Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1912-02-16
MONEY IN POULTRY RAISING
conrath Man Uses "Open-Front''
Chicken Coops" with Excellent
Results

keep poultry for profit. Three years
ago we had a coop built, 16x1S. This
was sheathed on the studding, then
papered and again sided. 1t had two
| boards The chickens were well
taken care Of as far as feed and
warmth was concerned, but they
looked dirty and huddled in a corner
and at night they were sEeezlng and
were easily taken by diseases. Eggs.
! Wen, we never thought about them
until spring, when the hens could
breathe the fresh, pure air. and hus.
tie around for insects.
A friend Of mine made us visit,
and after arguing about the condition
OF my poultry, let him have his ow
way and remodel the coop, although
it was new and we'll put up.
He cut the two windows out, and
with them hole four feet high and
eight feet long Then he made q
frame and hinged it 10 the top Of this
hole. On this frame old burlap was
fastened.
I made frequent visits to the chick
en- COOP as was rather suspicious
of this method Of housing anything.
In two or three days, | noticed that
the rooster was nipped little, and
| purchased some "a" sheeting and
tackled it on, as the burlap was too
open. This worked well and the
chickens commenced to be more ac-
tive. their combs Redeemed, until one
night the thermometer had a drop.
Two hens got their combs nipped a
little so | purchased more sheetine
and hung it as a curtain in front OF
the roost When there is a sudden
drop in the temperature, this is
I dropped down in the evening.
On clear days, the front cover is
raised up and the suns rays &C
right in and then the chickens have
great time with a dust bath The
studding OF our coop is 6 feet
on the north side and eight on the
south Inside we have platform
made the whole length Of the cooi
and four and one-half feet wide
This is fastened to the north side
and both ends and is feet 9 inches
from the floor with a taper of six
inches downward toward the soutL
| side. The roosts are s inches above
this Directly under and nailed to
| the platform is frame to hold the
! nests and this has door four inches
wide on the front side for gathering
the eggs and an opening on the OPP
| posite for the hen to go in and out.
! Thus located, the nests are always
clean and this arrangement gives the
use of all the floor space for the
chickens.
| On the floor We scatter some lit
| ter what we use now is barley
straw-and in this their feed is scat
tered; this gives them exercise and
so gives better circulation OF the
blood, and the cold of the day has
no effect on them
Experiencing good results from the
above method of housing, another
coop was built fourteen feet wide and
another twelve feet wide, and for
farm purposes | believe that twelve
feet is preferable TO any other width
In these we have windows in addi-
ton to the muslin front, which on
stormy days when the muslin is
down, gives more light for the chick
ems, enabling them to scratch for
their feed In addition to the coops,
we have built scratching shed
twenty-five feet long For bottom, we
out in a layer of inches of gravel.
his is covered with straw and chaff
lat night we throw whole grain the
length of the shed and pile the litter
on top of it and every bit they eat
must be dug out. There is no one
thing SO sure Of the biggest return
from the amount of money invested
is poultry raising, properly taken
care Of, and when eggs are selling at
IS cents per dozen and 200 hens are
laying daily 100 eggs, you may judge
for yourself. In place of hanging cur
fains in front of the rooSt we have
found it better to make two frames.
cover each with muslin and hang both
!. the opening. This gives better cir
culation of air, and keeps the chick
ems at more uniform temperature.
Do not make the mistake Of having
TWO openings in one coop as this Gre
ates draft. Any one interested will
always be welcome to visit our farm
rs Rush county is as well adapted to
poultry raising as any where This |
IS well worth consideration.
A II