24 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



whitewash to a consistency which may be applied read- 

 ily. A weather-proof whitewash for exterior surfaces 

 may be made as follows: (1) Slake 1 bushel of quicklime 

 in 12 gallons of hot water; (2) dissolve 2 pounds of com- 

 mon salt and 1 pound of sulphate of zinc in 2 gallons 

 of boiling water; pour (2) into (1), then add a gallon 

 of skim milk and mix thoroughly. Whitewash is spread 

 lightly over the surface with a broad brush." * 



A cheap and fairly satisfactory "paint" can be made 

 by stirring Portland cement into skim milk until the 

 mixture reaches the consistency of thick cream, when it 

 can be applied with an ordinary paint or whitewash 

 brush. It can be made in various tints by adding lamp 

 black, Venetian red, ochre, and various other coloring 

 substances as desired. 



Tools 



The poultry keeper usually does more or less of 

 his own carpenter work, as he finds that, with a little 

 experience, he can do satisfactory work, and at much less 

 expense as compared with the cost of having it done by 

 a carpenter. Most persons, however, make the mistake 

 of attempting to do such work with a too-limited assort- 

 ment of tools, or with tools of inferior quality. The 

 poultry keeper cannot afford to neglect providing a com- 

 plete outfit of tools, and should have a regularly 

 equipped workshop if at all possible. 



Attempting to do carpenter work without the proper 

 tools, or with tools that are dull, rusty and generally un- 

 fit for use, is not true economy under any condition. 



To be able to do any kind of construction work ef- 

 ficiently, the following tools will be found practically in- 

 dispensable: ax, hammer, hatchet, set of chisels, from 

 54 in- to \ l / 2 in., mallet, brace and set of bits, 2 screw 

 drivers, large and small, block plane, jack plane, spirit 

 level, plumb bob, steel square, rip saw, crosscut or hand 

 saw, compass saw, monkey wrench, pliers, oil stone, 2- 

 foot pocket rule, portable iron vise, l /2-pt. oil can, chalk, 

 chalkline, drawknife. 



In the shop there should be a good-sized carpen- 

 ter's work-bench with a wooden vise, a bicycle grind- 

 stone, and a small geared emery or carborundum stone. 

 In order to be able to take care of the various repair 

 jobs that often are called for about the average home 

 * Extract from Farmers' Bui. 574, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



FIG. 40 SUMMER SHADES FOR OPEN FRONT HOUSES. 

 Photo from Purdue University 



and poultry plant, a few metal-working tools will be 

 found convenient, particularly a set of drill bits in small 

 sizes: J/2-in. and 1-in. cold chisels, metal or tinner's 

 shears, medium-size pipe wrench; small set of S wrenches. 

 The tools when not in use should be kept in a wall cab- 

 inet provided with suitable shelves and hooks. It will 

 aid in observance of the important rule of "a place for 

 every tool and every tool in its place" if the cabinet is 

 provided with glass doors so that if any tool is not in 

 its proper place this fact can hardly escape notice. 



The foregoing list may appear to be a rather formid- 

 able one, but on the average poultry plant every tool 

 mentioned should pay for itself, in time and money 

 saved, before the end of the first year. Having provided 

 these tools see that they are properly cared for. If care- 

 lessly used, left lying around, or put away while damp, 

 they will deteriorate quickly and soon become compara- 

 tively worthless. It is true economy to get good tools 

 and then keep them in good condition. This includes 

 keeping all edged tools sharp. Dull tools are strength 

 and time-wasters and usually result in much wasted ma- 

 terial also. The grindstone should be operated by power 

 if possible. If it must be turned by hand or foot it is 

 doubly important to have a geared emery or carborundum 

 stone for use where the ordinary grindstone cuts too 

 slowly. 



Plans Given in Other -Books 



In order to present the subject of poultry house con- 

 struction in such a manner as to meet the building re- 

 quirements of the greatest number, it has been found nec- 

 essary to limit the plans illustrated and described, to 

 houses for fowls. Permanent brooder houses being an 

 essential feature of every well-equipped poultry plant, 

 these are fully represented, also a number of plans for 

 portable colony houses which can be used for adult fowls, 

 brooder chicks or growing stock. Those who are especi- 

 ally interested in houses of the latter type, however, also 

 in brooders, brood coops, chick runs, and chick-raising 

 equipment generally, are referred to our books on "Arti- 

 ficial Incubating and Brooding" and "The Chick Book." 

 Plans for houses especially designed for ducks, will be 

 found in our book on "Ducks and Geese." Houses for 

 turkeys are described in "Turkeys, Their Care and Man- 

 agement." See page 112. 



AN ANNOUNCEMENT 



At an early date, we expect to issue 

 a book on "Poultry Plant Construc- 

 tion," devoted primarily to the re- 

 quirements of large plants. This 

 book will give complete working 

 olans, architect's specifications, bills 

 of material, etc., for modern, down- 

 to-date poultry houses of every kind 

 required on large breeding and com- 

 mercial plants. It will be printed 

 :~i extra-size pages, which will make 

 it possible to reproduce plans on a 

 scale large enough to biing out clear- 

 ly all necessary details of design and 

 construction. The need for a book 

 of this character is unquestioned, and 

 we anticipate a large demand for it. 

 Announcement of exact date of pub- 

 lication will be given later through 

 the usual channels. 



