Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1914-04-30

| A large amount of glass in the front
| OF the house makes it warm during
| the day and cold at night, as glass
! radiates heat very rapidly. Unbleached
muslin. or light weight of duck cloth.
Is used for curtains In the fronts OF
! poultry houses. This cloth should be
thin enough to allow a slow circula-
| ton of air without draft. which OBJ
! ject is defeated by using too heavy
grade of duck or by oiling or paint
| ing the cloth. The front of the house
should be high enough so that the
windows or openings will allow the
sun to shine well back during the win
| ter.
Floors.
The best kind of a floor depends
upon the soil and the use of the house.
On light, sandy, wel1-drained soils a
dirt floor is satisfactory, especially
| for small or colony henhouses. A
board floor is generally used where
the level of the floor in the house is
from one to three feet above the
ground surface and in portable houses
on land which is not well drained
Board floors harbor rats and rot quick
ly, and should be raised some distance
off the ground so that cats or dogs
can get under them, which also al
lows a free circulation Of air to pre-
vent the wood from rotting. Cement
floors are adapted to long perma-
nent buildings, brooder houses, incu-
bator cellars, and to all permanent
| houses where an artificial floor Is re
| quired and can be built on the ground
! level.
Roosts and Dropping Boards.
! The interior fixtures of the pens
should be simple, portable and mex
pensive Roosts are usually placed
| next to the end or back walls, six to
| ten inches above the dropping boards.
while the latter are from two to two
and one-half feet above the floor. They
| should all be on the same level, other
wise the birds will crowd and fight to
| get on the highest roost. Scantling
2 by inches, with the upper edges
rounded off, makes good roosts with
| Allow seven to ten inches of roost
| space per fowl. according to the size
of the birds. Roosts should be placed
! about fifteen inches apart, but the out
! side ones may be within ten inches OF
| the edge of the dropping boards
| Kinds Of Material Used for Building.
| Houses made entirely of solid con-
4 10 h,,f 10
blocks may be used with good results.
Hollow tile makes very good poultry
house, and it can be bought in some
sections at a price which compares
| favorably, considering its durability,
| with wood. This construction is well
| adapted to incubator cellars and
| brooder houses, or to any buildings re-
ton.
| All kinds of wood are used in build
| ing poultry houses, and any durable
lumber which is available fort that pur-
pose may be used. The lumber which
| is to be used for the outside construc-
| ton should be well seasoned, other
wise the shrinkage will leave cracks
III LILO W1lto- no DCot oliiiiSACo al
made Of redwood, cypress and cedar;
and white pine is also used. Ashes
| tos shingles are quite durable. but
more expensive than wooden ones.
Whitewash.
Whitewash is the cheapest of all
| paints and may be used either for ex-
terror or interior surfaces. 1t can be
made by shaking about ten pounds of
| quicklime in a pail with two gallons
| of water, covering the pail with cloth
or burlap, and allowing it to Stake for
one hour. Water is then added to
bring the whitewash to consistency
which may be applied readily. A
weatherproof whitewash for exterior
surfaces may be made as follows: a.
Stake one bushel of quicklime In ~
i gallons OF hot water; (2) dissolve two
pounds Of common salt and one pound
of sulphate OF zinc and two gallons
Of boiling water; pour (2) into (D,
then add two gallons of skim milk
and mix thoroughly Whitewash Is
spread lightly over the surface with
a broad brush.