90 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



CONCRETE MANURE SHED 



Save the Droppings and Make Them a Source of 



Added Profit. 



By DR. RAYMOND PEARL, * 



One of the most valuable by-products of any live- 

 stock industry is the manure. Its proper care and use is 

 one of the distinguishing features of a successful stock 

 farm. The high nitrogen content of poultry droppings 

 makes them in certain respects the most valuable of farm 

 manure. At the same time this quality necessitates special 

 treatment to preserve the nitrogen and utilize it econom- 

 ically. 



This Station (Maine) recently built at its poultry 

 plant a manure shed large enough to accommodate the 

 droppings from one thousand adult birds over a period of 

 a year; also the droppings collected from the range where 

 three thousand chicks are annually reared. The inside 

 measurements of this shed are 7x12 feet. It is 5 feet high 



PIG. 179 CONCRETE MANURE SHED 

 Photo from Maine Exp. Station. 



at the eaves and 8 feet 2 inches to the peak of the roof. 

 See Fig. 179. The foundation is a solid block of cement 

 and rock smoothed off at the ground level to form the 

 floor. At the edges of the foundation the cement is con- 

 tinued up into the wall forms which were built so that 

 the walls are 10 inches thick at the base and six at the 

 top. The droppings are thrown into the shed through 

 trap doors in the roof, and taken out from one end, which 

 is of removable plank. The cement wall in the plank end 

 is continued far enough from either corner to provide a 

 place for the slot into which the planks are slipped. This 

 slot is a groove two inches deep and a little more than 

 two inches wide, and is formed by placing an angle iron 

 post within the board forms. 



The gables are of boards. The gable at the open or 

 plank end of the shed is removable, to give more head 

 room when shoveling the manure into carts. It is held 

 in place with hooks. The roof is secured to the walls by 

 bolts and rings, as shown in Fig. 179. The plates and 

 rafters are of 2x4 timbers. Inch boards were used for 



roof boards and gables. The roof is covered with roofing 

 paper. In one side of the roof are two trap doors also 

 covered with this roofing. Each of these doors is 2 feet 

 4 inches by 2 feet 10 inches and fits over a frame in the 

 roof, to which it is hinged at the top. The end of a lath 

 is attached by a double screweye to the inside of each 

 door at the right edge, about half way from bottom to 

 top. The edge of this lath is provided with notches 

 which hook over a nail on the inside of the door frame. 

 When hooked this lath holds the door open. A 2x4 

 strip is nailed across the inside of each door frame a lit- 

 tle more than half way from bottom to top. This serves 

 as a rest for the basket when droppings are emptied into 

 the shed. 



This shed is placed at the end of the line of poultry 

 houses and the raised walk which extends along the en- 

 tire front of the houses is continued past the shed and 

 built on an incline, so that at the end of the shed it is 

 only 1 foot 8 inches from the eaves. 



HOSPITAL FOR SICK FOWLS 



Every person who keeps large 

 numbers of fowls needs a special iso- 

 lated building where sick or injured 

 birds can receive treatment. This 

 hospital should be conveniently lo- 

 cated, and properly equipped for the 

 work. Do not make the mistake of 

 selecting some old building for this 

 use simply because it is worthless 

 for any other purpose. It is imprac- 

 tical to bother with hospital cases at 

 all, unless a convenient building is 

 provided in which to do the work, 

 and in which the fowls can be kept 

 comfortable. 



Sick or injured fowls should never 

 be penned together in flocks, but 

 should have small individual coops 

 similar to those shown in the cock- 

 erel house described elsewhere in 

 this chapter. An ideal fowl hospital 

 can be provided by building a section 

 of this cockerel house of suitable 

 size. For small numbers the width 

 can be reduced to about eight feet, 

 with coops along the rear wall and 



across the ends, but always leave an operating room not 

 less than five feet in width along the front, where there 

 should be provided an operating table and a set of 

 shelves stocked with suitable remedies, disinfectants, and 

 such other materials as are needed in caring for the sick 

 or injured fowls. For convenience in cleaning, the bottom 

 bar of the coop front should be two or three inches above 

 the floor so that all litter, droppings, etc., may be easily 

 scraped into a suitable pan or trough on the outside. 

 This opening should be closed by a narrow door to pre- 

 vent the litter from being scratched out by the fowls. 



The hospital building should have a concrete floor and. 

 in cold climates, should be double-walled and provided 

 with some means of heating it. Sick fowls are not 

 able to stand the degree of cold that healthy fowls find 

 entirely comfortable, and if special treatment is to be 

 given, the operator will find it much more satisfactory 

 to be able to warm the house to a comfortable temper- 

 ature. 



* Condensed from Maine Station Bulletin No. 216. 



