The Lubbock avalanche. (Lubbock, Tex.) 1909-1922, 1922-10-10

be done anywhere inside without
humping the head.
Size.
The size Of the hen house should
receive first consideration. For all
general purposes we. have found II
necessary 10 allow not less than
three square feet Of floor space per
fowl For n flock Of 100 hens the
house should provide NJ least three
hundred square feet of floor space.
This will take a house 20 by 10 feet.
The shape of the house is also inn
portant. At the present time the
general style of houses is house
longer than il is wide. A common
structure is houses from II 10 20
feet wide and a. long as necessary.
We have found however that long
and narrow homes Is not the best
type. A long and narrow house IS
also more subject TO outside changes
of the weather. In other words the
narrow house is not as comfortable
as the wide house. We have found
the wide house 10 be cooler In the
summer and warmer in the winter.
In the wide house the fowls can get
away from the open front more than
in the narrow houses. We have
found the square houses, something
as follows very satisfactory: . by
Is; 20 by 90; and % by 25 At the
present time we have two houses
each % feet square that are giving
entire satisfaction. We like them
very much.
Location.
The poultry houses must be con-
veniently located. They should not
be too close and not too far from
the rest of the farm buildings. They
should be close 10 the feed house,
so as 20 reduce the labor item m
feeding them. Too close to the barn
will cause the hens 10 remain ia the
barn and other outbuildings too
much. The hen house must be To-
Gated on a well drained spot A
knoll is a good place. The fonrda-
ton should be built on the knoll, so
as 10 insure good water drainage
in all four directions. This is very
important for the health of the
fowls. In selecting the place porous
soil should be given preference.
Sandy or gravelly soil is better than
tight clay or black loan. II posi-
BILE locate the hen house near sever
al good sized trees The shade IS on
important item.
Foundations and Floors
At the present time, when AT
building material is expensive a
great mistake 10 build anything on
] = 4. hn
lieve that all permanent buildings
should be located on concrete
foundation. This will save the build.
ing many more years, and will add
to the value of the structure. We
believe IL a great mistake 30 build
any kind of a structure on .he
ground. The foundation may be
built out Of part cement, 3 parts
sand and parts gravel. II small
stones are handy they may be used.
mixed in with the concrete mixture.
| The floor may be natural soil, cent
ent or wood. We believe the Gem
ent floor the best. We 10 not like
wood or board floors, because they
provide harboring places for rats,
and soon rot, especially the kind Of
! lumber you can buy now adays The
earth floors are good. but more or
less unsanitary and hard 20 keep
clean. II the top layer of five 10
six inches is removed and renewed
each year, the results are quite sat
isfactory The foundation and floor
should be located at least six inches
above the highest point 20 insure
good drainage.
Walls of the House
The walls of the house should be
built out of good material, SO at
the pleasure of the attendant they
may be opened or closed with ease.
To make this possible we construct
the south side more or less open.
covered with inch mesh poultry net
ting The opening is best located
close 10 the floor, SO that the rain
will not beat in too far. The north,
east and west ends should be equip
ped with windows and shutters hing
ed at the top 10 swing out and up.
The shutters should be OF large di-
mansions so they may be opened
wide in hot weather and thus keep
ing the house comfortable in hot
weather These shutters are located
on all the three sides or ends men
toned. In the winter they are clos
ed down as near alright as possible.
In the summer drafts are not injur-
ious but in the late fall and winter
they are sure TO cause colds and
roup. The windows should be loca-
ted on all three sides, namely the
north, east and west, to insure light
from all sides. We do not use win
dows in the south side because the
open front takes care of that Win
dows add materially to the comfort
of the hens in unpleasant weather.
Roof.
The roof of the poultry house first
Of all must be well built, so it will
keep the house dry. This is very
important, because a damp hen house
l. a I00 nor cent failure ae hen