OCR Text |
Show Poultry House at Penn State Is Something Farmers Dream About Above ia an exterior view of the new Penn Slate College experiment ta' poultry bouse. By IRA MILLER Farm Electrification Bureau Too bad that the breakfast egg isn't wired for sound. If it were and could talk about the electrical doings in today's modern poultry houses the morning newscast would appear dull by comparison. One of the very latest of such structures struc-tures is a combination brooder and layer house, developed by The Pennsylvania Penn-sylvania State College. It is 30 feet wide and 100 feet long. Thirty-three hundred chicks can be started in it at one time. Later, when the cockerels are removed, it is estimated that approximately ap-proximately 1,500 layers will remain. The house faces due south, and is "solar-oriented" to obtain the most sunlight and warmth in winter, through 4x6 double-glass windows of special design. The windows stretch across the front of the house, and have retractable shades to keep the hot rays of the sun out in the summer. sum-mer. Windows at the rear of the house always are in the shade. The floor of the house consists of two layers of concrete separated with a vapor barrier. A droppings pit 8 feet wide by 10 inches deep extends almost the full length of the house. Over the pit are 4 x 8-foot angle iron frames covered with 1 x 4-inch mesh wire screen. A poultry utility unit consisting of an automatic feeder, 4-tier roosts, and waterer is Installed over the pit; 20 sectional nests are placed against the back wall. Feed is moved through troughs which make a complete circuit of the oit area. Removal ot manure from the pit has been simplified and made automatic auto-matic through the installation of a modified version of a dairy barn gutter gut-ter cleaner. A scraper-type elevator receives the droppings as they are removed from the pit and carries them Into a wagon alongside the building. Because most of the manure drops into the pit, eggs stay cleaner. The house is adequately ventilated by eight electric fans four in ths front part of the structure and four at the rear. Chicks are brooded with electria brooders over the pit The screen over the pit are covered with building build-ing paper to hold the litter. During the brooding period waterers are located lo-cated over a narrow portion of the pit so that any overflow will fall Into the pit instead of in the litter. After chicks are 8 weeks of age, the watering water-ing trough Is attached above th mash feeder line. The installation of time switches provides for automatic control of lights and the operation of feeders. Their use enables farmers to follow any desired lighting and feeding schedule without spending valuable time away from other more productive produc-tive farm chores. The building is designed to provide pro-vide maximum efficiency of operation opera-tion for the farmer and his flock. Cleaning of the house and eggs is practically eliminated; adequate ventilation ven-tilation keeps the birds in top condition, con-dition, and the new solar type design provides facilities for controlling summer heat and winter cold. |