The Delta independent., 1913-10-17
The Defects in poultry Houses

] ihS OS'SSNo W fobiSiJ n0uSCo.
The ideal poultry house it not yet
here. All are more or less trouble to
their owners. There are apparently
an unavoidable number of little details
about most houses that cause consider
! able worry and loss of time. labor CON-
fort ond economica handling. When
one regulates the houses for the night
it is mare than likely that some change
| in the weather VIII play havoc with
either the health of the flock or the
egg yield or both. Many a night
have We left the curtains wide open.
allowing the rain, which came two
or three hours after bedtime. to beat
in the open spacea The floor that
we had taken so mach pride to care
tlfully lay became one mass of ripples
with colds and drafts leeakng through
TO the detriment of the layers. And
while we have learned how to avoid
this more or less still we are yet look
/ ing for perfect house.
Twenty or thirty years ago most
Iroultry houses were built tight with
practically no open fronts. For winter
the laying houses had double walls
and an air space. but many would also
put stove in to keep the tempera-
ture at summer heat. These houses
would steam and smell. causing colds.
Group. chickenpox and many other ills
with consequent doctoring and fussing
to say nothing of all the extra expense
OF medicine and waste OF time. Even
today many persons wish to know If
/ the use of a stove is advisable. In
our dry climate stoves in poultry
houses can do nothing but harm.
Then we had houses on the scratch
ing shed principle. that Is. with sleep
ing compartment for night use and an
open front section adjoining 1t for day
luse. The worst feature about this
style is the fact that the sleeping room
is too cramped. curtailing the volume
of fresh air that should always be
present when the birds are sleeping.
The trouble with most of these houses
is that they are not built deep enough.
The birds are too near the outside
Temperature and feel the weather va
riations too keenly. We now use
houses sixteen feet deep and the next
we build will be twenty feet. BY
lcarrying the birds further away from
the front openings we can use the
same room for both sleeping and
Scratching 1t gives larger room for
during the day and
d greater volume of fresh air during
their sleeping hours, that is when the
curtains are closed on cold or stormy
nights.
With the birds so far from the front
no curtain is needed around the drop
ping board which is an abomination
that everyone ought to discard at
once. 1t Is breeder of sickness.
When such curtains are in use the
birds steam during the night and chill
correspondingly during the day. Even
the curtains in front of the house
should never be too thick. but should
always be freely porous to allow the
fresh air free passage. The outside
curtain, even on the coldest nights. is
sufficient protection where health Is
the first thing sought. Do away with
the dropping boadr curtains and have
better health in the flock. A neighbor
called some time ago and remarked
that his birds ha dsevere colds and
that he could find no reason for such
a state of affairs. | went over and
a . 1,
was using dropping board curtains
When first used these curtains had
done no serious harm. owing to the
lfact that they were made of thin mus
hin. and, being new. were very porous.
Time. however, had covered them with
dust so that ventilation was sadly lack
ing. | advised him to take the curtains
down altogether, merely using the
curtains in front of the house. and al
though he he'd his fears when he con-
sidered the down-to-Zero weather, he
finally took chance and tore them
all down. In less than a week his
birds were In splendid condition AMI
the egg yield jumped up rapidly. His
birds had been short of fresh air and
had been steaming every night. which
caused them to hang around during
the day in a listless manner. When
birds lack energy and vim during the
early part of the day there Is nearly
always somethinv wrong with their
sleeping quarters during the night. and
when during the winter. they are on
the perches 80 many long hours 1t
means big risk to allow them to be-
come overheated and steam. Far bet