164 



POULTRY CULTURE 



cost very little and are, on the whole, more satisfactory than the 

 more elaborate ones designed to make it impossible for the birds to 

 get their feet into the food. TYi^flat troughs are made with bottoms 

 of |-inch or |-inch boards (surfaced on one side) and with sides 

 of furring or lath, according to the size of the trough and of the 

 birds which are to feed from it. For sizes up to 6 inches wide and 

 about 2 feet long, |-inch stuff with edges of lath will do. For larger 

 troughs it is better to use |^-inch bottoms, though if they are for young 

 birds, the sides may be of lath. A favorite style of fiat-bottomed 

 trough is made by nailing the sides to the bottom so that they pro- 

 ject equally on both sides of the board, making a reversible trough. 



Fig. 258. Trap nest used at North 



Carolina Experiment Station (one 



trap set) 1 



Fig. 259. Same as Fig. 25S, one 



nest drawn out and opened at top 



to remove egg ^ 



The advantage of this is that, by simply turning it over, the trough 

 is emptied of the litter or dirt which accumulates in it between 

 feedings, while a single trough must be turned over and back. 



Very small V-shaped troughs may be made of |-inch boards, but 

 in general it is better to make them of |-inch stuff. For very large 

 troughs, used in goose fattening, this form is usually preferred. 



For regular feeding, most poultry keepers prefer short troughs 

 from 3 to 4 feet long and from 6 to 8 inches wide. A short, wide 

 trough will accommodate more birds than a narrower and longer 

 one with the same superficial area, and it is easier to feed in 

 them (with birds crowding about) without scattering food on the 

 ground.^ A trough 12 inches wide by 16 or 18 inches long makes 



' Photographs from North CaroHna Experiment Station. 



2 This is an important point when the feed trough stands on the poultry-house 

 floor or on bare or soiled ground. On clean sod no troughs are needed for moist 

 mash ; it may be fed on the ground. Some colony poultry farmers throw the 

 mash from the wagon with a shovel as they drive from house to house. 



