Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1916-11-08
POULTRY
CONSULTING DEPARTMENT


Fresh Air for Poultry
One Of the secrets of successfully
keeping hens is having the air of the
house fresh and dry. Good ventila-
ton and dryness are so essential that
the most skillful breeding, feeding
and care can not make up for the
lack of it. These are the fundamen-
tails of good poultry husbandry. And
it is very difficult to secure a dry
house and atmosphere without fresh
air circulating through the pens. 1t
has been estimated by poultry scien-
fists that hens breathe more air per
pound of live weight than any other
class of farm animals, and this seems
quite reasonable.
Take pen containing $50 five
pound hens. This flock will breathe
almost three times as much as a COW
weighing 1000 pounds, yet the hens
are kept closely crowded in their
sleeping quarters. Every hen of the
flock breath out impurities that are
poisonous to the others, and she also
breathes in the impurities given off
ventilation to carry away these i'm
purities and supply the needed fresh
air instead.
~ has III oCtCiai IlOldiICo OtCn
proved by experiments that these i'm
purities given off by one animal are
much more poisonous to another ami
NAL than to one breathing them off
the lungs. The lungs of all farm
stock and poultry are the purifying
instruments of the individual, and
here the whole body forces off poison,
depending upon these organs for new
life. You can prove this for your
own satisfaction. Put a mouse in a
self-sealing jar and make the cover
tight. In a few minutes he will be-
gin to show signs of suffocation. Then
without admitting any more fresh air
than you can help, introduce the sec
ond mouse, even in the jar the short
er time, wall die before the first
mouse will. The reason is that the
second mouse did not really die of
suffocation, for if he had both would
have died at the same time, but he
was killed by the poison given off
from the lungs of the first mouse. 1t
is entirely possible that this is the
reason why so many hens in appar-
emily good physical thrift drop dead
off the roost. The ventilation is poor
and the birds become poisoned by the
gases from the lungs of their perch
mates.
The dropping boards should be
cleaned often, and the boards spray
ed or some clarifying material used
in refreshing them. The gases which
issue from droppings goes immedi-
ately to the sleeping birds, and aside
from the body poisons, gives them a
double dose of poison, thus lowering
their efficiency to low point. Thou
sands Of hens do not lay because they
are poisoned.
The water which fowls drink is not
excreted as in other animals of the
farm, but is carried off by the air that
the bird breathes. The air that the
hen breathes passes to every part of
the body and gathers moisture. If the
air is dry it gathers the moisture cas-
lily and quickly. If the air is already
moist it takes up very little more
moisture. This in turn means that
more air must be breathed to do the
same amount of work. The result is a
painting hen even though the day be
quite cool. A painting hen is uncom-
Portable and is not the one that lays
the most eggs or makes economical
gains in flesh.
The three most common causes of
dampness in the poultry house are:
A poor location, faulty floor construc-
ton and improper ventilation. A poor
location may be any place that does
not have the best of air and water
drainage. Any spot that is low or
that does not have an outlet to
ground that is considerably lower is
likely to have poor air drainage. This
means that if the henhouse is located
in such place the damp air is likely
to settle in and about it and the frost
will linger there late in the spring
and make its appearance with the
coming of colder weather. Such a
location shortens the real laying sea-
son to a great extent.
In selecting location for the poul-
try house the one with southern
slope, on fairly high piece of
ground is about right, for aside from
being brighter and more cheerful in
winter it will also be drier than any
other exposure.
Have your windows curtained with
muslin of a heavy weave, and use as
little glass as possible, for there is
nothing that will draw as much mois-
ture into hen house as glass. BY
allowing proper ventilation - not
drafts-but the circulation of fresh
air in proper quantities, your flock
will be both healty and profitable.