INTENSIVE AND SEMI-INTENSIVE POULTRY-KEEPING 



in our experience, than the more up-to-date 

 small type. They, however, occupy more 

 room, give less proportionate scratching space, 

 and are necessarily initially more expensive, and 

 thus are not those which we should advise a 

 beginner to build. On the whole, we think that 

 the two houses of the type used by Mrs. Baynes 

 [see photographs on p. viii.) are the easiest 

 to work, giving fair head room, and thus 

 avoiding the tiring bending over and lifting 

 out of dropping boards, etc., entailed in what 

 we are apt to style the " rabbit-hutch " type 

 of small house, necessary though these may 

 be for small breeding pens or young stock. 

 Economy of labour and ease in handling lies, 

 we are convinced, in moderate-sized flocks in 

 such houses, which in a sense are akin to 

 being compartments of the large intensive 

 houses to which we must now allude. 



As the backyarder's covered-in scratching 

 shed and the fancier's roomy 

 Hou^ses^"*^"^'"^ exhibition pen may be said 

 to have been the forerunner of 

 the small intensive house, so the large winter 

 laying houses common in America, and not 

 unknown in this country also, were the an- 

 cestors of the modern double-decked intensive 

 house, ranging up to as high as 3,000 birds 

 under one roof. The principle of so winter- 

 ing live-stock is common to agriculturists, and 

 has been adapted to poultry with excellent 

 results. A capital example of this type of 

 house was one which we visited early in 191 2 

 on the poultry establishment of Mr. Martin 

 Burnham, at Cranbrook Common, Kent. It 

 is built to accommodate 500 hens in two 

 flocks, and at the time of our visit held about 

 300 healthy scratching occupants. 



This house is best described as practically 

 open-fronted, being boarded up 2 ft. from 

 the ground with wire netting above that, over 

 which canvas shutters can be dropped if 

 necessary to keep out driving rain or snow, 

 and thus keep the floor dry, that essential 

 factor to success in all intensive poultry- 

 keeping. From a height of 7 ft. 6 in. in 

 the front, the roof slopes to 4 ft. G in. at the 

 back, the depth of the house being 18 ft., with 

 a total length of 100 ft. These dimensions 

 of height and depth Mr. Burnham has found 

 by experiments to be best suited for light and 

 air in houses of this kind. Along the whole 

 length of the back of this shed runs a wide 

 shelf, serving the purposes of a dropping- 

 board beneath the low perches, v,'hich is kept 

 scrupulously clean and dusted with lime daily. 

 Very noticeable in this big house was the total 

 absence of smell, due to the ample air-space 



and splendid deodorising properties of the 

 dry peat moss litter with which the house was 

 deeply bedded, and into which all corn given 

 was well raked so as to give the hens ample 

 exercise. On this establishment bran is always 

 kept before the birds, and alfalfa is largely 

 used as an addition to the ordinary mash for 

 laying hens. 



It is an easy transition from a house such 

 as this to the modern double-decker, the 

 largest of which, capable of holding 3,000 

 hens, is on the Hamworthy Intensive Poultry 

 Plant. This we have not seen, but have per- 

 sonally inspected the well-known establish- 

 ment of Mr. C. A. Potter, at Ferndown, near 

 Wimborne, whose two double-deckers, with a 

 capacity for 1,000 hens each, are shown in 

 the photograph on p. v., and are remark- 

 able structures. They were described by 

 us in The Feathered World of October 24, 

 191 3, and we venture to repeat the notes as 

 of interest, though it must be remembered that 

 these and other large houses have not yet been 

 running long enough for a definite conclusion 

 as to whether, for large plants, this particular 

 form of house will or will not supersede the 

 smaller separate houses with or without out- 

 side runs. 



Ferndown is a scattered hamlet midway 

 between Wimborne and Ringwood, on the 

 borders of the New Forest, and within easy 

 reach of an excellent market for eggs and 

 chickens in Bournemouth, and this factor 

 means much to a utility poultry-keeper. The 

 farm was started in 191 2, and, we understood, 

 had so far justified its existence that the erec- 

 tion of a third house was under contemplation. 

 Mr. Potter resides with Mr. and Mrs. Potter, 

 sen., and his sister, all fortunately keenly 

 interested in the enterprise, for three years of 

 experiment with small pens of fowls on the 

 intensive system have taught us the absolute 

 necessity of scrupulous personal attention on 

 the part of whoever takes up this side of 

 poultry-keeping ; for, whilst it has great at- 

 tractions, since it makes the question of weather 

 to a personal extent a negligible quantity, it 

 has always great dangers lurking for the 

 careless or slipshod attendant. 



We started on our tour in a small lean-to 

 conservatory, which was stacked up with boxes 

 of oats in different stages of sprouting; some 

 twenty boxes of these are used every day, 

 and the stage at which Air. Potter has found 

 it best to give them to the fowls is when the 

 green sprouts are i in. to 2 in. high. Other 

 green food, in the shape of kale, cab- 

 bage, etc., is given, for sprouted oats, excellent 



