INTERIOR FIXTURES AND EQUIPMENT 



103 



Circular 37 of Purdue (Indiana) Experiment Station 

 illustrates and describes a cheap, easily made oat sprouter 

 (see Fig. 212) that will provide sufficient green food for 

 a good-sized flock. It can be made to take trays of the 

 dimensions previously described or modified to meet any 

 special requirements. This sprouter can be located in any 

 convenient building or room and for cold weather it i? 

 entirely practical to -enclose it and provide a small lamp 

 or lantern underneath to get proper warmth for germi- 

 nation. 



A Lamp Heated Oat Sprouter 



Where only a comparatively small number of fowls 

 are to be provided for and the oats must be sprouted in 



a cold house or 

 room, the lamp- 

 heated sprouter 

 shown in Fig. 

 215 is p a r t i c - 

 ularly convenient. 

 The cabinet can be 

 made in any desired 

 size, making the 

 trays as directed for 

 the oat sprouting 

 room described on 

 page 102, but grad- 

 uating the spacing 

 for the trays as in- 

 dicated in the illus- 

 tration. Under the 

 trays a water-tight 

 drawer is provided 

 and a ventilated 

 lamp chamber un- 

 derneath. Use a 

 lamp or small oil 

 stove and regulate 

 the flame so that 

 the temperature in 

 the cabinet will be 

 about 70 to 75 de- 

 grees, and the oats 

 will grow rapidly. 

 In order to avoid 

 mold, the trays and 

 the entire inside 

 chamber should be 

 thoroughly d i s i n - 

 fected at frequent 

 intervals. Formalin 



solution is excellent for the purpose, spraying or mopping 

 all inside surfaces. 



Illuminating Poultry Houses 



The illumination of poultry houses in winter months 

 with a view to increasing egg yields is receiving much 

 attention at the present time. One of the main difficul- 

 ties in securing good winter production appears to be the 

 shortness of the hen's working day. Short days reduce 

 her time for eating, also her time for digestion and assimi- 

 lation. In mid-winter when the fowls go to roost at four 

 or half-past four in the afternoon and remain until seven 

 or eight in the morning, comparatively little of the day 

 is left for eating, laying, etc., and the extremely long fast 

 through the night clearly must cut down food consump- 

 tion. 



FIG. 217 A CORNER IN AN OAT 

 SPROUTING ROOM 



Experiments made by practical poultry keepers have 

 shown that artificially lighting the poultry house for a 

 few hours, morning and evening, so that the fowls have 

 daylight or its equivalent for twelve to fourteen hours 

 out of the twenty-four, regularly results in a marked in- 

 crease in egg production, other conditions being favor- 

 able. Similar results have been secured at certain of our 

 Agricultural Experiment Stations, particularly at Cornell 

 University, where the subject is being carefully investi- 

 gated and where striking results in favor of illumination 

 have been secured. The advantage in the method appears 

 to be due to the fact that with a longer day the fowls 

 have more time for eating and digesting the large amount 

 of food essential to heavy production. They must have 

 not only sufficient food to maintain their physical well- 

 being, to keep up or increase their flesh, and to furnish 

 fuel for warmth on cold winter days, but they also must 

 consume a sufficient amount of food in addition, to fur- 

 nish ample material for the formation of eggs. 



The following is an illustration given by Professor 

 Rice of Cornell, showing the results obtained by a New 

 York State poultryman who kept an accurate record of 

 results secured with a flock in an illuminated house and, 

 for comparison, the record of a similar flock without 

 illumination: 



PRODUCTION OF* OIVE HUNDRED HENS IN UNL.IGHTED 



HOUSE 



March Price 



Eg^s Laid Per Doz. Receipts 



December 14 $.69 $ .82 



January 154 .71 21.12 



February 430 .57 30.10 



March ... 841 .43 44.35 



April 1401 .43 42.35 



May 1605 .38 42.14 



June .. .. 792 .43 28.38 



Total .. ....4362 



$176.00 



PRODUCTION OF ONE HUNDRED HENS IN ILLUMI- 

 NATED HOUSE 



March Price 

 Egg's Laid Per Doz. Receipts 



December 1410 $.69 $81.08 



January 780 .71 46.15 



February , 548 .57 26.90 



March 483 .43 17.23 



April 451 .43 14.25 



May 771 .38 25.04 



June .. .. 704 .43 25.20 



Total ... 4286 



$235.90 



This experiment and numerous others of a similar 

 character clearly prove that by this method the poultry- 

 man can get more high-priced eggs from his fowls by 

 the use of lights. It seems to be clearly established that 

 illumination does not actually increase the number of 

 eggs laid by hens in a season, but it changes the time of 

 laying or advances production from the low-price months 

 of spring to the high-price months of early winter. In 

 other words, the poultryman may not get more eggs in 

 number by this method, but he should get them at the 

 time when they bring the most money. 



Where electric lights are available, poultry houses can 

 be lighted conveniently and with little expense. The size 

 and number of bulbs to be used are determined by the 

 amount of light needed properly to illuminate the house 

 or pen. They should be located where they will light the 

 house to best advantage. It is usual to provide a low- 

 powered bulb as well as a high-powered one, so that 

 when the bright light is turned off there will still be suf- 

 ficient light for the fowls to find their way readily to 

 roost. Numerous poultry kepers who do not have elec- 

 tricity are reporting good results with acetylene, gas and 

 gasoline lights. 



