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Show REQUISITES OF A GOOD CHICKEN HOUSE n ' Ti i ' n i n n u . 1, fi- U n . ill! . i i ir. :';a c?r - 1 A .. ; : jm .; i i ; 4r-i : ; 4-4-: . , -Jil i ! j , ! : TTT1 : 1 Jl rtt : : i; i j ; -VrVVr1-' 'i'.'-jy. "rir -'j tL'Z -Vii! 'S'Si'ii Vi T" - "v fl"- JY'.': T?J-'J.".: 'K'j'-f j '."'MSi -""- j-t iri j. Jj j I n:o.T ;:i.::vati"n it a it.acticvl toultrt douse, scch as is used at the k kxpkrimknt station. I Many different styl-rs'of chicken houses prove equally .iuce-ssful in the hands of poultrytrr-n, km that it is unwise to recommend the universal adoption of any one form. If the following points are given careful study any farmer should be able to build a successful chicken house, suitable suit-able to his wants and purse. The house must be planned for the hens' romfort first, and then the owner may add such embellishments as may please ,hls fancy. The hen needs, lirst of all, floor space, a place to eat and scratch. The more floor space the hen has the better, but the space above should not be too great, so as to maintain the proper temperature temper-ature from the animal heat of the hens. All things considered, a house just high enough for a man to walk erectly and u floor space of about five square feet per hen would be advisable. Floors are commonly .constructed of earth, boards or cement. Cement floors are perfectly sanitary and easy to keep clean.. The objections to their common use is the lirst cost of good I cement floors. Cheaply constructed floors will not last. Board floors are very common and are preferred by many poultrymen, but if close to the ground they harbor rats, while if open underneath they make the house cold. Coering wet ground by a board floor does not remedy the fault of dampness damp-ness nearly so effectually as would a similar expenditure spent in raising the floor and surrounding ground by grading. All things considered, the dirt floor is the most suitable. The object of ventilating a chicken house is to supply a reasonable amount of fresh air, and. equally important, im-portant, to keep the house dry. Ventilation Ven-tilation should not be by cracks or open cupolas. Direct drafts of air are injurious, and ventilation by such means is always ,thc greatest wher ( the least needed. A thorough scheme of ventilation is by a syystcm of pipes that removes the foul air from near the floor, whllo -the corresponding fresh air is forced to enter at the top of the room. Make all roosts on the same lerel. The ladder arrangement is a nuisance and offers no advantage. m Arrange the roosts so that they may bo readily removed for cleaning. Do not fill the chicken house full of roosts. Put in only enough to accommodate the hens and let these be on one side of . the house. The floor under the roosts should be separated from the. feeding floor by a board-et on edge, or, better bet-ter still, a tight roost platform may be built under the perches. By this latter scheme the entire floor of tho house is available as a scratching floor. I'ARIITION IN ABOVE POL'LTKY HOUSE. For laying flocks the nests must be dean, secluded and plentiful. Boxes under the roost platform will answer, but a better plan Is to have the nest upon a shelf above the giound floor under the roosting platform. Nests should be constructed so that all parts are accessible to a whitewash brush, that the lice may be eradicated. eradi-cated. The less contrivances in a chicken house the better. A man who is engaged in careful poultry breeding will need one or more yards, the extent and stylo of which will depend upon the kind of chickens bred and the number of pens mated during the breeding season. |
