1312 
THE R.UR.AI* NBW-YOKKEK 
December (}, 
AN EFFICIENT AND ECONOMICAL 
POULTRY HOUSE. 
The problem of the careful poultryman 
who is striving to secure a good Winter 
egg yield is threefold. He must have 
strong, vigorous, healthy birds; they must 
be kept in a dry, sunny, well-ventilated 
house, and lastly they must be given an 
abundant supply of nourishing food. It 
can be truly said that production is lim¬ 
ited by the minimum amount of atten¬ 
tion given to either one of these three 
factors. Believing that the question of 
housing was of vital importance both 
from the efficiency as well as the economy 
standpoint much work has been done, es¬ 
pecially to test out different styles of 
houses and to try to arrive at a design 
which would embody all of the necessary 
factors of ventilation, dryness, sunlight 
and protection and at the same time pro¬ 
vide these at minimum cost. 
Standard Poultry House Unit.— 
After studying this question for three 
years the New Jersey State Experiment 
boarded, preferably of eight-inch tongue 
and grooved fellow pine, or ship-lap sid¬ 
ing, the latter being the most expensive 
but much more neat in appearance and 
tighter. The roof and back walls are 
covered with a good roofing paper, all 
joints being carefully lapped and ce¬ 
mented. The two muslin curtains placed 
in the center of the front wall are hinged 
at the top and can be lifted up insiue. 
The windows are hinged at the side and 
open around against the wall, thus offer¬ 
ing no obstruction to the interior of the 
house. One window in each pen is so 
constructed that the part of the wall be¬ 
low the window will open when desired, 
thus making a combination door and 
window which greatly facilitates clean¬ 
ing. The dropping boards, perches, and 
nests are best arranged on the back wall. 
The perches are hinged to the wall, so 
that they may be hooked up when clean¬ 
ing the droppings. The nests are dark¬ 
ened by a hinged door in front, which 
lets down when collecting the eggs, ae- 
THE MULTIPLE UNION POULTRY HOUSE. Fig. 515. 
Station has evolved a type known as a 
multiple unit laying house, which comes 
as near to the ideal as it is possible to 
get under average conditions. In this 
work the use of a standard unit of known 
and definite capacity gives a common 
basis upon which to work when starting 
a small plant, which can later be in¬ 
creased to larger proportions. The sized 
unit which was adopted as being the 
most economical and efficient is a room 
20 by 20 feet with a shed roof. It should 
be high enough to give ample head room 
when caring for the birds, and should 
admit sunlight in the front openings, so 
that at some time during the day they 
will shine on the floor clear to the back 
part of the pen. A unit of this size will 
have a floor space of 400 square feet, or 
a unit capacity of 100 birds, allowing 
four square feet each. Such a house as 
described in the following lines has 
proven amply adequate to meet all con¬ 
ditions of weather in New Jersey, New 
York, and in fact, in practically all 
climates of the United States. Such a 
unit plan is adapted to both the intensive 
egg farm as well as to the general farm, 
where smaller numbers of birds are kept 
as a side line to general agriculture. 
Where 100 or more birds are kept this 
scheme will prove very efficient. A very 
important advantage is the fact that a 
standard unit allows of indefinite ex¬ 
pansion by the addition of other units 
of the same style and size. The multiple 
unit laying house provides economically 
an abundance of fresh air, freedom from 
drafts, freedom from moisture, warmth 
for the birds during the Winter, an 
abundance of sunlight, plenty of room 
for exercise, protection from rats and 
vermin, economy in caring for the birds. 
It does all of this at a cost of only 8S 
cents per bird for all material. 
The working plans, page 1205, show the 
essential features in the design. The out¬ 
side dimensions of a double unit are 40 
feet by 20 feet, the shed-roof type of 
construction is used, with nine-foot stud¬ 
ding in the front and 414-foot studding 
in the rear. The sills are four by six 
inch, yellow pine or hemlock, and are 
bolted to a concrete foundation wall, 
eight inches wide and 20 inches deep. 
This wall is laid on a foot of cinders or 
crushed stone, to insure perfect drainage. 
All studding and rafters are 2x4 inch 
hemlock or yellow pine. A 2x6 inch gir¬ 
der runs the length of the house, sup¬ 
porting the rafters along their center 
line. The girder is in turn supported 
every 10 feet by 4x4 inch posts resting 
on concrete piers. The plates are con¬ 
structed of 2x4 inch material doubled 
and joints broken. 
All outside walls and roo f are single- 
cess to the nests being had by a slatted 
platform at the rear. 
The dividing partition between each 
unit is built of cheap material, usually 
barn boards. It should extend from the 
back wall to within six feet of the front 
wall, the remaining space being left en¬ 
tirely open. When desired to separate 
the birds into 100-bird units this open 
space may be covered with#a wire parti¬ 
tion, in the center of which is a double¬ 
action spring-wire door to communicate 
from pen to pen. This partial cross par¬ 
tition breaks up any excessive air cur¬ 
rents which may exist, and prevent ex¬ 
cessive drafts from blowing across the 
perches at night. A large homemade 
dry-mash hopper is built in the middle 
partition, so constructed that the birds 
can feed from both sides. If four or 
more units are built, it is desirable to 
have one hopper in the center of each 
pair of units, the additional partitions 
being used for nests or other appliances. 
An elevated, slatted platform is located 
under the muslin front, which provides 
space for the water fountain, grit and 
shell hoppers. 
As soon as the house is completed a 
concrete floor should be laid, and should 
be composed of three distinct layers as 
follows: First, a layer of about six inches 
of coarse material, cinders or gravel, 
tamped thoroughly to give drainage and 
keep the soil water away from the bot¬ 
tom of the finished floor. Second, a rough 
coat of concrete should be laid about 
three inches thick, consisting of one part 
of cement, three of sand and five of 
crushed stone or cinders. Over this a 
finish coat of two parts of sand and one 
of cement should be leveled about one 
inch thick and float finished. Such a 
floor if constructed according to specifica¬ 
tions is absolutely moisture-proof, strict¬ 
ly rat and vermin-proof and easily, quick¬ 
ly and thoroughly cleaned. 
The following list of materials is re¬ 
quired to build a double section of the 
multiple unit house as pictured. Approx¬ 
imate prices are given, but they will be 
found to vary somewhat in different sec¬ 
tions. 
LUMBER. 
Sills... 
6 
pieces, 
4x6 
in. by 
20 ft., 
, H 
emloek 
Plates. 
8 
n 
2x I 
it it 
20 “ 
tt 
Posts. . 
2 
u 
4x4 
H ti 
14 “ 
it 
•■> 
a 
4x4 
it it 
IS “ 
it 
Stiuld’g 
9 
tt 
2x4 
ti tt 
18 “ 
tt 
4 
it 
2x4 
it it 
14 “ 
it 
Bit ft’s : 
22 
a 
2x4 
it it 
OO “ 
if 
Frame 
for 
nests 
and 
1 dropping 
hot 
rrds, 5 
pieces 1 
1x3 
in. by 
16 
feet liemhx 
•k. 
Mate- 
rial for 
• w 
alls, n 
osts 
and 
roof, 
*> • 
100 sq. 
ft. eight-inch rool 
fus. 
Curt 
ain fr 
ames and 
trimmings, 
200 ] 
incur feet 
3x2 
in. 
white 
pine. Nests, 300 linear feet 1x4 in. white 
pine. Broody coop, 1 bundle plaster lath. ! 
Nails, 10 pounds 20 penny wire, 50 
pounds 10 penny wire, 20 pounds 8 penny 
wire. 
Cost of the above materials.$ 75.54 
Eleven rolls roofing paper at $3.. 33.00 
Four special sash at $2. 8.00 
Eight yds. of muslin at 32*40. 1.00 
Hardware, hinges, locks, tacks, 
hooks and wire . 4.75 
Foundation and floor— 
Cement, 35 bags at 50c..$17.50 
Cinder or gravel, 30 yds. 
at $1 . 30.00 
Sand, 5 yds. at $1.50. . . 7.50 
Total cost of materials for 
floor and foundation.. .$55.00 $55.00 
Total cost not including labor if 
concrete floor is used and cinders 
and sand have to be purchased $176.29 
This makes a total cost of each square 
foot of floor space of $0,222. A cost per 
running foot of house of $4.44. A cost 
per bird allowing 4 square ft. for each 
bird of $0,888. 
This multiple unit house has had its 
efficiency tested, and has proven one of 
the most efficient types for economical egg 
production. harry r. lewis. 
POULTRY NOTES. 
I have tried everything from kerosene 
to nearly all of the expensive proprietary 
preparations put on the market for the 
purpose, and have found that the cheap, 
heavy spraying oil is decidedly the best 
and cheapest thing for keeping mites 
from a poultry house. A thorough spray- 
iug once a year will certainly keep a 
house entirely free from these pests, and 
I am not sure but that when the wood 
gets thoroughly saturated with the oil a 
building can be guaranteed mite-free for 
several years without any more attention. 
In one old building that we found badly 
infested with mites early in season a year 
ago, and which was then thoroughly 
soaked with the spraying oil, not a sign 
of a mite has been found this Summer, 
and it looks as if it might be free for 
another year or two without any addi¬ 
tional application of the oil. Whether or 
not this oil is as good a germicide as it 
is insecticide I am not prepared to say, 
but see no reason why it should not be. 
It seems to have biting effect, on any cuts 
or cracks on hands or if a little of the 
spray gets into the eyes. 
We value sunflowers highly as a poul¬ 
try food, but as they are almost impos¬ 
sible to cure, and as ones have been 
planted where the hens could get at them, 
for the past three years we have been 
trying plan of letting the hens help them¬ 
selves to them as they ripen and fall. 
They come in just in the moulting season 
when the hens need them most. The 
stalks with their heavy heads are broken 
over by the winds so that the hens can 
get at them and help themselves as they 
want them, and so far this plan of letting 
the hens harvest the sunflower crop has 
not had any injurious effects on the hens, 
although I believe this is contrary to the 
general experience. 
Connecticut. merritt m. clark. 
MAKES HENS LAY 
- MORE EGGS 
IT INCREASES THE CAPACITY OF 
GOOD HENS, AND MAKES EVEN 
A POOR HEN DO HER LEVEL BEST 
Get the Facts! 
Big Money In Poultry 
—- — - -- - - 27M00 
poultry 
raisers 
are making: money the Belle City way. They 
tell you how in my now Book of “Hatchina 
Facts.” Free to you. Ulus- 
trates in actual colors my 
8 -Times World’s Cham¬ 
pion Bolle City 
You get an exact duplicate 
of the prize winning World’s Cham- 
g ion machines. Backed by my Money- 
ack Guaranty. Jim Rohan, Pres 
Bello City Incubator Co., Box 48, 
Freight 
Paid. 1, 2 or 3 
Months' Home Test 
Racine, Wis, 
fomla Redwood 
covered w 
.as and galvanized 
triple walls, copper tank, 
nursery,egg tester, ther¬ 
mometer,ready to use. 
30 DAYS’ TRIAL 
Money back if Not O. K. Write today. 
IRONCLAD INCUBATOR CO. 
■«» 121- Racine, Wisconsin 
Freight Paid 
B East of the 
Rockies. 
I Write for free 
I catalog today. 
112-PAGE POULTRY BOOK 
If you are thinking: of buying T"E Tp 
an incubator or brooder you , 
should send for our big 1914 **’ 
catalog at once. Describes 
many now,exclusive improvements in this year 
PRAIRIE STATE 
Incubators and Brooders 
Also contains about 60 pages of valuable poul* 
idbr J -* Ji — Mfi 
try information—how to feed, rear and breed; treat diseases, 
- 1 .— u.-iu: i-own winter feed, etc. Just out— 
poultry buildings, home grown winter fee-,-- 
a postal brings it FREE. Write today—now. 
| Prairie State Incnhator Co., 12BM«in St., Homer City, Pa. 
71 
MacKellar’s Charcoal 
For Poultry is best. Coarse or fine granulated, alttc 
powdered. Buy direct from largest manufacturers oi 
Charcoal Products. Ask for prices and samples. Est. 180 
R. MacFELLAR’S SONS CO., Peekskill, N. Y. 
WE CAN MAKE on Malt Sprouts! Cat- 
” * tie Salt, Granulated Charcoal. OYSTER 
SHELL LIME, Sunflower and Hemp Seed Beef 
Scrap .etc. CHARLES H. REEVE & CO., 
INC., 209 Washington Street, New York. 
If PURINA CHICKEN CHOWDER 
wont make your 
hens lay, they 
must be roosters L 
G&* VojvxrwY r£ 
Purina Chicken Chowder is a dry mash which contains just the in¬ 
gredients to insure an abundance of eggs right through the Winter. 
Dry Purina Chicken Chowder should be kept before hens all of the 
time. The more Chicken Chowder Biddy eats the more eggs she will 
lay. Hens should also have Purina Scratch Feed, two or three times 
a day, in a litter. 
Col. Purina guarantees 
More eggs or money back 
to any poultry raiser who uses Purina Chicken Chowder accord¬ 
ing to directions and fails to get more eggs. 
Purina Poultry Feeds are for sale by the leading dealers. 
Your dealer will order them for you, if he doesn’t already 
carry them in stock. 
Poultry Book Free 
For your dealer’s name I will 6end you this 48-page 
Poultry Book, containing plans of houses, breeding and 
feeding charts, space for daily egg records, cures of dis¬ 
eases, care for baby chicks, etc. It also contains inform¬ 
ation about Col. Purina’s half price galvanized iron 
Chick Prinking Fountain [2 for 25e] and more details 
about his galvanized iron Automatic Chicken Chowder 
Feeder [50c]. Write today. 
Col. Purina, Purina Mills, 
827 S. Eighth St., St. Louis, Mo. 
