20 POULTRY HOUSES 



An interior view of the house is shown in Fig. 11 (c). 

 The combined dropping-board and roost r, the con- 

 struction of which is shown in the illustration, is 

 made so that it may be removed readily from the house 

 and cleaned. If possible, the dropping-board should be 

 made of a single wide board rather than several narrow 

 ones; cracks and crevices between narrow boards are 

 difficult to clean. The beveled cleats on the ends 

 of the dropping-board prevent splitting and form a 

 support for the roost. The dropping-boards, of which 

 there are two in each house, are each supported at one 

 end by a cleat and at the other end by a folding 

 bracket. The construction of the folding bracket is 

 plainly shown in Fig. 11 (&) and (c). The dropping- 

 board and roosts should be removed each morning and 

 cleaned and replaced at. roosting time. This will be 

 imperative when the fowls are confined continually to 

 the inside of the house. In the meantime, the bracket 

 is folded up so as not to interfere with the exercising 

 room of the fowls. 



The outside of the house, including the roof, may be 

 covered with either heavy building paper, tar paper, 

 roofing felt, or boards; ^$-in. matched ceiling or thin, 

 beaded ceiling boards will be most satisfactory for this 

 purpose, because they will last indefinitely if kept 

 properly painted. Crude carbolic acid is a good material 

 with which to paint them, and in fact this may be used 

 on all parts of the house, both inside and out, because 

 it is an insecticide as well as a stain. Crude carbolic 

 acid may be colored almost any shade or tint desired 

 by the addition of dry paint. 



The laying house described may be used for a few 

 hens having free range, for hens confined in small 

 yards built about the house, or for hens that are kept 

 constantly within the house. The keeping of a few 

 hens and a cock constantly confined in a house of this 

 sort is the extreme of intensity in poultry farming. The 

 house should, of course, be properly cleaned and venti- 

 lated even when the fowls kept in it have more or less 



