HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



TOLMAN SUMMER SHELTER REDUCES CULL PULLETS 



Frank Steele and His Shelters 



Every year poultrynien put too many 

 ■cull pullets in their laying houses. Many 

 of these birds are made culls by having 

 to roost in overcrowded brooder houses. 

 A large part of the culls could be 

 avoided by providing better housing faci- 

 lities on the range. A ten by twelve 

 brooder house seems large enough for 

 four or five hundred day old chicks. It 

 is crowded when these chicks reach 

 broiler size. Removal of the broilers only 

 brings temporary relief as the developing 

 pullets soon crowd the house again. 

 Some pullets try to avoid being culls by 

 roosting in the apple ti-ees. Many poul- 

 trymen show less judgment than the pul- 

 lets by working night after night to put 

 them back into the over-crowded houses. 

 The Tolman summer shelter has all of 

 the advantages of the apple tree for 

 growing pullets and affords protection 

 from "varmints" and storms. The ma- 

 terials for the house cost about twelve 

 dollars. Any one who is at all handy 

 with a hammer and a saw can build one. 

 The shelters are built mainly with three 

 inch spruce furring of the best quality. 

 Only the six side posts, the plates and the 

 sills are of heavier material. The posts 



plates and sills are made of six inch 

 boards. This enables two men to easily 

 carry the shelter. The sides and ends 

 are covered with one inch mesh chick 

 wire. The roof has no boards. The 

 roofing paper is put on from side to side 

 over the ridge. The rafters are so spaced 

 that the paper covers two rafters. The 

 roofing paper is secured to the rafters by 

 metal cleats. 



The bill of materials for this seven by 

 eight and a half foot Tolman shelter is 

 as follows: 



1 piece — 2x8x1.5 ft. spruce for G posts 

 1 piece — 1x6x14 ft. hemlock, end sills 



1 piece — 1x6x17 ft. hemlock, side sills 



2 pieces — 1x6x12 ft. spruce, plates 



3- pieces — 1x3x12 ft. furring, ridge and 



are two by three studding, while the mesh 



ties 

 9 

 1 

 1 



pieces — 1x3x12 ft. furring, rafters 

 piece — 1x3x14 ft. fuiring, end ties 

 piece — 1x3x16 ft. furring, door 

 frames 



4 pieces — 1x3x9 ft. furring, roost sup- 

 ports 



4 pieces — 1x3x14 ft. furring, roosts 

 1 piece — 1x3x16 ft. furring, door frame 

 4.5 feet 2 — foot chick wire, one inch 



48 lineal feet 3-ply roofing paper 

 3 pounds roofing cleats 



The plates should be notched so that the 

 rafters will set in them. This, with the 

 end ties, will keep the rafters from warp- 

 ing. 



Mr. Tolman of Plymouth County, the 

 originator of the house, has used them 

 for over fifteen years. Two years ago 

 Luther Banta of Amherst built two of 

 these houses and is well pleased with 

 them. Frank Steele of Cummington built 

 two of the shelters two years ago. Last 

 year he built three more. Mr. Steele 

 used heavier materials for studding and 

 rafters than is called for by the plans. 

 He also used boards on the roof. This 

 makes a stronger but heavier house. Mr. 

 Banta finds that the roofing paper will 

 stand up under our heavy snows without 

 roof boards. 



Pullets can be put into these houses as 

 soon as they are weaned from the stoves. 

 In this tyiJe of house birds prefer roost- 

 ing to staying on the ground at night. 

 The .shelter will carry seventy-five pullets 

 to maturity. We publish these plans be- 

 cause we feel that they can help many 

 poultrymen to reduce the number of cull 

 pullets and because this is the best type 

 of summer shelter. The A type roof on 

 this shelter not only protects the birds 

 from early spring and late fall rains, but 

 also makes a house that will not be blown 

 over. This cannot be said of open air 

 coops with a shed roof. 



Some poultrymen with large flocks will 

 want larger houses than the one illustra- 

 ted. The same ideas should be used in 

 these. 



IT PAYS TO SOW ALFALFA EARLY 



Earle H. A. Bagg of South Hadley put 

 in si.x acres of the alfalfa-clover-timothy 

 mixture last year. Two acres were sown 

 the last of July, two the middle of 

 August and two early in September. 

 That sown the last of July is fine. The 

 piece sown the middle of August is fair, 

 while the September seeding is not so 

 good. Plan to sow your alfalfa before 

 August 1 this year. It pays 



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