Evening star., 1916-06-04
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POULTRY YARD NOTES.

I trees, in the COW barns. implement
house, or other outbuildings. Build
them a good. comfortable house for
| their own use and build it large enough
for all. Do not keep more stock than
your poultry house or houses Will hold
| Either build more houses or dispose of
some of the stock. This holds good in
summer as well as winter
A very common mistake is to pack
Matching eggs carelessly. Even though
the buyer is a beginner. he will note
| the conditions of the package when re-
/, ceived by express or by parcel post If
| the eggs have been packed poorly, and
| though they have arrived safely. he
| will not take A chance to give you
| future order. Good gg-Shipping par
, GELS are cheap. and should be used by
| every one making a business of selling
| Matching eggs.
! Give the growing chicks plenty of ex-
ercise. The run should be covered with
| shortcut alfalfa. straw or clover, to the
| depth of two or three inches. Scatter
grain food in this litter and make the
youngsters dig for it. The chicks will
enjoy the sport and develop into strong,
| healthy fowls.
In the selecting and planning of the
| appliances and equipment of the poul-
| try house three special factors should
| be borne in mind. The first and fore
| most is simplicity: that is, all the in
| ternal fixtures should be of simple de-
l
ing it more sanitary and reducing the
cost of construction. as we'll as the
| labor in caring for the birds. The sec
ond factor should be that of cleanliness
which IS OF extreme Importance in the
| laying house. They should be made of
smooth, hard timber Or metal. and
should be free from cracks and crevices
! which harbor parasites or disease
carrying organisms. They should be
so made that when they are thoroughly
disinfected the solution can reach all
parts. The last factor is that of loca-
ton The successful poultry raiser re-
members that the house is designed
| for the birds. and the CAPACITY of the
| by the number of square feet floor
space. Hence all of the fixtures should
| be elevated above the ground at least IA
foot and one half. thus giving all the
| floor space to the birds.
, In the construction of the perches it
| is an excellent plan to have them made
| in sections, each section hinged to tho
| back wall of the house a such a height
| that they are about eight inches above
| the dropping boards. The front perch
! is provided with a hook, SO arranged
| that the perches can be lifted up in
| front and hooked to the roof of the
| house. This raises them above the
| dropping boards and facilitates the re-
| moval of the droppingS. If loose pin
| hinges used the pin can he removed
|
| taken out of doors for cleaning. The
| dropping boards should run perpendicu-
| lar rather than lensthwise. This is the
| way the attendant will work i'll cieanin &
(! them, and the removal is made much
| easier, as there is no obstruction to
! catch the hoe. The nests, which are
| usually located directly under the
dropping boards. should he made as
/ simple and portable possible. The
+, best homemade nest consists of two
| parts, d movable platform which forms
| he floor of the nest and which slides
! into place like drawer. ON this plat
| form set the nest boxes, which consist
| Of 1x4 white pine boards, built to form
| q square fourteen inches on Il side.
| Such an arrangement can be quickly
| taken to pieces and cleaned. Every
pen III the poultry house should be
provided with an elevated small wire
coop about two feet high by four feet
-, square. with SLATED bottom, com
monty called broody pens. They are
! used for shutting up broody hens, for
| confining surplus cockereiI and for
| the shutting up at short notice and for
a short time only of any hen which is
| out of condition and which VIII later
! be removed to the hospital.
A large box or frame can be con
strucfed i'll the corner of each pen to
be used as a dust How. These should
be four or five feet long. They can be
placed in the corner and by using the
outer walls of the buildings for the
other TWO SldcS VIII FORM "A DOA. ! ne
ends can then be nailed to cleats OF
the wall and the box filled with dustlng
material. The sides of the box should
be high enough to keep out litter anc
other foreign material In the feeding
of poultry two special appliances are
needed namely, troughs and hoppers
There are many desirable manufactured
types, usually made of salvanlZec
| metal In fact, there are so many Va
rietieS that the poultrymdn is often a
| n W
| feeding appliances are sanitary. Foi
the feeding of vet mash. sprouted oats
chopped vegeta bleS, etc, feed boxes Oh
! troughs are necessary. Common green.
house flats. if the bottom is tight, are
| efficient for small hocks. For a larger
flock long N-shaped or square trough
can be constructed, which answer th'
purpose in every particular.
BY considering the following factors
! essential to successful dry masl
hopper it is possible and easy to con
| struct one at home. The hopper shoulo
| be of large cal pacity, thus economiZin nl
| la Dor in filling. A hopper holding from
three to four bushels will not require
filling oftener than once every two OF
three weeks, and should be automatic
in operation, SO that as fast as th'
| birds eat the mash a fresh supply viii
come down and take its place. Hopper
with small throats have d tendency Il
clog and not feed properly. The feed
. provided with hinged cover. so tina
it can be closed when desired, especial,
at night, to keep out rats. 1t is als'
important that the hoppers should no
waste the food. Self-feeding hoppers
I when in condition. are very eflcien
:. means of feeling, but If the birds vast
) more than they eat they become ii YER
= inefficient one. The hopper should b
i easily and quickly filed and it shoul
= have large feeding surface, SO tha
a number of birds can eat from ii a
q | the same time.
e Drinking vessels for the poultry foe
J. are of many types, some vacuum an
Y the poultry house is a large, heavy
which holds about pail Of waite
:. Such d pan, to be efficient, should b
placed on an elevated platform abou
= ! " feet from the ground. over the pa
, can be constructed d slanting roof c
. guard to keep the birds from perchin
u on the edge and soiling the waite
- Such pan is relatively cheap, easy I
clean, easy to I'll. and is not readily II
- jured even if the water freezes solid.
70 The muslin curtains which are pres
n ent in most modern poultry hous.
=, should always be made that the
- can be easily and quickly lowered, an
they should be SO placed when the
Is are raised up against the roof of II
q house that the birds cannot fly the
n and hence soil them Or conceal the
IF eggs. An excellent practice is to mai
,e the curtains in TWO parts. folding
ly that they will At up tight against II
a ninp