POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



ELZVAT/ON 



FIG. 54 FRONT OF INEXPENSIVE HOUSE FOR 



BACK-YARD FLOCK 



Reproduced from blue print furnished by Poultry Div. 

 of U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



hardware was about $6.00, making a total cost for my 

 colony house about $20.00. At war-time prices of lum- 

 ber and hardware this house could not be built for that 

 sum, but it should be possible for any one to approxi- 

 mate it under fairly normal conditions. 



The materials required for a colony house like the 

 one I have illustrated are as follows: 



325 Sq. Ft. matched flooring. 



Three 2x4's, 16 ft. long. 



Four 2x2's, 8 ft. long. 



Sixteen Ix4's, 16 ft. long. 



6 sq. ft. % -inch wire netting. 



8 pair of hinges. 



4 hooks and screw eyes. 



10 Ibs. of nails. 



8 ft. galvanized iron ridge. 



1 lock. 



3 sashes glazed. 



Editor's Note: There are a number of good points 

 .about this house that commend it to the back-yard poul- 

 try keeper. One of particular features aimed at by Mr. 

 Holmes was to make the house attractive in appearance, 

 but inconspicuous. In this he has been quite successful, 

 producing a house that is not only neat and trim, but 

 also low so that it may readily be hidden by shrubs or 

 vines if desired. 



One good feature of A-shaped houses in general is 

 that, in proportion to the floor space provided, they in- 

 close a smaller number of cubic feet of air space than 

 houses with any other style of roof affording comfortable 

 headroom. This means that less material is required to 



FND ELEVATION 



FIG. 55 END ELEVATION OF HOUSE FOR BACK- 

 YARD FLOCK 



Reproduced from blue print furnished by Poultry Div. 

 of U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



build them, also that they will be warmer in winter, 

 other conditions being equal. Incidentally, this makes 

 A-shaped houses particularly desirable for brooding young 

 chicks early in the season when ordinary lamp-heated 

 hovers make little impression on the general room tem- 

 perature of larger buildings. 



There are some difficulties that are peculiar to A- 

 shaped houses, such as weak frames, difficulty in locating 

 perches, nests, etc., but Mr. Holmes has taken care of 

 them very ingeniously. A few additional suggestions, 

 however, may be helpful to other builders. 



The plans shown in Fig. 52 do not indicate the ex- 

 act height of the house and we would suggest that the 

 roof boards be cut long enough so that the ridge will 

 be fully 7 feet from the floor (7y 2 feet is better still) in 

 order to give sufficient headroom for the attendant. The 

 low sides of the A-shaped house will not be particularly 

 inconvenient if the ridge is high enough. 



The front is always the weakest place in these houses 

 and particular attention should be paid to its construc- 

 tion. The pieces that form the frame of the door should 

 be spiked securely to the floor, and the tops securely tied 

 together by a short piece of board. It is a misfortune 



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SECTIOH 



HOUSE 



FIG. 56 CROSS SECTION OF INEXPENSIVE HOUSE 



FOR BACK-YARD FLOCK. 



Reproduced from blue print furnished by Poultry Div. 

 of U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 



to have to locate nests on or close to the floor, thus 

 occupying valuable space, as has been done in this plan, 

 though it is true that there are important difficulties in 

 the way of placing them higher up. One method of sav- 

 ing floor space often employed is to put them entirely 

 on the outside of the house. An additional advantage of 

 outside nests is that the eggs then can be gathered with- 

 out entering the house. If this plan is adopted, the 

 work must be carefully done to insure 'that the nests 

 will be storm-proof. In this house our preference would 

 be to locate them in the rear, with suitable , openings for 

 the entrance of the fowls, under the droppings platform. 

 Outside nests should always be fastened in place with 

 hooks so that they may be easily removed for cleaning. 



No matter how much of the front of A-shaped houses 

 is left open there is little movement of the air in the 

 back part in warm weather, for which reason they are 

 liable to be uncomfortably hot at this season. This dif- 

 ficulty may be overcome by providing a small door or 

 window in the rear. An opening 12 to 18 inches square 

 close up to the ridge, to be kept tightly closed in win- 

 ter but open in warm weather, will add greatly to the 

 comfort of the fowls. 



