CHAPTER V 



Comfortable Houses for Breeding Pens 



Why Houses for Breeding Pens Should Be Especially Designed Plans for Low-Cost Buildings Accommodating'One 

 and Two Small Flocks Comfortable Houses that Can Be Built to Provide for Any Desired Number of Pens- 

 Breeding Houses for Cold and Moderate Climates Plans Designed to Save Time and Labor of 

 Attendant and to Provide Most Favorable Conditions for Fowls. 



HE chief requirements of breeding houses, as com- 

 pared with laying houses, are that the former 

 should be more warmly constructed, and they 

 usually are smaller in size, as- it seldom is desir- 

 able to keep breeding fowls in large flocks. Breeding 

 pens generally are allowed more floor space than would 

 be given to the same number of fowls in regular laying 

 flocks. For this reason there is comparatively little 

 bodily heat available for warming their house or pen, 

 and this must be offset by warmer construction. Where 

 several pens are to be kept in a compartment house, a 

 passageway along the rear usually is provided, in order 

 to economize time and avoid disturbing the fowls un- 

 duly in regular daily care. 



ONE-PEN BREEDING HOUSE 

 Convenient House for Small Breeding Pen. 

 With Elevated Dust Box, 



Equipped 



For 



By P. W. CARMEN 



a breeding house for one small pen, 

 the one illustrated in Fig. 101 is practical and con- 

 venient. Note especially the arrangement for a sunny 

 dust box, which will be greatly enjoyed by the fowls 

 in winter when it is impossible for them to get outdoors. 

 With breeding stock it is espec.ally necessary to take all 

 practical steps to insure the comfort of the fowls, if fer- 

 tile, strongly vitalized eggs are to be produced in the win- 

 ter months. 



The house is 14 feet long 10 feet wide, seven feet 

 high in front and six feet in the rear, with shed roof. It 

 may be built singly, or two or more in a row. The frame 

 is made of 2x4 hemlock, and the siding, drop, boards, etc., 

 are of N. C: pine, eight inches wide. The back, sides and 

 roof are covered with tarred paper, and the roof has an 

 extra covering of roofing paper. Give 

 the floor a good layer of sand and then 

 put about six inches of hay or straw 



n that. In the front of the building, 



n the west side, 18 inches above the 

 floor, is a dust box three feet wide, six 

 feet long and eight inches deep. Eigh- 

 teen inches of this box projects beyond 

 the front of the building, and when the 

 sash is in position the whole thing 

 forms a sort of bay window. You will be 

 surprised to see how the chickens enjoy 

 a dust bath in this window. Under the 

 part that comes in the building build 

 six nest boxes about 12x14 inches. Over 

 the dust box (with the top hinged to 

 the building and the bottom resting on 

 the outer edge of the box) is a hot bed 

 ?ash 3x6 feet. This sash can be raised 

 in warm weather, and with a cover over 

 it for a sunshade, it is a fine, cool place 

 for biddy. The door to the pen is in the 

 front near the east side and is divided 



into two equal parts, top and bottom, each part being 

 3x3 feet. A curtain three feet square is used for the 

 upper half and is hinged on the outside. 



This curtain is very useful on stormy days when the 

 vvind blows hard. The roost platform is two feet from 

 the ground and is four feet wide and seven feet long. To 

 make the platform, we batten six pieces of eight-inch 

 boards together and board up where the end of the roost 

 comes, allowing the boards on the end to go two inches 

 below the roost platform so the platform has a cleat to 

 slide on, and in that way it is an easy matter to remove 

 and clean. Make the roost poles of 2x3 material and 

 round the upper edges. Secure them at the ends by patent 

 brackets, or notch out a block and nail on each side of 

 them to fit in. They are placed six inches above the plat- 

 form, the rear one being 14 inches away from the back of 

 the building, and the front one 18 inches from the back 

 one. 



This house will take about 600 square feet of boards, 

 15 wall strips 14 feet long, six rolls of tar paper and three 

 rolls of roofing paper, besides one hot bed sash 3x6 and 

 four pairs of hinges, nails, etc. 



SMALL TWO-PEN BREEDING HOUSE 



The House Used in Connecticut Egg Laying Contest. 



Accommodates Two Breeding Flocks of 12 to 



16 Fowls Each. 



By ROY E. JONES and LESLIE E. CARD * 



Frequently the back-yard poultryman who is sys- 

 tematically breeding, either for exhibition quality or to 

 establish a high egg-laying strain, needs a convenient 

 house for two or more small pens. For this purpose the 

 house used in the International Egg-Laying Contest at 



3= 



/COOK TO I 



-l?0(X>T BOARDED < 



6NC5T UNDER CuW BAT 



FIG. 101 PLANS FOR BUILDING ONE-PEN BREEDING HOUSE 



