40'i Journal of Ay ilviUt are, Victoria. [11 Auw., lUlU- 



POULTRY REARING. 



The Equipment of the Poultry Farm. 



By S. V. D. Rintoul, Assistant Poultry Expert. 



Maximum efficiency, within reasonable limits of expenditure, should 

 be the key to the design of any well laid-out and equipped poultry farm. 

 It is of considerable importance for the poultry farmer to decide at the 

 start the extent to which he hopes or intends to develop ultimately, in 

 order that a sketch may be made of the plant at its full capacity and 

 designs made of the shedding immediately required. 



Letters are continually being received inquiring for plans of build- 

 ings for |x>ultry, but no standard design has been adopted by the De- 

 partment of Agriculture, for the reason that the materials available in 

 Victoria are so varying that no standard could be followed with any 

 faithfulness. 



The war was responsible for a con'?iderabl© outburst of energy on the 

 part of poultry-keepers to secure all sorts and conditions of material for 

 sheds. Corrugated galvanized iron rose from about 4d. per foot new to 

 nearly Is. 6d. a foot second hand, usually with three rows of nail holes — 

 a price at. which obviously it did not pay to use. Kerosene and petrol, 

 tins, after useful service in various directions, were cut, flattened out, 

 and filled, to remove the tin from them, and were eagerly sought by 

 poultry-keepers, who paid about 8s. per 100 up to fully £1 per 100 for 

 them. Drums, which had contained calcium carbide, were also used 

 after being cut and flattened, the usual practice being to dip either these 

 or the petrol tins' in boiling tar to prevent rusting. 



Everything in connexion with poultry foodstuffs and equipment rose 

 enormously, in many instances out of all proportion to legitimate in- 

 creased cost, and the price of eggs remained stationary through the in- 

 competence of the breeders and egg-producers to co-operate and gain 

 what they were entitled to. 



in some parts of the State split or sawn hardwood palings may be 

 used to advantage. The sawn palings are the best, as they are cheaper 

 and less liable to harbour vermin than the spiit palings. In sandy 

 districts the cheapest material would probably be cement bricks. Eight 

 parti sand should be used to one of cement, care being exercised so as 

 to get the mixture neither too wet nor too dry. 



To refer again to the question of planning out the accommodation, 

 certain general principles must be observed. Due regard for the ulti- 

 mate extension must not be overlooked, and labour-saving methods and 

 appliances should be adopted wherever practicable. The greatest 

 weight should obviously be carried the least distance, consequently the 

 big laying shedy .-hGuld be as near the feed and egg room as possible, 

 with the smaller and single pens further off. For the poultry farmer 

 on a big scale the laying down of a sm^ll trolley line of hardwood rails 

 will mean a saving of labour, and where there is an ample water supply 

 it is an economy to adopt the ball-cock system connected. with each pen. 

 With guttering at normal prices, a tap may be used just dripping into 

 the guttering which is carried pa^t each pen, but provision should be 

 made for cutting out any pen where sickness may arise, so as to prevent 

 the water supply becoming a source of infection for the rest of the flock 



