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Show Sell Eggs In Winter By R. M. Sherwood, of tho Kansas Experiment Station A good poultry houso is what you need, Mr. Farmer, if you aro going to havo plenty of eggs to sell this winter. Somo farmers fool that winter eggs nre too hard to get to mako it worth whllo to try to produco them. "If one has n good poultry houso, ho should havo llttlo trouble Early matured pullets properly housed and fed should produco n largo number of eggs." Tho house, need not bo an cxpon-slvo cxpon-slvo ono. It should furnish1 tho fowls protection from tho winds and storms, and should bo so constructed that It will havo proper ventilation. A chlckrn breathes thrco or four times ns much nlr in proportion to Its weight ns a human being. Ventilation Ven-tilation makes a houso somowhat colder, but dryer, and dry, cold air is much better for tho fowls than moist warm air. Must Be Dry and Odorless Tho houso should bo built with tho west, north and east Bides tight during dur-ing tho winter months, whllo tho south sldo should furnish tho ventilation. venti-lation. There may bo a fow glass windows on tho south sldo, but more space should bo left open, except that curtains may bo dropped down for tho nights, and on n fow very stormy days. On somo occasions those openings may bo left uncovered uncov-ered during tho nl -lit. Sometimes curtains do not allow enough air to clrculato. In theso cases, openings may bo mado Just under tho roof to allow tho nlr to circulate moro frco-ly. frco-ly. What over tho system of ventl latlon may bo it is essential that the houso should bo dry nnd freo from bad air. Tho houso should bo so constructed construct-ed that it can bo easily cleaned. Tho floor should bo smooth. Concrete Con-crete Is good for this reason. It Is truo, however, that concreto floors built on damp ground nro damp. To avoid this trouble, a concreto floor may bo built on n lnyer of eight or ten Inches of rock or other material which will not carry tho moisture from tho ground. Somo poultrymen use floors mado of hollow building tllo, nnd find them vpry satisfactory. Where theso nro used tho tllo aro laid on a smooth surfneo and tho crevices filled with cement. Keep Mlte8 In Check Tho perches should bo built so that thoro will bo as few places for mites to breed aB posslblo. If perches perch-es aro rcmovablo, so much the better. bet-ter. A board platform should bo placed about eight inches below tho perches o catch tho droppings. This mnkes n cleaner floor, nnd thus adds to tho capacity of tho hen house. It makes it castor to clean tho honee, nnd aids in keeping tho mItC3 In check. Tho nests also should bo built so that tho mltea can easily bo combated. combat-ed. They should bo covered nr protected pro-tected so that tho fowls cannot roost on them. This Is necessary In tho S production of a good grado of mar-kot mar-kot eggs. After tho early matured fowls nro placed In tho houso, feed should bo given which will form yolk whlto of egg, and bIioII. Tho common grnlns furnish plenty of material for yolk. Alfalfa, bran, buttermilk nnd meat scraps furnish material for the whlto of eggs, whllo oyster shell furnishes tho material for tho shell. Good water wa-ter is of courso necessary. Somo of tho grain feeds should bo fed In a doop llttor of straw on tho floor to furnish oxerclso to keep tho fowls In good condition. |
