They should be set in nOtches
so that they can be easily removed to
be cleaned and disinfected. The drop
pings should be removed every week
or two and not left for a year. as is so
often done. II plenty of straw is used
| on the cement under the roosts 1t is
but a short job to throw the excrement
out of a hole back of the roosts and put
in fresh bedding. 1t is labor that will
be well repaid. for a clean, sweet
smelling house is essential to egg pro
duction.
A little s!aked lime thrown around
under the roosts helps to keep down
bad cdors. Sprinkling the house with
coal tar dip and whitewashing the
| roosts and walls once in awhile are
also good practices
The nest boxes should be provided
with cover and so arranged as to be
| dark and secluded inside, as the hens
| prefer to lay in this kind of place
| Where a speciality is made Of poultry
| it pays to use trap nests. These are
so arranged that the hen is caught
when she goes in to lay and cannot
get out until the attendant comes
along and releases her BY having
the hens numbered with leg bands
record can be kept of the eggs laid by
| each one Thus those that never lay
can be culled' out and sent to the
butcher and the eggs Of the highest
| producing ones kept for raising pul-
let's to increase the flock In this way
the average egg yield can be increased
| considerably. 1t is important in this
| connection to make especial note Of
| those hens which do most of their
| laying In the winter months, as they
| are of considerably more value than
| the ones that lay in the summer. when
| eggs are cheap.
| Yards and Fences.
On the farm there is little need for
n:iny yards about the poultry house
| The chief need for fences is to keep
| the poultry away from the garden and
house. For this purpose woven wire
fence with hexagonaI meshes is best
! TIE meShes should be small enough 81
the bottom to keep out the small chick
ems The wire should not be smaller
than eighteen or nineteen gauge An
| important point to look to is the gal
vanizing This galvanizing is a layer
| of zinc that is coated over the wire to
keep it from rusting There are two
methods of galvanizing known rs "aft
err and before" The former is ap,
| piled to fencing galvanized after it is
woven and the Ia tier to that galvanized
before. The "after" galvanized fenc-
ing can be told from the fact that the
| joints where the cross wires are twist
ed together are filled with zinc When
the wire Is galvanized before weaving
the zinc is cracked more or less in t..
weaving process and rust readily gets
n fcctho'd. The "after" galvanized:
wire sometimes costs q little more. but
It lasts about five times as long
Coops
The chief equipment, aside from
houses and fences, is coops 1t is NOR.
economical to make these fairly large
so as to hold a hundred chickens or so
A coop sixteen feet long, two feet
| wide and about two feet high In front
with the roof sloping toward the back
is convenient and cheap. 1t can be di
| vided into eight or ten compartments
and will do for rs many hens and their
broods. The partitions should be abou
six feet long and foet high. This viii
allow them to project in front about
four feet. Laths are nailed along the
front and over the tops Of these rarti
ton boards. making a little runway in
| front of each coop. One Of the laths
should be removable to let the hen IL
and out as soon as the chicks are bi.
enough to follow her about.
While such coops are cheap, they
have one serious fault, ard that IS
that thpy are not bip enOu~I, for thr
chickens after they get to he two or