REPORT OF THE POILTRY MANAGER 259 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



in the trial of these styles ot Louses cannot fail to be of the greatest importance to 

 all who are interested. 



The House wUh Scrafchinfj Shod. — In this style of building the main poultry 

 room is constructed of boards with a wiu;lo\v facing south. In this room the fowls 

 roost at night, lay their eggs during the day, and eat their soft food and cut bone 

 from narrow troughs. In poultry parlance it is known as the ' laj'ing and roosting 

 room.' The floor, which is best made of cement, is covered with litter. The roosts 

 and platform, with the trap nests under the latter, are at the back of the room. There 

 is a cotton screen to let down in front of the roost, if necessary, on very cold nights. 

 The scratching shed addition is intended as a room to afford exercise for the fowlei. 

 The front of the scratching shed, in numerous cases, is made of cotton, with a window 

 in the centre, and should face south. On the floor which should also be made of 

 cement, litter to the depth of 4 to 6 inches, is always kept. In this litter the daily 

 whole grain ration is thrown with the object of having the birds search diligently for 

 the grain kernels. In this way the fowls are incited to exercise. The cotton front 

 of the shed is calculated to give diffusion of fresh air without draft. Through the 

 v.'indow the sunshine will find its way into the interior, which is very desirable. The 

 bad practice, of taking out the window sash and replacing it with cotton, prevents the 

 ingress of the sunlight. Houses built on this principle, but differing in arrangement 

 of detail, are now found in many different parts of Canada. In some cases, notably 

 in the Eastern part of the United States, the front of the scratching shed is entirely 

 open with a wire netting front. 



The House 'without the Scratching Shed Addition. — This style of house is very 

 much on tlie same principle as the other. It might also be termed a compromise be- 

 tween the one extreme of entirely open front and the bottled-up method of housing the 

 birds. Instead of two rooms there is only one and this one room is made slightly 

 larger than the roosting room with shed attachment. This style of house was first 

 adopted by Mr. L. H. Baldwin of Deer Park, Toronto, some years ago when he erected 

 his large poultry plant in the locality named. Since then it has become much in 

 vogue, presumably, because cheap as well as compact. K description of one of the many 

 apartments in the long row of buildings forming part of the plant .of the Pembroke 

 Poultry Yards Company, Ontario, will probably best convey an idea of an up-to-date 

 application of this metliod. Each colony of fowls occupies one pen, 10 x 16 feet in 

 size. In the south end of the pen there is a window 4 feet square. Above and below 

 the window there is a frame covered with cotton, one foot deep by four broad. The 

 air through these cotton openings is diffused through the pen without draft, while 

 light and sunshine find their way through the window. The ventilation by this means 

 is considered most satisfactory. The floor of the pen is cement and is covered with 

 the usual quantity of litter. The ceiling is slatted and above the slats, straw, to a 

 depth of 12 inches is placed for the purpose of absorbing moisture. During the 

 f-oldest period of the past winter, I was assured that there had been no moisture in 

 any of the pens, and this result is attributed to the straw and ventilation through the 

 cotton frames. At the north end of the pen are the roosts, platform, and underneath 

 the latter, the nests. In front of the roosting place there is a cotton covered frame. 

 6x8 feet This frame swings to the wall and is only used on very cold nights for 

 the purpose of keeping the fowls comfortable. A four compartment hopper contains 

 grit, oyster shells and charcoal. Whole grain is thrown in the litter on the floor. 

 Drink "water is regularly supplied, and from time to time meat and vegetables. C.nses 

 of sickness have been rare. In each pen to the left of the roosting place there' is a 

 small crated enclosure to hold two male birds for use during the breeding season. I 

 was assured that the pens so arranged had given entire satisfaction. Such results 

 fin i Tied at so northern a position are most important. 



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