JANUARY 1, 1914 



It should be not less than 16 ft. wide, and 

 of sufficient length to house the number of 

 hens desired, for no one has as yet placed a 

 limit to the number that can be successfully 

 operated in one continuous room unbroken 

 by partitions. So long as correct sanitary 

 conditions are rigidly maintained it is safe 

 to assume that 1000 hens in one flock will 

 give as good results as a flock of 100 ; and 

 the minimizing of labor in caring for large 

 flocks is an important item that swells the 

 poultry-man's profits. 



The building is sheeted outside, roof in- 

 eluded, with matched lumber, and covered, 

 except the front, with felt roofing, and 

 treated to a coat of roofing tar; if tarred 

 every two or three years the roof will last 

 indefinitely. The inside, except the fi'ont, is 

 ceiled with plaster-board, for which studs 

 and rafters are correctly spaced. The raft- 

 ers are 2x8 material to support the roof, 

 without props. The floor is double boarded 

 with light roofing felt between. The lower 

 may be of cheap rough lumber; but the 

 upper floor is a medium grade of matched 

 flooring, thus making the room warm, and 

 precluding the possibility of a draft of cold 

 air to endanger the health of the inmates. 



In the front, at intervals of 8 ft., is a 

 single-sash window of 10 x 14 glass, sliding 

 upward between studs, and protected inside 

 by wire netting stapled to studs. At equal 

 distances, between each pair of windows, is 

 a door hung in two pieces to swing out- 

 ward. The lower half is 32 x 42 inches, and 

 the upper half 32 x 36 inches. Hinged at 

 the top, swinging inward and upward, and 

 hooked to the ceiling, is a netting-covered 

 frame of equal dimensions with the upper 

 door, so that, when it is opened, the screen 

 is swung into position, preventing the exit 

 of the inmates and admitting of ventilation 

 by day. These doors are opened every morn- 

 ing, and closed at night during winter, re- 

 gardless of weather conditions. As a further 

 means of ventilation by night and day is an 

 opening six inches wide next to the roof in 

 front, and extending the whole length of the 

 building. It is covered with burlap, and, 

 being so high, changes the air without creat- 

 ing a draft over the heads of fowls at night, 

 or forming any accumulation of frost or 

 moisure on the ceiling. The floor is at least 

 two feet from the ground, and well ven- 

 tilated underneath to guard against moisture 

 in the scratching-litter, and three feet would 

 not be too much, as this is an important 

 factor in sanitation; for moisture here 

 means filth, which breeds disease. 



During cold winter weather a light frame 

 covered with muslin is tacked on to the 

 upper door-screens, thus combining light 

 and warmth with suitable ventilation. Next 



to the north wall, and extending the whole 

 length of the building, is the droppings- 

 board, of a width to accommodate three 

 lines of perches. These are in ten-foot sec- 

 tions, 16 in. above the droppings-board, and 

 swing back against the ceiling. Under the 

 droppings-board are the nests open to the 

 liens from beneath and behind, and operat- 

 ing like the drawers of a work-bench. At in- 

 tervals of 20 ft., intersecting the perches, is 

 a short partition of equal width, extending 

 from the droppings-board to the ceiling. 

 This prevents the action of currents of air 

 that would otherwise pass over the heads of 

 the fowls at night with undesirable results. 

 It will be noticed that the floor is free from 

 encumbrance, and is virtually a mammoth 

 scratching-room provided with perches and 

 nests. 



Impure air and filth breed disease; and 

 a sick hen is neither a laying nor a paying 

 hen ; hence droppings should be removed 

 daily, and dry fine sand sprinkled over the 

 board. If kept dry the dropping"s are worth 

 more per ton than the ordinary brands of 

 commercial fertilizers. 



STOCKING THE PLANT. 



Next comes the stocking-up with early- 

 hatched pullets, for these are the glory of 

 the poultryman, and the winter egg-makers. 

 This is the most complex problem of all, 

 since it involves the rearing of hundreds of 

 chicks by correct methods — methods that 

 will produce strong healthy chicks; for a 

 pullet with a weak constitution is an unde- 

 sirable proposition. It is advisable to se- 

 cure a sufficient number of yearling or two- 

 year-old breeders of known health, vigor, 

 and utility as egg-makers. This is impera- 

 tive, for like produces like. Incubators were 

 a success with us from the start, but it cost 

 us dearly in dead chicks, wasted time, and 

 money invested in artificial chick-killers 

 under the cognomen of brooders. As killers 

 they were all a howling success, and we 

 eaiTied the dead ones out by fives, by tens, 

 by fifties, and by hundreds. " Experience 

 is a good school, but the tuition is rather 

 high" (Billings), for it cost us dearly to 

 learn that the best brooder on earth is a 

 gentle Wyandotte hen. She is well equipped 

 with soft fluffy plumage, and will mother 

 any thing from a jack-ralDbit to a bull pup, 

 and do it scientifically. We owned one that 

 brooded four collie puppies until six weeks 

 old. How is that for a brooder? 



In practicing artificial methods with bees 

 or poultry, our success will be conditional 

 upon operating along lines that harmonize 

 with the nature, habits, and instinct of the 

 individual with whom we have to deal. While 

 it is perfectly natural for full-grown fowls 

 to congregate in large flocks, right the re- 



