136 COMMERCIAL POULTRY RAISING 



made to span ten feet without need for an intervening support. 

 Spans greater than this should be supported in the middle by a 

 third cleat, a piece of i- by 3-inch stuff stood on edge, otherwise 

 the perches will sway heavily and disturb the sense of security in 

 the fowls. 



The end walls in houses sixteen feet long and less may be made 

 to support the perches, dropping-boards and nests. In buildings 

 of the continuous laying-house type it is customary to erect 



{Courtesy Purdue Experiment Station) 



Fig. 95. — Floors of poultry buildings should be unobstructed. Note how 

 this battery of trap nests is arranged, together with the perches and dropping- 

 boards. 



transverse partitions, at intervals of twelve or sixteen feet, ex- 

 tending five or six feet from the rear wall, which are designed to 

 prevent currents of air from forming dangerous drafts in the 

 roosting compartments, and which serve the additional purpose 

 of a foundation for the perches and so forth. 



Construction of Boards. — ^The dropping-boards should be 

 made fairly heavy and rigid, for it must be remembered that they 

 will be made to carry considerable weight, not alone the weight 



