POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



number of fowls are to be fed, the 

 noise which they make when all the 

 birds are feeding at one time is often 

 considered objectionable as it is lia- 

 ble to cause disturbance among the 

 fowls. 



Fattening crates do not have to be 

 located in a house but may be kept 

 in any sort of shed or, in mild 

 weather, may be placed outdoors in 

 the shade in any convenient, quiet 

 spot. It is only necessary to throw 

 a couple of boards or a strip of roof- 

 ing over the top to keep the rain out, 

 in order to make the birds comfort- 

 able. 



Where fowls are to be fattened in 

 large numbers the use of portable 

 feeding batteries, which can be 

 bought ready-made, is recommended. 

 A battery consists of 8 to 16 separ- 

 ate compartments, each holding sev- 

 eral fowls. They usually are made 

 with woven-wire floors and with 

 droppings pans under each compart- 

 ment, so arranged that they may be 

 removed easily for cleaning. Each 

 battery rests on castors or small 

 wheels, by means of which it may 

 readily be moved wherever wanted. 



The battery shown in Fig. 170 has a double tier of 

 coops containing 16 compartments in all, and is capable of 

 accommodating in the neighborhood of 100 fowls mere 

 than that number if small, and less if full grown. The 

 feeding troughs with this battery are of galvanized iron 

 and the floors are of wire, which offers no chance for the 

 droppings to stick to the feet of the fowls. The drop- 

 pings trays are of wood. 



A COCKEREL HOUSE 



A House for Surplus Cockerels and for Wintering Breed- 

 ing Males. Convenient Conditioning Room, 

 For Fitting Exhibition Fowls. 



Where fowls are bred in large numbers, there is 

 always need for a building in which the surplus males 



may be kept when 

 not wanted in the 

 breeding pens, 

 where exhibition 

 birds may be fitted 

 and trained, and 

 where fowls of any 

 sort may be cooped 

 individually when it 

 is desirable to do 

 so. Plans for such 

 a house are shown 

 in Figs. 176 and 

 177. This house is 

 13x60 feet in the 

 clear and provides 

 room for 120 indi- 

 vidual coops, each 

 1 foot, 8 inches by 

 3 feet, and 2 feet 2 

 inches high. Coops 



FIG. 173 INTERIOR OF COCK- * * 1S S1Ze a " orc ' 

 EREL HOUSE ample room for sin- 



FIG. 174 CROSS SECTION OF FATTENING SHED IN ADMINISTRA- 

 TION BUILDING 



gle individuals, or for two or three small or medium sized 

 birds for a short time, if they get along peaceably to- 

 gether. In addition to the coops there is a conditioning 

 room at one end of the building and room at each end of 

 the cooping room for storage of food, litter, etc. 



Fig. 176 shows the floor plan of the building. The 

 provision for 17 2-sash windows may seem excessive but 

 it must be remembered that much more window surface is 

 required to light numerous small pens than would be 

 needed for one large open room. 



Pen floors and partitions are to be of tongue-and- 

 groove ceiling boards nailed to J^x2-in. strips as shown in 

 cross section. The pen fronts are to be of a good grade 

 of wire fencing with the upright wires spaced about two 

 inches apart and the joints welded or fastened with wire 

 locks so that there will be no sharp wire ends to injure 

 combs or cut neck feathers. The pen doors are of the 

 same material and arranged as in Fig. 175, which makes 

 their construction quite simple. Fig. 173 is from a photo- 

 graph of a house built in accordance with this plan but 

 considerably larger 

 than the one shown 

 in the drawing. In 

 cold climates this 

 house should be 

 built with double 

 walls, the inside 

 wall being of 

 tongue - and -groove 

 ceiling and warmly 

 constructed through- 

 out. In most in- 

 stances a concrete 

 floor should be pro- 

 vided, but the lower 

 pens should have 

 board floors, laid on 

 1-inch furring to 

 make an air space 



FIG. 175 PEN FRONT IN COCK- 

 EREL, HOUSE 



