SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 



-17 



walla are warmer in winter and oo61er in summer, with loss 

 frost in severe weather, and less resulting moisture when the 

 temperature moderates sufficiently to melt the frost from 

 the walls and roof of the house. 



"A cheap, efficient house for latitudes south of New 

 York may be made of two thicknesses of rough inch lumber 

 for the side and end walls. This siding should be put on 

 vertically, with a good quality of tarred building papet be- 

 tween. It is usually best to nail on the inner layer of 

 boards first; then put on the outside of this layer tho build- 

 ing paper in aueh a manner that the whole surface is cov- 

 ered. Where the edges of the paper meet, a liberal lap 

 should be given, the object being to prevent as far as pos- 

 sible drafts of air in severe weather. Nail the second thick- 

 ness of boards on the building paper so as to break joints 

 in the two boardings. In selecting lumber for siding, it is 

 best to choose boards of a uniform width, to facilitate the 

 breaking of joints. 



"In constructing a roof for a house in the colder lati- 

 tudes, one of two courses must be pursued, either to ceil the 



inside with some mater- 



Tor i'a/jt-r - 



■'fffi-/::- : 



Figr. 1 Method of Building Poultry 



House with UoUow Side Walls. 



ial to exclude drafts or 

 to place the roof boards 

 close together and cov- 

 er thoroughly with tar- 

 red' paper before shing- 

 ling. The ordinary 

 shingle roof is too open 

 for windy weather when 

 the mercury is at or be- 

 low the zero mark. The 

 fowls will endure se- 

 vere weather without 

 suffering from _ frosted 

 combs or wattles if 

 there are no drafts of 

 air. Hens will lay well 

 during- the winter 

 inohths if the houses 

 are warm enough so - 

 that the single comb 

 varieties do not suffer 

 from frost bite. When- 

 ever the combs or wat- 

 tles are frozen the loss 

 decreased egg pro- 



duction, can not be other 



'Tig. 1 represents a cheap 



in 

 than serious. 



and efficient method of 

 building a poultry house with a hollow side wall. The sill 

 may be a 2x6 or 2x8 scantling, laid flat on the wall or 

 foundation; a 2x2 strip is nailed at the outer edge to give 

 the size of the space between the boards which constitute 

 the side walls. A 2x3 scantling set edgewise forms the 

 plate, and to this the boards of the side walls are nailed. 

 These boards may be of rough lumber if economy in build- 

 ing is desired. If so, the inner boarding should be nailed 

 on first and covered with tarred building paper on the side 

 that will come within the hollow wall when the building is 

 completed. This building paper is to be held in place with 

 laths or strips' of thin boards. If only small nails or tacks 

 are used, the paper will tear around the nail heads when 

 damp and will not stay in place. 



"The cracks between the boards of the outside board- 

 ing may be covered with inexpensive battens if they are 

 nailed at frequent intervals with small nails. Ordinary 

 building lath will answer this purpose admirably, and will 



last many years, although they are not so durable as heavier 

 and more expensive strips. The tarre^ paper on the inside 

 boarding and the battens on the outside make two walls, 

 each impervious to wind, with an air space between them. 



"In preparing plans fot a building, one of the first 

 questions to be decided upon is the size and form of the 

 house, if ttie buildings are made with the corners right 

 angles, there is no form so economical as the square build- 

 ing. This form will inclose more square feet of floor space 

 for a given amount of lumber than any other, but for some 

 reasons a square building is not so well adapted for fowls 

 as one that is much longer tnan wide. It is essential to 

 have the different pen in tne house so arranged that each 

 one will receive as much sunlight as possible, and to secure 

 tttia, some sacrifice in economy of building must be made. 



"The writer prefers a building one story high, not less 

 than ten nor more than fourteen teet wide, and as long as 

 circumstances require. In most cases a building from thirty 

 to sixty feet long meets the requirements. If this does not 

 give room enough, it is better to construct other buildings 

 than to extend one building tor more than sixty feet. It 

 must be remembered that eaen pen in the building should 

 have a separate yard or run, and that a pen .should not be 

 made to accommodate more tnan fifty fowls, or, better, thir- 

 ty to forty. 



' ' The building should extend nearly east and west, in 

 order that as much sunshine as possible may be admitted 

 tnrough windows on the south side. The windows should 

 not be large, nor more than one to every eight or ten feet in 

 length for a house twelve feet wide, and about seventeen 

 inches from the floor, or at such height that as much sun- 

 shine as possible will be thrown on "the floor. The size and 

 form of the windows will determine quite largely their loca- 

 tion. In all poultry houses in a cold latitude the windows 

 should be placed in such a positon that they will give the 

 most sunshine on the floor during the severe winter months. 

 One of the common mistaices js in putting in too many win- 

 dows, while a building that admits plenty of sunlight in 

 the winter time is very desirable, a cold one is equally un- 

 desirable, and windows are a source of radiation at night 

 unless shutters or curtains are provided. Sliding windows 

 are preferred on many accounts. They can be partially 

 opened for ventilation on warm days. The base or rail on 

 which the window slides should be made of several pieces 

 fastened an inch or so apart, through which , openings the 

 dirt which is sure to accumulate in poultry houses may 

 drop and insure free movement of the window. 

 Ventilation. 



"Some means of ventilating the building should be 

 provided. A ventilator that can be opened and closed at 

 the will 01 the attendant will give good results if given 

 proper attention, and without attention no ventilator will 

 give the best results. All ventilators that are in continuous 

 operation either give too much ventilation during cold and 

 windy weather, or not enough during still, warm days. As 

 a rule they give too much ventilation at night -to too little 

 during the warm parts of the day. Ventilators are not 

 needed in severe cold weather, but during the first warm 

 da^s of early spring, and whenever the temperature rises 

 above freezing during the winter months some ventilation 

 should be provided. Houses with single walls will become 

 quite frosty on the inside during severe weather, which will 

 cause considerable dampness whenever the temperature rises 

 sufficiently to thaw out all the frost on the side walls and 

 roof. At this time a ventilator is most needed. A ventila- 

 tor in the highest part of the roof that can be, closed 



,v? 



