The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1914-10-28
TOPICS FOR THE FARMER
SANITARY HOME FOR FOWLS is 4
NECESSITY.
The First Step in Profitable Egg Pro-
duction is to Give Your Hens the
Propor. HuartnrS

The first step to be taken in the
direction of profitable egg production
in South Carolina, according to F. c..
Hare, poultry husbandman of Glenn
son college, is to provide sanitary
poultry house for the fowls. Up-to-
date hens, with modern efficiency
methods Of manufacturing eggs, re-
quire modern conveniences" in their
homes just as much as do up-to-date
people and they will not do good
work if made to live in what might
be called chicken slums." Mr.. Hare
has outlined in somple form what is
"just the thing" in poultry house con-
struction for South Carolina and
some of these directions follow.
First, says Mr.. Hare, who has the
reputation of knowing what to say
when the subject Of conversation is
poultry houses remodel your poul-
try house, if necessary, and made it
conform to South Carolina conditions,
under which fowls require an open
front, draft-proof house in winter
and as cool a house as possible in
summer. If you want to build. erect
an inexpensive house closed tight on
the east and west sides (also on the
north side in winter) and open On
the south or front. A good size to
accommodate forty fowls is 10 feet
long by feet wide, with the studs S
| feet high in front and feet high in
the rear. The 10-foot side s feet
high faces south.
Cover this south front with 3-4
inch mesh wire netting, with the ex-
ception Of feet at the bottom, which
board Up to prevent winds from blow
ing in on the fowls. If you do not
need to keep out rats or sparrows
you can use inch mesh wire netting,
which is cheaper than the smaller
| mesh A door 1-2 feet wide is plac-
ed at either end Of the front and COW
cred with wire netting and boards.
Before completing the rear (north) }
side, make three wooden doors 2 feet
wide and about feet long for the
1 upper half Of the wall. Hinge them
outside to drop down and cover the
openings with wire netting. These
back doors must be closed tight in
cold weather, but by opening them in
summer the hot air inside the house
is removed by the draft created and
| the house is much cooler than one
with no circulation.
l Have the roosts and nests remov.
able. Small packing boxes from the
grocery store with clean straw and a
couple Of nest eggs in them are more
sanitary than nests built under the
dropboard or nailed to the house
where they can not be readily clean
ed. Nail four laths to the boxes
raise them one foot from the ground
and place them against the wall Six
nests are sufficient.
Two roosts about 10 feet long are
trequired, made of 2 by inch dressed
lumber with the corners Of NE ,
inch face Con which the fowls roost)
rounded. Nail cleats inches wide
by feets long to the side walls, witt
two notches 2 inches wide by l l.:
inches deep cut in them II inches
apart, these being for the roosts tc
rest IN. The two roosts are leve
(not one above the other, which
causes fighting for possessions of the
top roost) with the upper edge 81
inches above the sill. and the real
roost 10 inches from the north wall
The dropboard is 80 inches wide b.
| about 10 feet long, placed 6 inche:
below the bottom of the roosts. Clear
off the droppings at least once {
1 week.
/ Keep scratching material on tht
| floor. A dry earth floor is satisfac
tory Fill in with garden soil so tina
it is higher than the outside ground
then cover it with inches Of straw
pine straw, leaves, litter Of any kine
or chavings. Place the water disl
on box or shelf of sufficient size fol
the hents to stand on it, in order t
| keep the water clean of litter anl
dirt.
The house is now completed ant
ready for the fowls, but in remodel
/! ing an old house with crevices il
which mites can hide, it is necessar.
to cover the interior with heay.
building paper fastened on with laths
When finished, Hmewash the wall.
and the house will be both mite
. proof and bright.