Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-06-26
Barrel May Be Used as
Storage Tank to Provide
Ample Supply at All
Times; Small Engine Saves
Labor of Pumping
Galvanized Rain Gutter
Makes an Ideal Drinking
Trough, Which Is Kept
Clean Without Difficulty
BY III. Armstrong Roberts
Practical Poultryman.
COPYRIGHT, 1915.

yleluS ana O1ten In disease among the
fIocks. In this article MFR. Roberts
shows how the pOultryman may in
stall an automatic system that will
insure constant and sanitary supply
of water.
n CHICKEN would rather drink
~ from a cows hoof-print than
from fountain of clean, pure
water, yet that is no reason why she
should be allowed to do so, any more
than she should be permitted to eat
tainted animal food, which any fowl
will devour with great relish. Clean
water in large quantities, easy of ac-
cess, is one of the chief essentials to
success with poultry. and the provid-
ing of it is one of the most laborious
tasks in commercial plant, unless
there is some system of distributing
| 1t by mechanical power or gravity.
The way in which a fowl drinks
would seem to indicate that she con-
sumes only few drops of water in a
day. yet in reality she drinks close to
a half-pint, especially during the
self is something like sixty per cent.
water. Thus we find that in house
of five hundred layers the actual daily
water consumption is more than
thirty gallons, or almost barrel. If
this were to be carried by hand, five
gallons at a time, six trips to and
from the we'll or other source of sup
ply would be necessary. But this
merely allows for actual consumption,
with no surplus for cooling or sanitary
purposes-a highly important consid-
GRAFTON.
Water Should BE Kept Clean
Every time a fowl drinks she in
variably washes her beak in the water.
This may leave in the water only a
cb lN,,f
in the course of day the quantity of
foreign matter carried into a drinking
fountain is surprising. Moreover. un-
less the fountains are very carefully
arranged, certain amount of litter
will also be scratched or busted into
the water Where fowls are strong
and healthy, they can throw off a fair
amount of this contamination. AS it
is almost impossible to insure abso-
lutely pure water in fountain or open
vessel of any kind, it is advisable to
have such fountains of large capacity,
in order that the degree of pollution
may be lessened and the dangers re-
duced to minimum.
1t is far more economical to pro-
vide five times the quantity of water
actually consumed, than to attempt to
keep fountains fresh and sanitary by
scrubbing or washing them. For this
reason, and because 1t seems to be
human nature to forget to give ade-
quate attention to drinking facilities.
great pains should be taken to make
the watering system as near automatic
and germproof as possible. With a
little common mechanical ability and
a few tools, this can be done at mod
crate expense
If poultry farm has access to a
municipal water supply, or If there
is storage tank on the premises, the
work of equipping the buildings with
an ideal system is half accomplished,
since 1T is then a simple matter to lay
underground pipes connecting each
house with the main supply.
Where this convenience is not avail
able, a small gasoline engine of about
one horsepower, with a pumpjack
erected over an ordinary forcepump,
may be installed at a cost not exceed
ing $50, and will prove entirely salts
factory. If this outlay is too great,
the forcepump may be operated by
hand, few minutes every day.
Instead of an overhead storage tank,
barrels (preferably charred whisky
containers which will serve to clarity
the water) may be stationed in the
various building at a trifling cost, and
will give sufficient pressure for uni
form supply. The barrel should be
stood on end with the head intact. and
a neat hole bored in 1t for, the feed
barrel is protected from direct cur
rents Of outside air. consequently the
water will not freeze to any extent in
cold weather, at least not enough to
retard its flow in a temperature above
10 degrees Fahrenheit.
Rain Gutter as Drinking Trough
An ordinary galvanized sheet iron
raingutter, or eavestrough, makes an
ideal contrivance for placing the wa
ter before the birds. and one that is
kept clean most easily. It should be
about hfteen feet long in a house of
five hundred layers. This trough is
fastened to the front wall of the build
ing with hangers manufactured for
the purpose. The rolled or rounded
edge of the trough should face the
side from which the birds drink, and
be about ten inches off the floor, with
slight drain toward the end farther
from the barrel. The tinsmith will
solder a plate at each end of the
trough, and also fit the end that is to
be farther from the barrel with an
overflow pipe and a drain. Both of
these may be of tubing half an inch in
diameter, fitted so that they discharge
outside the building.
The drain, of course, should lead
from the lowest point in the trough,
and be rounded nicely so that an ordi-
nary cork may be used as a plug or
stopper. This arrangement facilitates
washing out the trough, and. IL the
overflow pipe is properly located, there
need be no fear of the trough over
flowing to the floor of the building.
About three inches above the edges
Of the gutter. allowing just enough
space for the fowls to raise and lower
their heads in drinking, IL is advisable
to fit ten-inch board over the entire
length of the trough. This will pre-
vent the birds from jumping into II or
fouling the water. This board should
be hinged as shown in the accompany
| ing sketch, so that 1t may be raised
for cleaning. Directly over the end OF
the trough bore hole in the lowest
practical point in the barrel and fit il
with a wooden faucet or tap The
water supply is then under control
and may be allowed either to trickle
or to run in a steady stream.
In the winter, when there is lkeli.
hood of the water in the trough freez-
| ing over night, 1t may be drained off al
! closing-up time, and the spigot wra D.
| ped with piece of wooden cloth. Tn.
less the temperature is extremely low
the trough will not freeze in the day.
| time, inasmuch as the fowls are con,
i tnsx llxr AV-tVs LII