Norwich bulletin., 1915-07-22
TYPES OF POULTRY HOUSES.
Continuous Building Saves Much La
Dor Required BY Colony System.

Poultrymen have a decided partially
toward the ca1ony house system for
housing laying hens in f1oclxs of 10 to
20 in certain sections of New England.
This is especially true in Rhode Island
and certain sections of New Hamp-
shire and Maine, where men believe
that in small isolated fiocks hens lay
enough more eggs and retain their
health enough better to pay for the
high cost of extra labor required in
their care and the extra house con-
struction required for inclosing IL to
Is birds in separate buildings. 1t is
also argued that hens kept according
to this system can be given more range
and green pasturage because it per-
mits of the moving Of the buildings
from place to place, thus decreasing
the cost of feed in summer and in
creasins the vitality of the stock the
year around.
Some pcultrymen have adopted a
modified CORN of the colony house
system with buildings large enough to
hold so to 100 hens and built on per-
maent foundation. This cuts down on
the cost of labor in feeding, watering
and cleaning and decreases the per hen
cost of house construction and is a
very good scheme for a farmer keep
ing 100 to 200 hens and desiring to
keep them separated permanently, but
for any person keeping more than 300
hens so-called continuous laying
house is undoubtedly most desirable.
This style of house can be built at a.
cost of from Is cents of 81. per hen
capacity while the small colony house
pacity. The saving of labor cost is
equally great, as many minutes are
expended each day in travelling from
houses to house where birds are kept
in small f1oclSs on the range and this
is especially unpleasant during the cold
-, han oil
under one roof the work can be done
with greater ease and comfort which is
bound to result in more painstaking
care on the part of the poultryman and
better performance on the part of the
fowls.
With grass yards and the double
yarding system hens can be given all
the exercise and green feed they need
without the necessity Of moving
houses from place to place at various
seasons of the year. 1t must be ad-
mitted than hens kept in large hocks
in continuous laying house are more
likely to contract contagious diseases
which will result in serious loss but if
the poultrynlan will use one-tenth of
the time required in walking from
house to house in the colony house
system watching his sanitary condi-
lions and his individual fowls in the
long house he need fear nothing in
the form of sickness or low vitality.
In order to watch the birds with
greater size it is wise to divide the
continuous house into 20-foot pens
with q solid PARTON between. and the
insurance of better health among the
fowls will more than pay for the cost
of the partition. Any person desiring
to build up a poultry farm slowly and
not wishing to construct a very large
house at once can build a continuous
house in 20-foot units, constructing as
many pens at time as he desires, and
building them on the end of the origi-
nal building from year to year. 1t is
not good policy to build house
more than $50 feet in length unless a
large storeroom is constructed in the
center, because the end pens will be
so far from the supply of feed. water,
etc, that nearly as much walking will
be required as in the colony house
| system.