10 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



blackberries, grapes, etc., in sufficient quantities for the 

 use of the average family. 



Location of Houses for Adult Fowls 



On the west side of the barn and a little back of it, 

 reached by a continuation of the driveway which leads 

 in from the street or highway, is located the main laying 

 house. This house consists of nine pens, each 20x20 feet, 

 with a capacity of about 100 hens, or 125, if Leghorns are 

 kept. In the latter case, alternate partitions in house 

 and yard may be omitted and the size of the flocks cor- 

 respondingly increased and some expense saved. Double 

 yards are indicated for each laying pen. These yards are 

 to be used alternately by the flocks, the vacant ones be- 

 ing planted to some quick-growing crop to provide green 

 food. By shifting the hens back and forth, the growing 

 crop (whatever it may be) will have an opportunity to 

 renew itself, and an abundant supply of green food is in- 

 sured during the greater part of the year, at practically 

 no cost. 



Fruit trees should, of course, be planted in these 

 yards, if there is no other shade, planting in triangles in- 

 stead of squares, making the rows forty feet apart east 

 and west, and thirty feet north and south. If desired, 

 these rows can be double-planted with peach or other 

 quick-growing trees. The amount of yard room may 

 appear rather limited, but with double yards less room is 

 required than would be needed where single yards are 

 provided. On the subject of yard room for laying flocks, 

 see Chapter XI. 



The plot north of the barn and east of the laying 

 house can be utilized to best advantage for colonized 

 breeding pens, or as range for the growing chicks after 

 they no longer requ're artificial heat. This plot also 

 should be planted to fruit trees. 



Back of the laying yards and the breeding range, the 

 land will be used for any crops that may be desirable, 

 keeping in mind that this land is to serve as a range for 

 growing stock, especially the pullets that are to be next 

 season's layers and which, at this stage of their growth, 

 need all the liberty that can be given them. 



In the corner of the lawn between the barn and the 

 brooder house is located the hospital building. It is 

 quite the fashion these times to advocate the indiscrimi- 

 nate use of the hatchet for sick fowls, but the poultry- 

 man who is anxious to conduct his business along really 

 practical lines, will find that he can save a large sum each 



year by the timely use of suitable remedies, for adminis- 

 tering which a separate hospital building is needed. With 

 a little prompt attention, fowls having various simple dis- 

 orders or suffering from accidents, can quickly be restored 

 to health, and with slight trouble. Of course, no practical 

 poultryman will return to his breeding flock any birds 

 that have been sick, nor will he keep any that have con- 

 tagious disease in any form. But fowls that have suffered 

 from simple attacks of indigestion or some other similar 

 ailment, can at least be held until in suitable condition 

 to be sent to market. It is safe to say that, on the aver- 

 age, three out of four sick fowls that are allowed to die 

 or are dispatched by the hatchet, could be restored to 

 health if they received proper treatment in time. 



A Layout for a One-Man Poultry Farm 



In Fig. 4 is shown another layout for a poultry 

 plant. This has been prepared by the Massachusetts Ag- 

 ricultural College, and is intended to meet the require- 

 ments of a "one-man, ten-acre poultry farm." It is de- 

 scribed as follows: "This plan is especially designed for 

 a farm sloping to the south or to the southeast. A row 

 of large evergreens to serve as a windbreak is indicated 

 as surrounding the farm, except on the south side, and a 

 row is placed north of the laying house to furnish shade 

 to young stock. The orchard consists of two and a half 

 acres and is to be cultivated. It is intended to serve regu- 

 larly as a brooding plot for late-hatched chicks and also 

 as a run for the breeders during at least a part of the 

 year. The portion labeled 'breeding department' is to be 

 used for this purpose early in the season. The farm 

 crops are to be alternated, the rotation being corn and 

 poultry one year, and hay or pasturage the next. 



"Utilizing the cornfield as a run for growing stock, is 

 an excellent plan, as it furnishes shade and green food 

 and protection, with plenty of loose soil for scratching. 

 The plot at the rear of the farm between the hay and 

 corn is for the production of succulent food for fall and 

 winter use. 



"The barn recommended for use on this plant is 28x 

 36 feet, one and a half stones high, and is intended to ac- 

 commodate one horse, one cow, a shop, a feed room and 

 room for killing, picking, and packing market fowls, and 

 suitable tools and machinery. This plant is designed to 

 accommodate 550 layers, four or five breeding pens, and 

 to raise eight hundred to one thousand chicks. 



"Five hundred and fifty laying hens may appear to be 



PIG. 3 A GROWING ORCHARD AFFORDS FINE SUMMER RANGE FOR FOWLS 

 Photo from Missouri State Poultry Experiment Station. 



