Part 2

Considered from the point of utility alone, the single-pitched roof seems to be the most popular. It gives the necessary watershed and interior room for the least amount of material.

While the height of the roof from the floor should be influenced by the other dimensions of the building, the fowls will do as well with a low-roofed building properly cleaned and ventilated, as with one of lofty roof, but the inconvenience of caring for the low-roofed building must be considered, and hence few of us want a roof lower than six feet.

After one has decided the form of the roof, the next point is the material.

In counting the cost, one must consider the possible expense in keeping in repair a roof cheap at the outset. Some roofs absorb the sun's rays to such a degree as to make the building too warm. In certain locations a fireproof roof is imperative, by law or expediency.

Wood, metal, and the tarred paper or felt roofing have peculiar qualifications which adapt them to individual requirements. The paper or felt roofings appeal to a great many people, as the work of applying the material can be done by an amateur. These roofings are laid on over boards and secured in position by nails, the joinings being made watertight with cement. Pliant roofings should be turned well over the edges of the roof and fastened securely. Allowance for lapping of the strips is made on the material, and this lap should be observed. The cost of the cement and nails necessary to the work is included in the price of the roofing per roll. There are several good tarred roofings on the market at one dollar and eighty cents or one dollar and ninety cents per roll of about one hundred square feet. When buying, it is best to select those having a fireproof surface. Two-ply felt roofing is more economical than the one-ply, as it makes a much more lasting roof. After three or four years it will require repainting, and this must be done promptly to preserve the roof. The price of the felt roofings varies, costing from two to two and one-half dollars per square.

All flexible roofings must be laid over boards that are fitted closely, else they will tend to break over the crevices.

The galvanized steel and iron roofings are the most durable of all. The best grade of galvanized iron costs from four dollars and twenty-five cents to five dollars per square (100 square feet), covering the cost of laying, but as it is absolutely fireproof, lower insurance rates are obtainable on buildings where it is used.

The galvanized roof is very warm in summer, which in some sections proves an objection. Tarred paper also is hot.

Roofs of cedar or white pine shingles outlast the pliant roofings, and really cost less in the end. One poultryman who has had experience with metal, felt, paper, and shingle roofing, prefers the last, claiming that it serves him best for least cost.

Where other buildings have just been constructed, there may be left-over roofing material of a higher grade, which will serve to cover the poultry house. Roofing tile and asbestos shingles make excellent roofs, and are very sightly, but their use demands a different treatment of the roof framing, and an experienced workman to make a satisfactory job.

WALLS, WINDOWS AND VENTILATION

Obtain an influx of fresh air without drafts and without too great cooling of the air, and you have solved the problem of ventilation. To prevent an undue fall of temperature, there must be, in addition to a fresh-air supply, a continuous heat supply, and this exists in the fowls themselves. This we must plan to conserve. Admitting the fabric-covered window--now so universally used--to be the best solution of how to admit fresh air with the least loss of heat, the accompaniment of this is perfect tightness of the windowless sides.

As far as materials are concerned, wood, brick, cement blocks, or stone, are equally satisfactory if their requirements are understood, and they are used to suit conditions. Some poultrymen object to brick or stone, claiming that they are damp, yet we know that stone does not create moisture. Of course, masonry being a better conductor of heat than wood, moisture already in the air will condense upon stone, concrete, etc., when it will not be evident on wood. The moisture-laden air, which is cold and unhealthy for the fowls, must be due to a damp floor, poor ventilation, or some such reason. The fact that a certain concrete or stone wall is dry would prove that conditions were right, while the wooden wall would show warning signs only in extreme dampness.

In localities where stone abounds, the entire building may be constructed of stone, giving ample window room.

All buildings which are plastered or cemented in any part of their construction should be allowed to dry thoroughly before the flock moves in.

As an important aid to uniformity of temperature in winter, the wall space filled with confined air is important. The cement blocks and hollow building tile provide for this to a certain extent. A double board wall may give this result if carefully constructed. By placing sheathing paper under the weather boards, and also under the ceiling boards, a very satisfactory wall is possible.

A warm wall is made by combining brick and boards--using weather boards outside, brick within, and plaster, or ceiling boards, on the inner side.

A single board wall can be made comfortable as winter quarters by covering the outside with roofing paper and having it painted black. These black-painted hen houses and coops are too warm in summer, however.

The inside walls of the hen house should be smooth enough to be kept clean. A good wood-filler in the crevices prevents lice and mites from lodging there, but if, when whitewashing the walls, care is taken to work the lime into the crevices with the brush, and this work is done often enough, say four times a year, such pests would be kept down.

Make it a rule to have the windows on the light, sunny side of the building, facing south or southeast, but have none on the other three sides.

Windows really ought to be of such a size and position that the sunlight can reach every part of the floor space during some part of the day. Though we all believe in the benefit of sunlight, we do not always realize how important a part it plays in the care of poultry. When we consider that vermin and disease thrive in its absence, and that remedial measures are more or less troublesome and expensive, we will work into our building schemes every possible inlet for sunlight.

The windows should occupy a large part of the front wall area--one-third of it, at least, and be evenly distributed over the upper part of the surface. _Movable_ window sash or curtain frames are imperative.

The position of the ventilating arrangement depends upon the position of the fowls at night. It is a strange fact that human beings, animals, and poultry can better stand a current of air coming directly toward the front of the head than from the rear or sides; hence I would place the roosts so that the fowls face the window and get the fresh air on a level with the nostrils rather than from above or below. Thus they are fortified against a drop in temperature. For example, where the roosts are to be two feet above the floor, I would have the windows about twenty inches from the floor, provided the roof is correspondingly low. With the roosts three or four feet above the floor, the window should be from thirty-two to forty-four inches above the floor, etc. I think it is safe to have the windows not higher than eight or twelve inches below the eaves, and six inches from the sides of the building.

Despite the fact that some poultrymen have discarded glass, I cannot rule it out altogether. It certainly has its uses on cold wintry days when the heat of the sun's rays is wanted without the chill wintry air. I believe these glass windows should be covered at night, and that the fabric curtain is therefore the most sensible mode of night ventilation. Burlap, sacking, or coarse muslin may be used to cover the window frames. Burlap is the most substantial. In tacking it to the frame, tacks with tin discs beneath the head (like those with roofing nails) may be used, or a thin light strip of wood may bind the burlap to the frame, and through it the tacks are driven.

Wherever glass is used, some protection of poultry wire is necessary to prevent its being broken.

THE DOOR OF THE POULTRY HOUSE

It aids in ridding the house of dust if, when the fowls are out, a searching breeze can blow through occasionally. For this reason, end doors are a great advantage, but they must be draft-proof.

The good points of an otherwise well-built poultry house may be set at naught by carelessly made doors, which fit loosely in their casings.

Doors which open on the cold or exposed side of a building require more precautions against drafts than those on the sunny side. The door should be of tightly fitted boards, and covered on the inner side with tarred roofing paper, or thin, narrow boards.

The following hints are for a door that is practically draft-proof: For the door itself use tongue-and-groove boards, an inch thick, reinforced six inches from the top and bottom by cross-pieces six inches wide, and beneath the latch by a rectangle of the same wood. Over this is tacked sheathing paper, fitting it about the cross-pieces. The inner side is finished with narrow tongue-and-groove ceiling boards. (These may be placed over the battens or between them.) In case they are to be placed over the battens, the open space between the two board surfaces is closed with a narrow wooden strip.

The door casing is five inches thick, the sill board six inches wide, and slanting to one inch lower on the outside than on the inside. On the sides and across the upper part of the door casing are nailed inch-thick strips which, with the edge of the casing against which the door shuts, gives a two-inch edge which effectually excludes air currents. Against the lower edge of the door is a heavy strip of felt, reinforced with leather where it is tacked to the door.

NESTS AND ROOSTS

When we have come to the interior fittings of the poultry house, we are about ready for the flock to move in, and may consult the peculiarities of our chosen breed to some extent.

In the matter of nests, heavier breeds of fowls need them of easier access than do the lighter breeds. The latter class seem to enjoy an ascent to their nests, and it is as well to favor them.

The nests may be around the sides of the building, beneath the roosts and drop-board, or in any convenient place, and there should be as many as there is room for. Nests that are scattered about and possess some distinctive characteristics seem to make a greater appeal to some fowls. Nests in tiers of three or in blocks of three seem to be readily identified by the hens if the different sets of nests are differently placed, but a row of half a dozen nests exactly alike is confusing to the average hen.

When space is at a premium, the nests should stand beneath the roosts, protected by a wooden drop-board--smooth to be vermin-proof and removable to be sanitary. A hinged board serves to darken the nest and at the same time can be held up by a hook when so desired. For cleanliness the nest should be made of wood and treated with some vermin preventive which should be washed well into all crevices. If the nest is raised four or five inches from the floor and built with a porous bottom, it is more easily kept dry. The compartments should be separated to prevent interference between layers. Each of these should be, as a rule, 16 × 12 × 14 inches, although I am now using nests 13-1/2 in. long by 10-1/2 in. wide and 12 in. high. In order to be lifted for cleaning some light material must be used. A convenient arrangement is a long, narrow box, fitting the available space, divided by partitions into individual nests. Wire netting makes a very good bottom for this type of nest. I like either this or the slat bottom, through which the dust and worn nest material sift and the air circulates. Of course, such a nest should be supported on brackets or suspended so that the air can penetrate its parts. Grocer's boxes may be converted into good nests by removing the bottom and tacking smooth slats across, with one and one-half inches of space between each. Inch-meshed poultry wire may be used if one is going to use the wire netting. A coat of paint gives a more sanitary surface, but if this is not practicable, the wood should be planed as smooth as possible and whitewashed.

Concealment is usually favorable to the use of the nests, and if the apartment is light and sunny, a board screen may be used to secure this, or the nest entrance may be turned away from the light. I am using curtains of sacking with marked increase of popularity among my fowls. Nests which were persistently shunned are now constantly used since thus darkened. The sacking may be hung from a wooden strip placed in front of the nests. It gets dusty, but if one is provided with two or three such curtains, the soiled ones may be hung outdoors in the wind and rain for cleansing.

The trap nest is as useful to the small poultryman as to the man who runs a large poultry plant. It is so arranged that each laying hen and her product may be identified. A trap nest may be improvised from a box of suitable size. Cut out entrance and exit in opposite sides, and in each suspend a door so that it will swing at a pressure of the fowl's head. The entrance door swings inward only--the exit door swings outward. After the egg is laid, the hen passes through the exit into a small inclosure, from which she is liberated after her achievement has been recorded.

Where rational methods are used in nest construction, it is hardly necessary to use nest-eggs to secure the fowl's patronage of the nests. Where they are used, however, those of dull finish are preferable to the smooth glass ones.

Hens want a roost that they can clasp with their toes. It should be broad enough to support the bird's weight upon the ball of the foot and thin enough to allow the toes to curl under. This act is a reflex one and as much a part of their slumber as scratching is a part of their waking activities. This power of clasping the perch seems to belong to birds in vigorous conditions. Ailing birds that cannot roost seldom have enough vitality to recover.

Roosts two and one-quarter inches wide and not more than an inch thick, with slightly rounded edges favoring the curl of the toes, are satisfactory. They may be arranged horizontally, or slightly inclined, ladder fashion. Light poles cut from young saplings make suitable roosts, if scraped clean of bark and shaved to flatten them slightly on the upper side. Horizontal roosts may be placed about one foot apart, and not more than three lying parallel, or the fowls roosting on the rear perch do not get enough air. I prefer them slightly inclined, ladder fashion, at an angle of nearly thirty degrees, the lowest perch not lower than three feet from the floor, and not more than three perches parallel. Where the fabric curtain is used, all get the benefit of the fresh air coming through the canvas curtain.

THE RUN

The runs are essentially a part of the problem of housing. Fowls need plenty of exercise, yet they are entirely too meddlesome to be given full liberty where one has a garden, a good lawn, and flowers. While hens may be kept in buildings and, with proper care, still retain their health, the average owner of a small flock can keep the birds more economically if he gives them the natural advantages of outdoor exercise.

The most useful run is the divided pen, each section to be used alternately.

For the active-laying breeds, three runs, about ten by forty feet, to be used alternately by the flock of forty hens, are advisable. Where two are used the dimensions should be greater--say ten by sixty.

A yard inclosure for large birds requires two-inch meshed poultry wire, five and one-half or six feet in width, supported by posts set nine or ten feet apart. The wire is attached to the posts by staples about four inches apart. A wooden strip or any other finish along the top of the fence is an objection. The lower edge of the wire requires a board or strip to which it is tacked. Boards six inches wide may be used for this.

SOME HINTS ON UPKEEP

The poultry house, no matter how carefully built, is not a fit place for poultry, if it is neglected. Cobwebs draped across the corners hold dust and disease germs. Neglected perches become mite-infested and are thereafter a menace to the health of the poultry. Grooves and crevices in walls harbor mites, lice, and disease. Burlap curtains that become dusty do not readily admit pure air, or else convey a cloud of dust directly back to the fowls. Floors that are covered with an accumulation of dirt become damp and cold, aside from the danger of contamination.

Window panes that are cloudy with dirt do not admit sunlight properly.

The proper care of the poultry house means work, and the place seems hopelessly unlovely when the task has been ignored from day to day, and one's sins of omission are seen in the aggregate. The proper way to perform such work is daily, when but a few minutes will serve to keep the building sanitary.

The litter of straw should be changed frequently, say, every third day--the floor swept and fresh litter spread upon it.

The droppings should be removed daily. A little fine dry sand acts as an absorbent if sprinkled over the cleaned surface.

Walls should be swept down once a week, giving attention to corners, under and behind nests, perches, etc. For this purpose a splint broom, such as is used around stables, is most useful.

For thorough cleansing after all loose dirt has been swept away nothing is superior to whitewashing. It makes the room lighter, sweetens the air, and is a "cold shoulder" to all vermin. A sprinkling of dilute carbolic acid is a safeguard against disease. Perches are best cleaned by washing with some liquid insecticide, and then allowing them to dry in the sun. A good wash is made by dissolving half a cake of any laundry soap in ten quarts of water and adding five tablespoonfuls of kerosene oil.

Transcriber's note:

Italics is represented with underscore _, small caps with ALL CAPS and underlining with tilde ~. Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained and illustrations moved to paragraph breaks.

The following corrections have been made:

p. 11 are 14 in. long., -> removed period after long

p. 11 to 5-in. height -> removed hyphen after 5

Everything else has been retained as printed.

End of Project Gutenberg's Making a Poultry House, by Mary Roberts Conover