INTERIOR FIXTURES AND EQUIPMENT 



93 



scription of a manure pit designed to take the place of 

 the droppings platform, and to facilitate cleaning out the 

 droppings, is given by Prof. F. C. Hare in Extension 

 Bulletin 16, Clemson (S. C.) Agricultural College: 



"The dropboard under the roosts to prevent the ma- 

 nure of the roosting fowls soiling the floor, answers the 

 purpose for which it is designed, but it is unsightly. 

 With small flocks, a- frequent scraping of the dropboard 

 will keep it presentable, but, unless large dropboards are 

 cleaned daily, the accumulation of manure from a flock 

 of several hundred hens becomes quite objectionable in 

 even a few days. To remove the manure daily requires 

 labor and time that frequently cannot be provided in busy 

 seasons. 



"I have designed a manure pit from which the ma- 

 nure can b.e hauled away in a wagon. It is unnecessary to 

 remove the manure more often than once a month if the 

 moisture is absorbed, and during this time the manure 

 cannot be seen by anyone walking through the house. 

 To absorb the moisture, the manure is covered every few 

 days with an inch of dry earth or sand. This procedure 

 is identical with that prescribed for making a compost 

 bed for fertilizing the garden, so that the manure is being 

 improved while it is being collected in sufficient quantity 

 to warrant hauling it away. 



"The floor and 12 inches of the front and rear walls 

 of the manure pit should be built of concrete. A good 

 formula is: one part of cement, 2y 2 parts of clean, sharp 

 sand, five parts of coarse gravel. The remaining, or up- 

 per two feet of the front wall, is made of lumber. The 

 roosts are fastened together in sections to slide forward 

 out of the way, or the sections are hinged to the front 

 wall of the pit and raised with a cord. The manure is 

 removed through a door in the rear. In long houses a 

 door for this purpose is put in every 20 feet. 



"A road should be made at the rear, or north side of 

 the house, for the use of the horse and manure wagon. 

 The manure and earth, collected in this way once a 

 month, or when required, can be taken to the vegetable 

 or flower garden and used at once. It is an excellent 

 fertilizer. If you wish still further to improve it, sprinkle 

 16 per cent of acid phosphate over the manure just be- 

 fore you cover it with earth. The acid hastens the ripe- 

 ning of the manure." See Fig. 183 for cross-section of 

 house with manure pit as herein described. 



Perch Supports 



There are various methods of supporting the perches. 

 Under most conditions it is desirable to have the roosts 

 back as close as possible to the rear wall, in which case 



Y'3" 



FIG. 184 SATISFACTORY WALL XESTS 



FIG. 185 FRONT ELEVATION OF WALL NESTS 



they may be supported over the platform, either as shown 

 in Fig. 85, where metal lice-proof perch holders are used, 

 or by means of a horizontal bar suitably notched, the bar 

 being supported in front on a short leg or block and in the 

 rear by a four-inch strap hinge, by means of which the 

 perches may readily be raised when the platform is to be 

 cleaned. If the perches are not too long the supporting 

 bar can be attached directly to the sidewalls, but it 

 is not desirable to have perches over 12 feet in length, un- 

 less they are supported in the middle. Instead of hinges, 

 the horizontal bars often are suspended from the rafters 

 by a stout wire at each end. This arrangement makes it 

 practically impossible for mites to pass back and forth 

 from walls to perches and nothing but the grossest neg- 

 lect will permit mites to infest the house. 



Perches should be of 2x4 material if over six feet long, 

 and should be surfaced, and the upper edges of the perches 

 should always be rounded. Square-cornered perches will 

 cause corns, which may later develop into bumblefoot. 

 The back perch should be 10 to 12 inches from the rear 

 wall and the rest spaced 12 to 14 inches apart. Round 

 poles with the bark off make good perches, but should be 

 well seasoned before using, as they are much stiffer than 

 green poles, which frequently bend so badly as to become 

 quite uncomfortable for the fowls. 



Roosting Closets 



x 



In sev.ere climates roosting closets sometimes are a 

 necessity in order to protect from injury the combs and 

 wattles of valuable 

 breeding fowls. Fig. 

 186 shows a sim- 

 ple way of provid- 

 ing such a closet by 

 installing a shutter 

 in front of the per- 

 ches, making it 

 wide enough to 

 reach from drop- 

 pings platform to 

 roof. The shutters 

 should be made in sections, as here shown, when the plat- 

 forms are more than 8 feet long. Do not use heavy ma- 

 terial for covering the shutters, as it is not desirable to 

 restrict air circulation more than is necessary to prevent 

 frosted combs. As a rule, burlap will prove sufficient for 

 the purpose. 



FIG. 186 ROOSTING CLOSET FOR 

 . LARGE COMBED FOWLS 



