PORTABLE COLONY AND BROODER HOUSES 



69 



FIG. 130 A LOW-COST PIANO BOX COOP 



front of the building contains four 8xlO-inch panes of 

 glass and there is a ventilating opening in the gable pro- 

 vided with an 8xlO-inch pane, which slides in suitable 

 grooves, providing additional ventilation when required. 

 The bars across the window are made from old buggy 

 tires and are a desirable addition where there is danger 

 of the fowls being molested by thieves. 



In this house the perch is located along the wall, op- 

 posite the window, and a suitable droppings board about 

 2 feet wide should be provided. The nests may be cheaply 

 made and may be suspended from the front edge to the 

 droppings board, which should be high enough to allow 

 the fowls the free use of the entire floor. There will be 

 sufficient lumber from the backs of the boxes to make 

 the droppings board, window cases and a little screen 

 over the exit door, etc. 



The only materials required in building this house, 

 aside from the two piano boxes, are the window glass, 

 roofing, one pair of hinges, one hasp and a little paint. 



LOW COST PIANO BOX COOP 



The house shown in Fig. 130 has a floor space of ap- 

 )roximately 30 square feet and was made from a single 

 >iano box. The back of -the box forms the floor. The 

 front was removed and the sides filled in on the line of 

 the slope of the top part of the front, thus giving a plain 

 shed roof. The roof boards were nailed to battens and 

 hinged at the front so that the entire roof could be 



raised for cleaning, etc. In the ordinary care of fowls, 

 access to the interior is secured through the 2j^x3-ft. 

 opening, which is protected with double screens, one cov- 

 ered with netting and the other with muslin. 



COMBINED PORTABLE HOUSE AND RUN 



An Easily-Moved Coop For a Small Flock of Confined 



Fowls or Chicks. 



The combined coop and run illustrated in Fig. 131 

 is one of several in successful use on an eastern back- 

 yard poultry plant. This house is only about 4 feet 

 square, but is expected to accommodate 12 fowls. While 

 this crowds them to an unusual extent the owner reports 

 good winter egg yields notwithstanding this. As will 

 be seen, canvas is tacked to the north side of the run to 

 cut off the cold winds which come from this quarter, and 

 the house is provided with a hinged, muslin-covered 

 frame on the south side, which affords some light and 



FTG. 131 COMrSTXATTOX COOP AXD YARD 



FIG. 132 AN ATTRACTIVE PIANO BOX POULTRY HOUSE 



ventilation when closed, and which can be left open when 

 the weather is mild. In the early summer these houses 

 and runs are use for brood coops, the chicks being 

 transferred to them as soon as they 

 no longer need artificial heat. 



The advantage of a house of this 

 sort is that it may readily be trans- 

 ferred, run and all, to new ground. 

 When the pens are located on a good 

 grass sod they can be shifted every 

 few days to a new location, thus pro- 

 viding an abundance of green food 

 without allowing the fowls to remain 

 long enough in any one place to kill 

 out the grass. For a small flock it is 

 possible to build a house and outdo >r 

 run in this way at lower cost, prob- 

 ably, than in any other way. The 

 floor of the house is about 2 ft. above 

 the ground, or on a level with the top 

 of the run. This provides a sheltered 

 space underneath, from which the 

 fowls reach the upper floor, where 

 perches and nests are located, by 

 means of an incline. 



