160 COMMERCIAL POULTRY RAISING 



Most doors and gates are used constantly, and they are gen- 

 erally used under more or less trying circumstances — either the 

 fowls are being fed and watered, in which case the feeder has his 

 hands very much occupied with buckets, or the eggs are being 

 collected, or the buildings are being cleaned, both of which engage 

 one's hands with equipment. Obviously, all doors and gates 

 should operate freely, which means that they should be properly 

 fitted, hung on strong hinges, and wherever possible they should 

 be equipped with a self-closing device. 



Door Check. — ^There are numerous patented articles for closing 

 doors, some of which close the door securely without slamming, 

 but most of these are too expensive for general use on a chicken 

 plant. Screen door springs are useful contrivances for doors or 

 gates that open one way. Substitutes for them may be made out 

 of a light piece of rope rove through a pulley and secured to a 

 counterpoise weight of sufficient bulk to move the door. We have 

 all seen this principle. It has been used for centuries — long before 

 a steel spring was deemed possible. 



For doors and gates between pens and yards it has been found 

 convenient to have them open both ways. In fact, they involve 

 considerable inconvenience if they do not open both ways. This 

 feature requires double-acting hinges. If the door is to be self- 

 closing, which is virtually an indispensable feature, special spring 

 double-acting hinges are necessary, unless the door is equipped 

 with a double-acting self-closing device apart from the hinges. 

 Reliable double-acting spring hinges are rather expensive, emd 

 most of them are of such material that if exposed to the weather 

 for any length of time they soon deteriorate and become worth- 

 less. 



Diagram in Fig. 112 shows two ideas for a home made double- 

 acting self-closing device, based on the simple principle of the 

 rope, pulley and weight employed for the one-way door. In 

 detail i a wooden cross-piece "A" is nailed at right-angles to the 

 top of the door, near the end that is hinged. A hole is bored in 

 each end of this cross-piece, from which a light rope is run to a 

 point, "B," thus forming a bridle. The single rope, "C," runs 



