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Show POULTRY H8USE CONSTRUCTION Hl A FEW SUGGESTIONS THAT WILL HELP THE POUL-Hj POUL-Hj TRY KEEPER. B For success In poultry keeping it H Is necessary to have a suitablo house H which will protect the fowls from H inclement weather and from their H natural enemies. H It must he rem ember od that from H the atand-point of the hen. appear- H ence makes very little difference, but H thn house must ho so built and so H arranged that It will bo a comfortable H placo for the hens to live; otherwise H they will not thrive and production H 1 Hi! fell ! I H Proncv wav to inako a partition In H n poultry house. H will not bo satisfactory- On many h farms the hens arc not provided with t a house constructed especially for B for them but arc housod In an old building originally made for some B otlior purpose. As a rulo this sort H of a houso Is not economical for, Ht unless it is constructed especially for H hens, it will seldom bo found possible H to reconstruct it in such a way as to H make economical production possible. Hl Poultry houses should be located H where it is do' and well drained. If H the ground Is not naturally dry, it H nhould be ditched and drained artJ- H 11 dally, for poultry will not thrive In HI a house when the floor Is constantly Hl wet. A damp location means a damp H poultry house all the way through H and the result is that tho fowls are R affected with many troublcsomo dls- H cases. B Houses should be placed so that H they will not bo subject to violent H wind?, yet good air and drainago arc H ersontlrfl. A houso should never bo h piaccc in a iov, uamp spot wncro H early fall frosts aro likely to occur. H These places are always cold and un- H healthy for fowls. H Build tho houso on ground that j slopes to the south if possible. If Hj this can not bo done, always faco tho H houso toward tho pouth so as to get H the sun's rays throughout the day H In winter to keep It bright inside. H "Whore it is necessary to build a H house in a windy place, trees can H often bo planted to break the wind. H Small shrubs aro also a great help Hj and cm bo planted in such a way Bj that they afford shelter to tho house H during tho fall and spring whon the H w Inds are violent. Hens enjoy lying Hj in tho sun especially during tho windy j days after the leaves fall from the H trees. The orchard can often bc H chosen as tho site for tho hen houso Bi" and tho hens allowed to run under H' tno trees throughout the year. H Poultry houses should bo convenient H to other buildings, and yet, not so j close that the hens constantly Infest tho other buildings. If tho poultry houso Is too cIobc to tho barns, the hens arc likely to get in tho habit of roosting in the barn, cow stable, tool shed, clo. In determining tho also of a house, consider tho numbor of fowls that are to bo kept in one pen. As a rule, fowls arc too crowded for economical eco-nomical production. A flock of fifty hens should usually bo allowed about live square feet of floor spaco per hen. As a rule It is far better to allow too much floor space rather than too little. lit-tle. Tho larger the pen the less floor spaco will bo required per hen. One hundred hens will thrive In a pen 20x20 feet, that is four squaro feet or floor spare per hen, but one hen will not thrive In a pen 2x2 feet. In a larffe pen, each one has a chance to wander about over tho entlro floor space thus getting moio exerclxe. Generally speaking It Is far cheaper to build a wldo house than a narrow nnp Virtues OAvOA i v.... .. t a houso 10x10 and contains a3 much floor spaco for the lions. A houso twenty feet wldo, however, will bo found impracticable for somo types of roof.-i and wjll not be found satlsfnc-I satlsfnc-I tory where ono wishes to keep a number of small breeding pens. There are several common types of : roofs used on poultry houses Just which stylo of roof should bo chosen is largely a matter of personal preference, but tho typo of roof will ' bo found to influonco tho cost of con- j structlon to quite an extent. Wherever there Is only ono poultry houso a partition is always advisable as it permits one to keep tho hens separated from the pullets early Rl tho winter and makes it possible later to make up a breeding pen of the best fowls. In a small house, thnt Is ono not over thirty feet long, one should use boards for tho partitions for about two feet from tho floor Tho rest may bo mado of wiro or cloth excopt between tho roosts of the different pens whore tho boards should run to the roof. f I ? 3 Different types of roofs iihcd In poultry poul-try houses: 1 Is a hhed roor; 2 a combination roof; :i a Ruble loot; l a scml-monlntor roof; 5 a monitor roof; 0 a slanting front roor; and 7 an A typo roof. A solid partition at the back prevents pre-vents draft on the fowls when roost- , Ing and a solid partition at the bottom bot-tom prevents fighting. J. G. Halpln : and C. A. Ocock. Wisconsin. |