PRACTICAL POULTRY HOUSES 



The Ideal Low-Cost New England House— A Double House Costing Fifty Dollars— A Low 



Cost House for the Farmer— Latest Improved Scratching Shed, Double or 



Continuous Houses — An All 'Round Complete Poultry House, 



as Designed by an Expert Fancier. 



WE PBESENT in this chapter not a large and eon- 

 fusing variety of low-cost poultry houses, but 

 such houses as are calcijlated to meet the needs 

 of a large majority of the readers of this book. 

 The several houses are materially diiferent in design, and 

 may be enlarged or modified to meet varying conditions. 

 Tney are practical, and no money need ba wasted in their 

 construction. 



At this point we wish to caution the readers againsl 

 extravagance in building a. poultry house. Do not spend a 



Ideal New Bngland Fonltry Honse. 



dollar, not a dime, when it can be properly avoided. That 

 is one secret of success in the poultry bv.siness. Have your 

 poultry house built so as to keep out all drafts, bui, bear in 

 mind that mature has provided fowls with a warin coat of 

 feathers, and that if gradually hardened they will stand a 

 surprising amount of cold weather. Even a Iteghorn cock 

 or cockerel will stand a night or two of twelve degerees 

 below zero (out' temperature) in houses constructed as we 

 advise in this chapter, without injury to his tail and slender 

 comb, providing 'he has been hardened to it. We write 

 from experience. 



Do not use artificial heat for adult fowls except in the 

 case of Leghorns or Minorcas in northern latitudes during 

 very cold weather. They do not need it. It is far better 

 for them not to have it. Build your houses snug against 

 the wind, put some glass where direct sunlight will flood 

 the dirt floor, leave the chicken exit open day and night; 

 except in rare instances let them go in and out of the 

 house when they please, and they will in this way become 

 toughened until the severe cold will not injure their gen- 

 eral health. Feed them regularly on sound, wioleaome, 



nourishing food; keep them at work as many hours of the 

 day as passible — but we are getting ahead of our story. 



With the exception of the Leghorns and other similar 

 varieties, poultry will withstand the winters of our north- 

 ern climate right well, and will be free from disease if 

 they are provided with quarters where they can seek shelter 

 from wind and rain 'in the day time and be protected from 

 drafts at night. It is the unhealthy fowl, the fowl that 

 has been abused either by neglect or by too much kindness, 

 that cannot withstand winter weather. Proper food well 

 digested makes thick, warm blood — but this is sub- 

 ject matter for Siiother chapter. 



We regard the low-priced and simple house 

 shown in the lilustration on this page aS one of the 

 best, cost considered, that can be designed for use 

 on large poultry farms where ample range is af- 

 forded, or for a pen of fowls in any small en- 

 closure. Such a house (without a board floor) can 

 be /readily moved from place to place. If we had 

 a ten-acre orchard and forty such houses we could 

 "house" 400 laying stock in them (giving each 

 pen the run, of a quarter of an acre), and give them 

 such care, with a minimum of labor, that tEey 

 would thrive superbly and pay big returns on 

 the outlay. 



For a floor a few inches of fresh, dry loam is 

 good enough for us. ilave the dirt floor of the 

 nouse fully six inches above the surface of the 

 ground outside the house. For roosts use ordinary 

 trestles about fifteen to eighteen inches in height. 

 Once a month or so take them out of doors, pour 

 a moderate quantity of coal oil over them and set fire to 

 them. It will be good-bye lice to those caught napping on 

 the roosts. Locate a window 3x3 feet in the roof, . south 

 front. Be' sure to run the front and back end boards up 

 and down. .Have nest boxes quite dark; this will prevent 

 egg-eating in most cases. For the roof use foot-wide 

 boards with grooves half an inch wide, running parallel 

 with each edge. The water that seeps under the battens 

 will then follow these grooves and flow off the roof. This 

 roof being steep, will turn the water first rate. Line your 

 poultry house with tar paper, then stripping it with lath 

 so that it will hold fast. By using tar paper it has a 

 tendency to keep out mites as tar is a good 'preventive of 

 mites. Paint your poultry house as soon as it is completed, 

 using the best oil you can afford to buy. Such a house, 

 8x8 feet, will do nicely for eight Asiatics (Brahmas, Ooch-' 

 ins and Langshans), ten American fowls (Bocks and 

 Wyamdottes), or fifteen of the small breeds (Leghorns, 

 etc.). 



