AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
335 
1864.] 
Fig. 1. —POULTRY HOUSE—PERSPECTIVE. 
Notes on Poultry and Poultry Houses. 
At this time of the year it is easy to stock a 
poultry yard with excellent fowls in good con¬ 
dition, at the price they will bring for food. 
Good sized pullets bought in December, placed 
in warm, light, clean quarters, fed with grain 
regularly, some flesh and some green vegetable 
food frequently, will give a good supply of eggs 
all winter, except, perhaps, in the very coldest 
weather. There is no more delicious food than 
poultry and eggs, which, pound for pound, may 
be produced at a less cost than pork. We have 
heretofore given good plans for poultry houses, 
each possessing some advantages over others, 
and now we present this one in use by Mr. J. 
H. Mabbet, of Saratoga Co., N. Y., which is 
in some points superior to the other good plans. 
Figure 1, is a view of the house from the yard, 
taken from a photograph, and, of course accu¬ 
rate. The building is 12x17 feet on the ground. 
A warm dry spot was selected, the ground dug 
out two feet deep, and a good foundation laid 
even with the surface. The building is framed 
12x12 feet, having 5-foot posts, with matched 
pine up-and-down boarding outside, and lathed 
and plastered inside, the south end being left 
open, and a door (5 feet by 2 feet) con¬ 
veniently placed in the middle of the east side. 
The south end is framed out 5 feet from the 
building, and similarly boarded and plastered 2 
feet high.on the south and east, and higher on 
the west side. This low part is covered by two 
green-house sashes, each 6 feet square, adapted 
to 8x10 glass, supported upon rafters resting on 
the tie beam between the plates of the main 
part. A triangular sash fills the east end above 
the boarding, and admits the early morning sun. 
There are several advantages in not having the 
glass come nearer the groundthere is not so 
much danger of its getting broken, and the 
passing and doings of men and animals outside 
are not likely to alarm the fowls. The roof 
should not be of less than 
a quarter pitch, and in the 
gable above the tie beam a 
long sash arranged to open 
outward is placed for light 
and ventilation in summer. 
The plastering is continued 
up on the underside of the 
roof to one foot below the 
ridge, at which point it is 
horizontal as shown in fig. 
3. The ventilating arrange¬ 
ments are very good. Few 
poultry raisers seem to be 
aware of the great necessity 
for good ventilation in the 
places where hens roost. 
It is noticed by every body 
that they will always roost 
at the highest point they 
can reach, therefore if their roosts be near the 
roof it is very likely to happen that the air be¬ 
comes close and poisonous. We have known re¬ 
peated instances of the birds falling from or being 
found dead on the perches, from this exposure 
to noxious gases, which is also a frequent source 
of disease, of paucity of eggs, and of inability 
to fatten poultry. First there is open draft up 
through the ventilator (F) in the middle of the 
roof. This may be shut off by raising the 
swinging door (L) by the cord attached to it. 
The open space (P) in the peak of the roof 
above the horizontal part of the ceiling, has 
openings into the ventilator. Thus the space 
between the roof and the plastering is ventilated, 
and cooled in summer, being open at the eaves 
as well as above. There is an opening ( 0) into 
this space (P), immediately above the roosting 
ladders, (seen in figs. 2 and 3,) which provides a 
free escape for the breath and exhalations from 
the fowls on the perches both winter and sum¬ 
mer, and in winter furnishes the only ventilation. 
The roosting ladders ( R ) are made of round sassa¬ 
fras sticks, locking together firmly at the top and 
set into sockets at the base of each, so that they 
may easily be lifted out and cleaned. Below the 
roosts is a shelf (-8) 11 feet long and 5 feet wide, 
supported so as to incline backward a little. On 
this a layer of muck may be spread to receive 
the droppings, and when it is necessary to clear 
off the manure, the shelf is lowered and scraped 
clean. Access to the shelf and to the roost is 
gained by a bird ladder. D, is a door to the dusting 
room, outside the house and opening to the yard. 
In one end of the building a small brick 
chimney is suspended from the roof. This is to 
take the pipe of a small stove by which to 
maintain such a temperature at night in the 
coldest weather, that broods may come off in 
February, or at any other time, and that con¬ 
tinued cold weather may not check the laying. 
The fountain used for supplying fresh water 
constantly, was figured and described on p. 308 
(Nov.) The feed box is 6 feet long, 6 inches wide, 
3 inches high in front and 6 behind. The top is 
a frame with slats. Holes are bored in the back 
to hang it up by, 6 inches above the ground. 
The nest boxes are placed outside in summer as 
shown in fig. 1, and are so arranged that one 
may remove the eggs without entering the house. 
In the winter the nest boxes (figured in the 
“Basket”) are within, under the shelf below the 
roosting ladders. All interior arrangements 
are constructed so as not to occupy any room on 
the floor—the nest boxes, feeding box, water ar¬ 
rangements, etc., all being raised above the 
ground. The floor is covered by spreading two 
loads of fine gravel or coarse sand evenly over 
it, which is occasionally raked over and thus 
kept clean. Mr. Mabbet in speaking of his 
house and fixtures, says, “ all of which I have 
faithfully tried and can well recommend.” 
A Good Corn Crib. 
Wm. D. Morton, of Lapeer County., Mich., 
presents the readers of the American Agricul¬ 
turist a plan and description of his corn crib, 
which we amend a little by setting it upon 
posts, with tin pans bottom side up over their 
tops, in eastern fashion, to keep the rats out. 
Mr. M. has had it in use two years. The frame is 
of 2x4 inch scantling, and the covering of inch 
boards. It consists really of two cribs, 3 feet 
wide at the bottom, and 5 feet wide at the top, 
framed together as shown in the engraving, and 
covered by slats or boards. The dotted lines 
represent the frame. Tenpenny nails are suffi¬ 
cient to hold the slats on the outside, and this 
looks much better than having the studs on the 
outside. The doors are of slat boards like the 
rest, with projecting cleats, two on each side. 
They are put in or taken out by lifting them up 
to the board above, and moving the lower ends 
in or out. In the sketch one door is represent¬ 
ed in, and one removed. When it comes to fill¬ 
ing the crib to the top, a board in the roof is 
loosened by withdrawing one of the pins seen 
in the engraving near the eaves, and slipping 
the board out. Mr. M. has two such boards in 
his 12-foot house. He says a house of the di¬ 
mensions given for the end elevation and 12 feet 
long will hold about 400 barrels of ears. The 
length of course may be regulated by the con¬ 
venience of the builder and the demands of the 
farm, present and prospective. Some kind of a 
corn crib is necessary, and the rail pens, at best 
fit only for corn which is to be fed to hogs be¬ 
fore really cold weather sets in, should give place 
to suitable structures when possible. Similar 
corn cribs in use in some parts of the country 
are found convenient, and easily constructed. 
Sound Advice. —If you would relish food, la¬ 
bor for it; if you would enjoy raiment, pay for 
it before you wear it; if you would sleep sound¬ 
ly, take a clean conscience to bed with you. 
