Vol. LVIII. No. 2605 
NEW YORK, DECEMBER 30, 1899. 
Cl PER YEAR. 
THE STORY 0 F " B / D D Y V / L L E 
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH POULTRY. 
Everyday Houses and Plans. 
Part I. 
FAIR EGG BIRDS.—There is a group of about a 
dozen farmers in part of our town, who have become 
so much engaged in poultry keeping that their local¬ 
ity is known for a considerable distance around as 
“Biddyville.” These men are all well-to-do, nearly 
all are out of debt, and several have a sum laid by for 
the “rainy day’’ or for future investments, and all 
would attribute much of their prosperity to the faith¬ 
ful performance of “Lady Leghorn” or other Med¬ 
iterraneans. The Mediterranean breeds are selected 
because the market patronized calls for white eggs, 
and no attempt being made to raise poultry for mar¬ 
ket, the large breeds are not particularly desired. 
More Brown Leghorn are kept than any other breed, 
though nothing that will produce a good-sized white 
egg is refused. The fowls can hardly be said to be 
purebred, though they are wellbred. No high-priced 
birds are raised or sought, and expenses for stock, 
buildings, and care are, for the most part, kept at as 
low a point as possible. 
GOOD HENHOUSE.—The pictures and plans for 
the buildings are given, not because they are, or are 
claimed to be, the best that can be made, nor for 
their external beauty, but because they are made for 
profit, and with as little expense for labor and ma¬ 
terial as thought consistent with the object sought. 
If a poultryhouse be convenient, and a healthful 
place for the fowls, as regards ventilation, warmth, 
dryness, and roominess, it is about all that can be 
desired by the average farmer. Whenever it is found 
that some old building can be fitted up at small ex¬ 
pense, and utilized for a henhouse, it is done to save 
the cost of more expensive buildings. One man, how¬ 
ever, believed that it would pay him to erect a build¬ 
ing at some expense, purposely for his fowls. This 
building, shown in Fig. 327, is two stories high, and 
was built at a cost for material and labor of about 
$150. It was erected on a steep side-hill, and is much 
like a basement barn, so that the fowls which have 
the upper story for their home, go in from the ground, 
just as those below go in to theirs. 
The building is 18x24 feet, and the rooms are 6V6 
feet high. From 150 to 200 hens are usually wintered 
in this building, and with good care the owner thinks 
this number not too many. This gives from 75 to 100 
in a flock, as there is no attempt made to separate 
either story into pens. After reading some of the 
poultry journals, one is tempted to inquire whether 
the number is not too great to keep together. But 
poultry papers do not seem to agree as to 
how close fowls may be housed, nor as to the size 
A TWO-STORY HENHOUSE. Fig. 327. 
of the flock. Some say 10 square feet of floor space 
should be allowed for each fowl, and no more than 15 
to 20 fowls should be allowed in a flock, while others 
think 50 to 100 may be housed together for greatest 
profit, and only four or five square feet need be given 
each fowl. Here, about five square feet is allowed, 
and the owner finds his poultry profitable—more so 
than almost anything else on the farm. Especially 
when closely housed, fowls must be well cared for, 
and it is possible that more spacious accommodations 
would result in larger profits. Still, it seems doubt¬ 
ful whether the increased expenditure for buildings 
would be warranted. 
A FOUR-SCORE HOUSE.—Fig. 328 shows another 
building on a farm adjoining the one just mentioned. 
This building stands on a gravelly knoll—an ideal 
location. It has no floor. It was built by the owner 
himself, using lumber cut on his own farm. All his 
expense was for sawing the lumber, and for nails, etc. 
The cost of the building, reckoning labor at the usual 
price paid for farm work, and adding the expense in 
money, was something less than $30. This house is 
supposed to be suitable for 80 fowls. I find nearly all 
agree reasonably well as to the floor space needed. 
The house was built with 4x4 scantling for sills and 
plates, to which boards were nailed after the fashion 
of a box. Half-inch boards were first nailed on, then 
A THIRTY-DOLLAR HOUSE FOR EIGHTY HENS. Fig. 328. 
paper put on, after which was a course of inch boards 
for an outside covering. The eaves are low and the 
roof steep. Roof boards were laid then, the paper 
spread, and shingles, made of half-inch hemlock 
boards, cut 24 inches long, were laid. It is claimed 
this roof will last a lifetime. The roof being steep, 
and the hemlock of a good quality, both contribute 
to make this estimate reasonable. The building is 
banked, and it never freezes inside. All the other 
henhouses that I saw had floors. In this the eleva¬ 
tion, and the gravel underneath, prevent any moisture 
from gathering to make the house damp or the floor 
muddy. While nearly all of these poultry-keeping 
farmers use cheap buildings, all but one had a good 
shingle roof; and this one said that he made a mis¬ 
take. “Have a good roof every time,” is his advice. 
Another thing that I noticed was the absence of the 
large number of windows that once were thought 
necessary. The motto is to make a henhouse as light 
as a dwelling, but not excessively light. If too many 
windows are put in, the room becomes too warm on 
very bright sunny days, and at night the glass is a 
proportionately good conductor, causing the room to 
become quite cold, thus making the extremes farther 
apart than they should be. 
HENHOUSE A STABLE.—Continuing my tramp 
among my neighbor’s poultryhouses, I came to the 
building shown in Fig. 329. This one was erected two 
years ago. Some poultry had been kept on the farm 
SUITABLE FOR HENS OR COWS. Fig. 329. 
before, which the wife believed to be profitable, 
though the husband doubted it, no exact account hav¬ 
ing been kept. After a good deal of discussion, it 
was decided to erect this building, 16x40 feet, and 
make it of rather heavy timber, thick floors, and do 
the whole job in a thorough manner, and in such a 
way that if the poultry didn’t pay, the building could 
be turned into a cow stable. The fowls were turned 
in and given good care by the wife. The eggs were 
sold on the market, and good, though not fancy, 
prices were obtained for them. At the end of one 
year a balance was struck, showing an average net 
profit of $1 per hen—a showing much above what 
anyone expected. The husband began at once to look 
for a good place to build another henhouse. By the 
way, this is the highest profit made by anyone in the 
neighborhood in recent years, though several have 
closely approximated it. 
WITH SCRATCHING SHED.—The building pic¬ 
tured in Fig. 330 is the only one having a scratching 
shed attachment, for hens on Winter days, when 
there is snow on the ground. Much has been written 
for poultry journals in favor of the scratching-shed 
plan, and one man here has concluded to try it. The 
main building is 20x40 feet, and two stories high. 
The view of the shed is shown in Fig. 331. It was 
thought, when putting up the building, that the ex¬ 
pense of the second story would be but little, and 
the room could be advantageously used as a store¬ 
room if not thought best to use it for poultry. Prob¬ 
ably it will be used for poultry soon. Some think the 
building too large, where all the fowls have free 
range and are not separated, but the owner is not yet 
convinced that he has made a mistake, though pos¬ 
sibly he will divide each story into two or four pens, 
by using poultry netting. The front door leads into 
an alleyway of good width, from which stairs lead to - 
the second story, and at the farther end of the alley 
is a grain and feed bin. On each side of the alley is 
a room about 18x20 feet, which might easily be di¬ 
vided into halves, as already suggested. 
The scratching-shed addition, 10x20 feet, on the 
ground, is not high enough to hinder the light from 
entering the main building. It is boarded and bat¬ 
tened on three sides, and the south side is open by 
means of six window spaces, almost the full height. 
Frames with cloth covers are said to be the proper 
thing for these windows, so as to give the birds out¬ 
door air in Winter without the winds and the storms; 
but in this one, half-inch board doors, hinged at the 
top, have been provided, making in this way a closed 
building when desired. Two of the doors have win¬ 
dows in them. Poultry netting has been nailed out¬ 
side, so that the doors can be opened if it is wished, 
and should it be thought best, the cloth on frames 
can easily be inserted, while the doors are swung up 
against the roof. The shed is low, but high enough 
