ames E Rice
MEMORIAL POULTRY LIBRARY
CORNELL
Be UNIVERSITY TT
‘THE GIFT OF
JAMS EB. RICD
ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY
New YorRK STATE COLLEGES
OF
AGRICULTURE AND HOME ECONOMICS
CORNELL
POULTRY
ARCHITECTURE
Practical Guide
for Construction
of Poultry FLouses,
Coops and Yards
——,
vO >
FLODA
One Hunprep ILLusTRATIONS
Compiled by
GEORGE B. FISKE
New York
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY
1907
Nie
nen ee
Copyright 1902
by
Urange Fudd Company
$$$
CONTENTS
Introduction
CHAPTER I
LOCATION AND METHODS
Foundations and walls—Glass in cold weather—Roosts, etc—
— Troughs—Fountains—Notes.
CHAPTER II
LOW-COST HOUSES
Poultry house of G. R France—Convenient house—Cheap and
labor-saving—A handy hennery—A house for layers—
Cheap houses and shelters.
CHAPTER III
BUILDINGS FOR COLONY SYSTEM
House for mild climates—H. H. Stoddard’s poultry house—
Northern colony houses—Rhode Island colony houses.
CHAPTER IV
HOMES FOR FARM POULTRY
Grundy’s prize house—Farmers’ poultry house—Removable
houses—Wyckoff’s houses—Portable coop—House for
Pacific coast—House for south—House with cloth run—
Good winter houses—Maine henhouse—Interior plans.
iv CONTENTS
CHAPTER V
BANK AND SOD STRUCTURES
A Kansas sod house—A Nebraska plan—House in a sand
bank—Windproof structures—A house of logs—Bank wall
houses.
CHAPTER VI
HIGH-GRADE PLANTS
Well-made house in detail
house
A business poultry plant—A model
Practical poultry home.
CHAPTER VII
ADDITIONS AND EXTRAS
Using a second story
Adding a scratching pen—Shelter and
lean-to—Protected coop—Run of sash and straw—Cheap
runs.
CHAPTER VIII
FOR INCUBATORS AND BROODERS
A brooder plant—Improved incubator house—A brooder and
growing house—Brooder boxes—Houses for separate
brooders—Brooder attachments.
CHAPTER IX
SPECIAL PURPOSE BUILDINGS
Cold storage—Turkey houses—Improved duckhouses—Pigeon
lofts—Combination house.
CHAPTER X
COOPS, YARDS AND FENCES
Glass roof coops—Hotbed coops—Rat-proof—Cool runs—Ten-
cent coops—Orchard chicken coop—Fattening pens—Sum-
mer and fall shelter—Movable yards—Hen-tight fence.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FIG.
1—Up and Down and Crosswise Boarding
2--Sections of Foundations and Wall
3—Sash with Double Glass .
4—Window for Cold Weather
5—House for Mild Climates
6—House of Mr France ‘ : : : :
7—Convenient House. End View and Front Elevation
8—Cheap and Labor-Saving. Cross Section
g—Cheap and Labor-Saving. Ground Floor
1o—Handy Hennery : : :
11—House for Layers
12—Ten-Dollar Henhouse
13—House and Shed . :
14—Interior of House with Shed .
15—A Small House
16—Colony House for Mild Climates
17—H. H. Stoddard’s Colony House
18—Northern Colony House
19—Rhode Island Colony House :
20—Grundy’s Poultry House and Yard .
21—Farmers’ Poultry House
22—House Easily Removed
23—Interior and Details
24—End View of House and Details
25—Movable Coop :
26—An Oregon Plan
27—House for Warm Climates ; : :
28—House for One Hundred Fowls : , a
29—House with Cloth Run . : - : ¥
30—L-Shaped House with Shed . z z :
31—Octagon House E ! g
32—Good Winter House
PAGE
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14
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19
20
21
21
22
54
Vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FIG.
33—Good House with Interior lixtures
34—Interior Contrivances
35—A Maine Henhouse
36—A Prairie Henhouse
37—Henhouse of Kansas Farmer
38—A Nebraska Sod House .
390—House in a Sand Bank
40—Windproof Structure
41—A Log Chicken House
42—A Bank Wall House 5
43—Interior of Bank Wall House .
44—Warm and Convenient Building :
45—Well-Made House. Front and Rear Hlewatons
46—Well-Made House. End Elevation and Pen Run
47—Interior of Well-Made House : : :
48—Section Through Pen. ,
49—Plan Showing Roosts
50—Business Poultry House
51—Front Elevation of Model House
52—Ground Plan of Model House
53—Side View and Floor System .
534—Cross Section of Model House
55—Practical Poultry House
56—Runway to Second Story and Tippes Room
57—House with Scratching Shed :
58—Shelter and Lean-to
59—Protected Coop
60—Run of Sash and Straw
61—Protected Scratching Sheds
62—Plan of Duck or Brooder Buildings
63—Double Roof Incubator House
64—Banked Incubator Room
65—Incubator House and Tank
66—Double Brooder House
67—Combination Brooder Building
68—Construction of Brooder Box .
69—Pipe Brooder House
70—Houses for Separate Teupdeae
7yi—Oregon Brooder House .
72—Houses for Winter Chicks
VAGE
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0:
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63
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68
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75
76
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gt
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FIG,
73—Plan for Cold Storage House for Poultry
74—Buildings for Turkeys :
75—Improved Duckhouse
76—Duckhouse and Shed
77—Pigeon Loft and Interior
78—House for Poultry and Pigeons
79—Ground Plan for Combination House
80—Glass-Roofed Coops :
81—Hotbed Run and Coops .
82—Rat-Proof Coops and Run
83—Box and Barrel Coops
84—Coops from Barrels and Crates
85—A-Shaped Coops
86—A-Shaped Coop and Fame
87—Coop from a Shoe Box
88—A Packing Box Coop
89—Brood Coop with Run
go—Light Box Coops
g1—Shelter and Portable Coop
92—Colony Shelter Coop
93—Orchard Coop
94—Fattening Boxes
95—Coops for Sitting Hens
g6—Shipping and Exhibition Couns
97—Yards for Three Flocks
98—Yards for Two or Four Flocks
99—Movable Poultry Yard
100—Making a Fence Chicken Prsat
"e
Vil
»AGE
101
104
107
107
108
109
109
110
III
112
115
116
117
117
118
119
120
120
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122
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128
INTRODUCTION
The aim of this book is to give designs of sufficient
variety to suit conditions everywhere. Few requests
come more often to the office of a poultry editor than
those asking designs and directions for some part
of a poultry plant. The number and variety of such
requirements is surprising.
On the other hand, the very diversity of conditions
which create the demand has also developed a supply.
A multitude of houses and coops of differing styles
have been designed by ingenious poultry keepers in
accord with their experience and to meet local condi-
tions. This little volume aims to bring together these
two classes, the intending builders and those who have
already built successfully. It is thought that the one
hundred designs of such wide range of style, cost and
adaptation will meet all requirements.
Many of the designs originally appeared in Ameri-
can Agriculturist weeklies in response to definite re-
quests. The plans are carefully selected from a much
larger number, and only those are given which are
in successful use and which are adapted to the needs
of practical poultry keepers; pretentious or overorna-
mental and elaborate affairs having been excluded.
Wherever thought necessary or desirable, complete
specifications of cost and construction have been in-
cluded, so that the structures may be put up by anyone
who can handle saw and hammer.
CHAPTER I
LOCATION AND METHODS
Poultry can be made to do well almost anywhere,
just as cattle are made profitable on many farms not
especially adapted for dairying. Management and
system of housing should be varied to suit the location.
Some good paying poultry farms are on stiff,
heavy clay land, where water collects in pools after
rain. Others just as profitable are on rather thin, light
soil. Still, it is generally agreed that a good, free, well
drained loam has certain advantages. The soil dries
quickly after a rain, snow melts more quickly, it warms
rapidly in the sun, every shower purifies it by carrying
down a part of the impurities. On wet, heavy soil the
fowls should have very wide range or the ground
becomes muddy and unwholesome. Yet such land is a
rich storehouse of plant food and affords the best of
grass and insect diet even when drouth checks all fresh
growth on other land. Heavy land is best suited to
the colony or free range systems. Some of the largest
and most profitable farms have been thus located and
conducted, and the fowls maintained in perfect health
and vigor.
On rather poor land the fowls should also have
wide range in order to find enough wild food. Good
pasturage should be considered as important as for
cattle.
Rocky land is seldom made the location of large
farms for poultry culture, since frequent cultivation
and cropping is a part of most systems. Money saved
2 POULTRY ARCHITECTURE
in buying rough or sandy land is soon lost many times
over in decrease of net returns. Li one may choose,
let him buy good, clear, well drained loam, with a
gradual southern slope and a forest protection at the
north. But, as said before, most locations can be made
satisfactory by suitable buildings and system of man-
agement.
The site of permanent buildings should be well
drained naturally, but in a great majority of cases the
conditions will be improved by at least heaping up with
a horse scraper a little knoll of earth about the same in
area as the house. Dryness is the great preventive of
disease in poultry, and is even more important than
warmth. A dry hen will stand a great deal of cold
weather without much injury.
Foundation and lValls—It pays to have a stone
foundation reaching down to frost line, or from one to
three feet below the surface and rising about one foot
above the ground level. When covered with earth, a
dry, dusty floor is ensured all winter, and rats are kept
out even without a cement covering for the stone floor.
Anything but a stone foundation is likely to take up
more or less moisture, which will freeze and thaw,
making the floor hard and cold, or muddy, neither state
being suitable for scratching and for dust baths. Floors
below ground are unsatisfactory in moist climates
Dampness works in, spoils the scratching floor, stops
laying and causes lameness, colds and bowel trouble.
If the floor, however, has been raised by a rock filling,
the outside of the building mav be banked with earth to
good advantage.
Tight Foundations—When small buildings are
erected upon the farm, there is a temptation, in the
interest of economy, to omit the tight stone foundation
and put the building on posts. This leaves the building
open beneath and permits the cold winds to reduce the
LOCATION AND METHODS 3
temperature. A plan is shown in the cut, Figure 1,
which obviates this. The walls are boarded up and
down, using matched cedar boards, and allowing these
to extend to the ground, as shown. A little soil is then
banked up against the lower end, which is grassed over
quickly, making a tight foundation that will last many
years. If the framing is made to use crosswise board-
ing, put on the latter as shown at right of Figure 1,
using a wide cedar board to extend from the sill down
to the ground, and bank with a few inches of earth as
before mentioned. The building can then be shingled
or clapboarded.
rs
FIG 1: UP AND DOWN AND CROSSWISE BOARDING
In placing a house, let it face the south or as nearly
so as possible. Jt is cooler in summer and warmer in
winter than one facing either east or west. The sun
in summer during the hottest part of the day is nearly
directly overhead and does not shine in so strongly in
a south window. In winter, when low in the heavens,
the south window catches more of the sun’s rays.
A Poultry House Floor of cement may well be pat-
terned after the plan shown at left of Figure 2. The
foundation is of loose stones to give drainage. The
stones above are cemented. A layer of small stones
beneath the cement serves as drainage. The sills of the
house are bedded in cement to keep out vermin. This
plan gives an exceedingly warm house, and the cement
floor will keep out all rats and poultry enemies. A
4 POULTRY ARCHITECTURE
cement floor is a cold affair in winter unless covered
with plenty of dust and litter.
/ A Very Warm Wall designed by G. C. Watson of
the Pennsylvania experiment station is double on all
sides and practically air tight, with a two-inch air space
between the walls. A section plan is shown at right
of Figure 2. A two by three scantling set edgewise
forms the plate, and to this the boards of the side walls
are nailed. These boards may be of rough lumber if
economy in building is desired. If so, the inner board-
ing should be nailed on first and covered with tarred
building paper on the side that will come within the
FIG 2: SECTIONS OF FOUNDATIONS AND WALL
hollow wall when the building is completed. This
building paper is to be held in place with laths or strips
of thin boards. If only small nails or tacks are used,
the paper will tear around the nail heads when damp
and will not stay in place.
The cracks between the boards of the outside
boarding may be covered with inexpensive battens if
they are nailed at frequent intervals with small nails.
Ordinary building lath will answer this purpose aé-
mirably, and will last many years, although they are
not so durable as heavier and more expensive strips.
The tarred paper on the inside boarding and the battens
on the outside make two walls, each impervious to
LOCATION AND METILODS 5
wind, with an air space between them. Common build-
ing paper may be used or stout paper of any kind.
It has been left for the West Virginia experiment
station to determine just how much difference there
would be in egg production between similar flocks kept
in warm and cold houses. Two houses, built exactly
alike and situated side by side, were selected for the
experiment, in each of which were placed twelve pul-
lets. One house had previously been sheathed on the
inside and covered with paper to make it perfectly
tight. Both were boarded with matched siding and
shingle roofs.
The fowls were fed alike in each case. The morn-
ing mash consisted of corn meal, ground middlings
and ground oats, and at night whole grain was scat-
tered in the litter. They also had fresh water, grit and
bone and granulated bone. The experiment started
November 24 and continued for five months. The fol-
lowing table shows the number of eggs laid during each
period of thirty days:
RESULTS FROM COLD AND WARM HOUSES
I 2 3 4 5 Total
Warm house ....87. 130 138 120 154 629
Cold house...... 39 106 103 124 114 486
The experiment clearly indicates that it is impor-
tant to build warm and substantial houses for winter
egg production.
In very cold climates special pains should be taken
to make the roosting place warm. Combs are usually
frozen during the night. Double walls battened with
lath outside and lined with building paper make a
warm roost room. With single-wall houses, double
boarding on the north side is a protection. An outside
shield of corn stalks or hay and litter is also effective.
6 POULTRY ARCHITECTURE
Costly material is not needed for the poultry house.
Often a discarded barn or other building can be bought
cheap and the sound lumber used again. Others on
farms can work up home grown timber. For city
poultcrers, large packing boxes bought at dry goods
stores are a cheap source of lumber. Sometimes old
street cars have been bought for a trifle and remodeled.
Serviceable houses have been made from staves of old
barrels as an outside covering. Old strips of carpet,
oilcloth, wall paper or building paper may be utilized
to some extent as inside protection.
A coat of home-mixed paint improves the durabil-
ity and appearance of a house enough to pay for its cost.
Whitewash is much better than nothing, and will add
years to the life of second-hand lumber.
Shingles properly applied to a roof of fairly steep
pitch are the best and warmest roofing, but a strip of
building paper should he laid beneath to keep out cur-
rents of cold air which work in between the shingles.
Tin or iron is sometimes cheaper than wood, and for
temporary structures, felting paper with a coat of paint
will last about two years. An advantage of sheet mate-
rials for roofing is that a steep pitch is not needed to
carry off the water, but such materials are cold in
winter and hard to repair when damaged.
Glass in Cold IVcather—Amateur builders com-
monly use too much glass, which makes a house un-
naturally warm on sunny days, but extremely and
dangerously cold by night and on stormy days. One
window not over three feet square and about eighteen
inches above the floor to each ten feet of house length
is enough. Warmth is much increased by a shutter or
curtain for night. Windows should be arranged to
slide to one side or be easily taken out during hot
weather.
LOCATION AND METILODS 7
Double windows are sometimes used, but these are
expensive, somewhat of a bother to put on and hard to
keep clean.
The cut, Figure 3, shows a single sash, double
glazed, which a poultryman has recently described.
The sash is made so that the glass can be set on both
sides of the wooden bars, leaving a half inch or more
of space between. This gives a double window and
the cost is said to be not,more than twenty-five cents
extra per sash for the glass and the labor of setting.
Those who are providing windows for new or re-
FIG 3: SASH WITIL DOUBLE GLASS
modeled poultry houses will do well to experiment with
this plan. The glazing must be tight and carefully done
to keep out all dirt and dust from the inner surfaces
of the glass. [Figure 4 shows a window partly
double, making a convenient arrangement for ventilat-
ing without draft, and securing greater warmth at
night and on cloudy days.
Roosts, Nests, Troughs, Fountains, etc, will not be
treated at length in this volume. Roosts should be all
8 POULTRY ARCITITECTURE
on a level, should be about two inches thick, rounded
on the upper side, not over two feet from the floor, and
removable.
Troughs and Drinking Places should be protected
by slats. Nests should be numerous, secluded and
easily removed. Beware of too complicated inside
arrangements when large numbers of fowls are kept
for profit. Successful large farms are nearly always
f})} )?
.
mir fs
FIG 4: WINDOW FOR COLD WEATHER
conducted on very simple plans, but with emphasis
placed on the main needs of the fowls.
Notes—Dryness and warmth are the two main
essentials in most climates.
Everything inside should be removable, also
doors and windows.
The house should be made tight enough to hold
smoke when fumigated.
LOCATION AND METIIODS 9g
Cost ranges from twenty-five cents to five dollars
per fowl. A reasonably good business house may be
built at one dollar per head.
When building an all-around house, provide for
summer as well as for winter.
Rather than extend beyond seventy-five feet, better
start a new building.
Study actual needs of fowls rather than comfort
of the attendant.
CHAPTER II
LOW-COST HOUSES
Buildings fairly comfortable and lasting can be
erected at fifty cents to one dollar per fowl. Where
old material is used, very little money need be paid out.
The plans of the low-cost structures are so simple that
almost anyone may do the work. Some of them can
be made for about one dollar per running foot, includ-
ing labor. The number of fowls accommodated by any
house varies with the breed, the climate, the size of
FIG 5: HOUSE FOR MILD CLIMATES
outside run, and the care given. Expert poultrymen
can obtain good results from crowded pens. For aver-
age conditions allow ten to twenty square feet of floor
surface per fowl.
In regions where the snow does not cover the
ground too deeply, a cheap, low structure can be built
after the plan shown in Figure 5, that will answer the
purpose very well. Stakes are driven into the ground
LOW-COST HOUSES It
and rough boards nailed to these to a hight of thrce
feet in front and two feet in the rear, leaving spaces
for low, wide sash in front. A long and a short roof
is put on, with roof doors in the front, short roof.
These are made with overlapping edges to secure tight-
ness against the wind and rain. The attendant stands
outside and through these roof doors cares for the
fowls, securing the eggs from nests that are within
reach, putting in water and scattering grain in the
litter. The whole structure is covered with tarred or
resin-sized paper, the edges being securely tacked or
battened with laths. The roof is covered in the
same way.
Select a dry location, and put in three inches of
gravel upon the ground and keep a thick layer of chaff
upon that, and the inmates will scratch away merrily
for grain all winter long. Make the building any
length desired and part off with boards—or with net-
ting if only females are to be kept in the pens—before
the roof is put on. Roosts can be put up just out of
the fowls’ way when on the floor. With care to make
the roof tight, such a building, while it costs but little,
will prove very satisfactory.
This Low Cost Building, designed by G. R. France,
Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, for about twenty-five
hens, could also be built in duplicate with the main
alley running the whole length of the connected build-
ings and in front of the different sections, about
twenty-five hens to be kept in each. (Figure 6.)
It is intended to be built of rough hemlock, the
price of which is based at ten dollars per thousand
feet. It could be made of mill slabs doubled, with a
space between, packed with straw and battened with
slabs. The ground space is filled up with loose stone
thrown in until on a level with the bottom of the sills,
and then dirt is spread over the stone and tamped down
I2 POULTRY ARCTIITECTURE
hard. ‘This filling is cheap and the stone allows the
moisture to go through, and the dirt floor is always
dry. However, if a board floor is wanted, add one
hundred and sixty-eight feet of matched hemlock
flooring at fifteen dollars per thousand feet. For a
partition, in place of netting use straight poles from
the forest, for cheapness. Mr France had the sash, and
battened his roof with slabs, but still was very careful
to make it warm, and it cost him only about four
dollars for material.
Below is an itemized list of lumber and other sup-
plies: Two hundred and sixty feet of ten-foot inch
FIG 6: HOUSE OF MR FRANCE
boards for siding (must not be cut to waste) ; two hun-
dred and thirty-one feet of fourteen-foot boards for
roof and nests; one hundred feet battens three inches
by ten feet; two pieces two by six inches by fourteen
feet, and two pieces two by six inches by twelve feet for
sills; eight pieces two by four inches by fourteen feet
for plates and cross-beams; four pieces one by six
inches by twelve feet for window casing; two squares
of felt roofing at one dollar and fifty cents per square,
including nails for same; one roll building paper, five
hundred square feet, sixty cents; netting six by sixteen
feet, seventy cents; ten pounds nails, thirty cents; two
pairs strap hinges, thirty cents ; four half sash, two dol-
LOW-COST HOUSES 13
lars and fifty cents. Total cost of lumber and supplies,
fourteen dollars and forty-five cents. Waste material
can be used where there is some on hand. The labor
would occupy a carpenter with one man to help about
two days.
Convenient House—Figure 7 shows the front ele-
vation and end view of a poultry house that has some
good points. The arrangement of the roosts, f f
(which are made movable to facilitate cleaning away
the droppings), on a stand in the middle of the room,
makes it convenient to get at them. The door in front
of the nests, g, swings up so as to gather the eggs, the
HEGRE
FIG 7: CONVENIENT HOUSE. END VIEW AND FRONT
ELEVATION
hens entering at the rear; h is the ventilator, which
is opened and shut by a weight and cord; this system
of ventilation is defective. As has been frequently ex-
plained, the proper way to ventilate a poultry house
is by means of a shaft running from within a few
inches of the floor to several feet above the roof. Thus
a draft is created that draws up the cold air and bad
odors from near the ground, while the warm air at the
top is thus brought down and the fowls are kept much
warmer than would be the case if a hole in the roof
let out all the warm air. The space underneath the
nests, marked e, can be utilized for sitters or for
storage.
14 POULTRY ARCHITECTURE
Cheap and Saves Labor—The accompanying
illustrations, Figures 8 and g, show a very handy and
convenient henhouse. It is located near the kitchen and
is so cleanly that the women of the house can run in
and out after eggs or for feeding purposes. It is built
qi
FIG 8: CHEAP AND LABOR-SAVING. CROSS SECTION
of matched siding, running up and down, and the roof
is of the same material, with tarred paper on the
inside. All the inside fixtures are movable, and
monthly during the warm weather everything is taken
for Rn
ees ee D eens alert
he $ 4 ? af
$ 2 vt
3 Rafer
FIG QO: CHEAP AND LABOR-SAVING. GROUND FLOOR
out and the whole inside, including the roof, is given
a showef bath of lime water and carbolic acid, applied
with a spray pump. The roost poles are covered with
LOW-COST HOUSES 15
cloth, which is occasionally saturated with kerosene.
Near the right, as seen in the diagram, l‘igure 8, is the
entrance door, and a is a bin four feet high and eighteen
inches wide, running the whole length of the building,
with a hinged lid, for storing droppings. Above this
box is a shelf, b, for holding feed, shells, gravel, ete.
At the left of the door is a tight platform, c, one foot
beneath the roost poles, c, for catching the droppings.
At dis a hinged door opening on a level with the plat-
form, through which the droppings are shoveled once a
week into bin a. The nest boxes, f, are one foot square
and fifteen inches high, leaving an eight-inch passage
for the hens to enter the nests; a small crack is left
at the top in the back, so that the light strikes the eight-
inch alley, but not the boxes. Each nest is a separate
box, and when a hen becomes broody the nest box is
pulled forward close to the drop door, thus shutting up
the alley and locking biddy on her nest. As the nests
are all alike, it makes no difference which nest she
chooses to brood in—it can be moved to the end and
thus does not obstruct the passage. About two inches of
moist sand are put into the bottom of each nest before
the hen is set; the straw nest is built thereon and the
eggs are given her. The door, g, is then shut down.
Every morning the hatching hens are let out for fifteen
minutes to eat, drink, wallow, etc, after which they
will usually take their own nests; if not, they can be
easily changed. The eggs can be gathered through
the door, g.
At /, under the nest boxes, is a long trough with
partitions for soft feed, water, milk, etc, running the
whole length of the building. The space between this
trough and d in Figure 9g is slatted up with common
lath, running from the front side of the nests to the
back side of the trough, thus leaving the trough in the
alley where the fowls cannot get into it—the lath being
16 POULTRY ARCHITECTURE
far cnough apart to allow the fowls easy access to the
feed. The lath are nailed to narrow strips at top and
bottom, to be movable. At j is a dust bath the whole
length of the building in front of the windows, which
face the south.
In Figure 9, at s, is an oil stove which is used when
the temperature gets too low. At m m are ventilators
with slides to gauge them. The doors, h h, are for
access to dust baths, etc, and 2 1 are windows. Each
of the two apartments will accommodate twenty-five
fowls.
eo eS *. de. «Nise s
FIG 10: JWANDY HENNERY
A Handy Hennery—The chief objection to a two-
story henhouse is the inconvenience of going upstairs,
carrying up earth and cleaning out the upper story.
But all the annoyances are obviated in the hennery
shown, Figure 10, and twice the amount of space is
secured which the same amount of roof usually covers.
This was built at a cost of ten dollars for carpenter's
work and twenty-eight dollars more for the total cost
of sash, nails, lumber, etc. As the perspective shows,
the bank wall and digging required some labor. The
cut shows the south and west sides of the house. It is
LOW-COST HOUSES 17
fourteen by sixteen feet and is an unusually warm
structure considering the fact that it is not lined. The
estimate does not include some old lumber which made
the roof boards. The roofing is not included. The
south slope to the roof is shingled. This covers but
one-third the area, and two bundles of shingles are
sufficient. Board floors are used only in the second
story. On the ground floor the earth is filled in to the
top of the stone underpinning. It remains perfectly
dry in the wettest weather and is much more satis-
factory than board or cement could possibly be. The
building has a window both above and below on the
east side.
The sills are four by six inches, two being fourteen
feet and two sixteen feet long. The corner posts are
four by four inches by twelve feet long, another stick
four by four inches and ten feet long, four joists three
by four inches and sixteen feet long, two more of the
same only fourteen feet long, nine joists for the floor
two by five inches and fourteen feet long, eight rafters
two by four inches and twelve feet long, eight more
of the same only seven feet long. This made in round
numbers four hundred and fifty feet, and five hundred
and fifty feet more of Georgia pine planed on one side
and sixteen feet long was bought at a cost of sixteen
dollars per thousand. Also two bundles of shingles
at one dollar per bundle and ten sashes at forty cents
each, second hand. The frame timber cost eighteen
dollars per thousand feet. Twenty pounds of eight-
penny nails and ten pounds of tens were bought for
seventy-five cents, five pounds of spikes twenty-five
cents, the same weight of six-inch spikes twenty-five
cents, seven pounds of wire nails thirty-five cents, four
pairs of hinges thirty-two cents and two door handles
for thirty-five cents. The front of the structure is made
of pine which cost. seventeen dollars per thousand.
18 POULTRY ARCITITECTURE
Only one nundred and seventy feet were used, costing
three dollars. The pine was got at this low price, being
a cheap lot, with here and there narrow seams of
decayed wood. These places were soaked with hot lin-
seed oil as soon as the house was completed, which
will stop all further decay. A little putty will fill all
the seams and paint will hide everything. No window
frames were used, the sash being put just behind the
siding and arranged to slide sidewise.
The partitions run north and south upstairs and
down.
«
&e ay
a8
ee ee eee
FIG 47: INTERIOR OF WELL-MADE HOUSE
The outside doors are made of one by six-inch
matched and center-beaded pine placed vertically and
battened three times in their hight. The inside doors
are made of unplaned hemlock, with one by six-inch
stiles and rails, except bottom rail, which is eight
inches wide. The panels are covered with wire net-
ting. The small doors under the hotbed sash and
between the different sections of the building are each
74 POULTRY ARCHITECTURE
made of pine board, eleven inches square, battened
twice on the inside with one by two-inch battens, and
leaving an opening ten inches square, through which
the fowls pass in and out.
The partition along the alleyway, running the
entire length of the house, is studded up as shown on
the floor plan and has a six-inch rough hemlock board
at the bottom and a two by three-inch scantling about
two inches above the nest boxes, and the balance is
covered with wire netting, except opposite the pens
4°20" Girdge
T Ti I
I T! ;
{ a '
FIG 48: SECTION THROUGH PEN
below the nest boxes, where masons’ laths are placed
flat way, about two inches apart, and nailed top and
bottom to one by two-inch furring strips as shown on
“section through pen.”
The partitions between the pens and the roosts
are boarded up two feet high, with one by twelve-inch
rough hemlock boards, and above are covered with
wire netting. The partitions back of the roosts are
boarded up with the same kind of boards to a hight of
four feet, leaving a small door opening in center as
HIGH-GRADE PLANTS 75
shown, ten inches square, the upper part covered with
wire netting inside of the studs, to prevent the fowls
from escaping when the hotbed sash is removed during
the warm weather.
The nest boxes are pine, one-half inch thick, and
arranged to pull out like a drawer. Each box is
separate and nailed together in the most inexpensive
manner. Over the top of the nest boxes place a slant-
ing hood eighteen inches wide, of rough hemlock
boards battened on the under side, and put up as shown
on “section through pen.” ‘he feed boxes are located
_—
&
FIG 49: PLAN SHOWING ROOSTS
in the alleyway opposite the pens, and are made of
pine, one inch thick. Each box is separate.
The roosts are made of one and one-fourth-inch
spruce and are movable. The ends are four inches
wide and notched out at top to hook over the scantling
at the top of the boarded part of the partition back of
the roosts. The bottom of the ends of the roosts is cut
to fit the floor and a hole is bored through the same so
that the roosts can be pinned to floor with wooden pins
which can be easily removed and the roosts taken out
and cleaned. The slats of roosts are two inches wide,
set on edge and rounded on top with a jack plane and
well nailed to the ends of the roosts. A spruce slat
ZO POULTRY ARCHITECTURE
one and one-fourth inches thick and two inches wide is
placed on edge in front of the nest boxes and a short
distance from same, to enable the fowls to reach the
nest boxes without jumping directly into the boxes.
The outside of the building is covered with dark green
oil stain.
Business Poultry Plant—The houses built by an
extensive poultryman, G. H. Pollard of Bristol county,
Massachusetts, are simple, substantial and practical,
and as cheap as a very good house can be made.
Probably nothing better for the cost can be found.
The photograph, Figure 50, gives a general idea of the
FIG 50: BUSINESS POULTRY HOUSE
outside appearance. The inside is very simple, con-
sisting of the roosting place and a scratching shed.
The most striking feature of the inside arrangement is
the roost, which is built with special attention to se-
curing warmth at night. It is Mr Pollard’s idea that
if a laying hen is kept warm nights, she will not mind
cold winter weather, but will keep right on laying,
hence he does not pay much attention to glass windows
or any other means of producing warmth by day, but
the scratching shed is left open in pleasant weather and
protected only by a cloth curtain on stormy days. In
some of the sidehill houses the roosting house is
entirely shut off at night and is banked on one side
HIGH-GRADE PLANTS Ti
with earth and protected on the other sides by cement
walls faced with roofing paper, as is the inside roof
also. There is only one small window in front. This
roosting place makes a very tight and warm arrange-
ment in winter and when the hens leave it they are
encouraged to keep themselves warm by scratching
for grain thrown among the litter in the outside pen.
Apart from the roosting pen, the house is built as
cheaply as possible, banked in the rear nearly up to
the roof and covered on the outside with roofing paper
coated with tar, which is considered the cheapest and
most satisfactory roofing material. Mr Pollard sup-
plies details as follows:
The largest house is ninety-six by thirteen and
one-half feet and is divided into six pens thirteen and
one-half by sixteen feet, which are subdivided into a
roosting pen six by thirteen and one-half feet and an
open-front scratching shed ten by thirteen and one-
half feet. The house is very plainly built and is en-
tirely devoid of fancy features in fixtures. The frame
is of two by four spruce, on sills of three by four, set
on chestnut posts. It is eight feet high in front, using
sixteen-foot boards, hemlock, planed on one side and
cut in two. The back is five feet four inches, using
six-foot boards cut in three pieces to save waste and
boarded up and down. The roof is covered with three-
ply building felt, tarred, and the front, back and sides
of the roosting pens are covered with two-ply felt.
The cracks in the back of the scratching pens are
battened to stop the drafts, and the front is covered
with wire netting. A sash of four to six eight by
twelve lights gives the roosting pen light.
The perch platform is at the back, and twenty
inches from the floor, which is of gravel filled in some
six: inches higher than the outside level. There are
78 POULTRY ARCHITECTURE
no other rurnishings, save a few nests made of soap or
spice boxes, which cost three cents each.
In the scratching sheds are small boxes of oyster
shell and the water dishes. The floor is covered with
meadow hay or straw and the hens scratch in this for
the hard grain. The soft food is fed in troughs and is
made up of variations of bran, meal, linseed meal and
beef scrap.
A house of this kind may be built by anyone a
Jittle handy with tools, and covers all the necessary
features for the comfort and care of the hens. The
doors open from the scratching sheds to the roosting
rooms, and from one roosting room to the other.
There is a scratching shed on each end of house and
the roosting rooms adjoin each other, thus taking them
away from the outside ends and gaining all the warmth
possible from position. Of course this house could
be extended to any length desired. The runs are on
the back side of the house, as in winter the scratching
shed furnishes open-air exercise, and in summer they
get some shelter from the hot sun and warm south
winds by living on the back side of the house.
Another advantage gained comes from the possi-
bility of walking along in front of the building and
throwing the whole grains through the netting into the
scratching sheds without the trouble of opening and
shutting gates or doors. In this way a house of two
hundred feet could be fed a dry feed in five to twenty
minutes and the work well done.
A Model Poultry House—The building, shown in
Figures 51 to 54 inclusive, is set on posts three feet
above the ground, so the chickens can congregate
underneath the main floor, giving to each section a
ground floor twelve by sixteen feet. This double
house is intended for fifty chickens, twenty-five in each
section. The nests and feed boxes are accessible
FIG 51: FRONT ELEVATION OF MODEL HOUSE
4
GROUND PLAN
FIG 52: GROUND PLAN OF MODEL HOUSE
The ST
| yeaa H A
f |
q
ger
SVE NEW
e
i VLOOR SNSTEM
FIG 53: SIDE VIEW AND FLOOR SYSTEM
CURT NETTING
ia rt SEC Tua
u
FIG 54: CROSS SECTION OF MODEL HOUSE
So POULTRY ARCITITECTURE
from the hallway, and the droppings from the perches
are easily removed at the rear of the building. The
cost of this building, finished in a workmanlike man-
ner, is less than fifty dollars, including the purchase of
the materials required. The bill of materials for a
poultry house twelve by sixteen feet is as follows:
Inches feet Feet
Hemlock, 30 pieces .............00. 3x 4 16 480
8 PIECES aakivc eee deeoveaeegarees 3x 4 12 96
S. PIECES) Skee suaavcedseaeaesenes 3x 8 12 75
Sc pleces| Wei vewssewn ava eee! 2x 4 12 64
Ay DICCES) aint. acne out ah aman cena, 16 44
hoards: Mast A een cuuas vente eine IxXI2 16 800
Strip Pile. dAce as cee Fae Ree IX 3 16 80
SUI PPM sane eae nee ees Ix 2 16 160
TL Otalytaelend diet ee keto aca 1796
Siding, flooring and dressed boards 210
Roofing, three-ply felt (square feet) 275
Wate netting? .icencS sects esac eies 350
Netting, staples, hinges, etc......... 20 Ibs
Nails, assorted sizes............05 25.
10 locust posts, 6x6 feet 6 inches long
The house built had partly second-hand material
and so cost not more than twenty-five dollars. The
front elevation (Figure 51) shows the house with the
yard on each side, while the ground plan (Figure 52)
shows the general interior arrangement.
A Practical Pouitry Home—The building shown
in the illustration (Figure 55) is on one of the farms
owned by Mr I. S. Long of Lebanon county, Pennsyl-
vania. The first two houses are twelve by fourteen
feet, one of which is used for laying hens. In the
middle is a feed box where the hens are fed. The other
house is a roosting place and is cleaned every three or
four days. After cleaning, the roosts are sprinkled
witu lime or coal ashes. The long, low shed is sixty-
six feet long by twelve feet wide. During winter, the
floor is covered deep with straw and chaff. Grain is
thrown on this, and the hens are compelled to work
to get out their feed.
ASQOH ANLINOd Iotwovad 3S oI
CHAPTER VII
ADDITIONS AND EXTRAS
Poultry could often be kept in the second story of
a building if access to the ground could be secured.
The cut (Figure 56) shows an easy grade up to an
elevated door. The top and bottom boards are shown
in place, but the entire front should be covered with
slats. These can extend from the top board down to
FIG 56: RUNWAY TO SECOND STORY AND UPPER ROOM
the bettom board. The grade is so easy that fowls will
readily pass up or down. By this plan a building can
often be made to hold two flocks instead of one.
In a barn or stable loft one can fit up a warm and
sunny room for early chicks, as shown at right of Fig-
ure 56. Low windows are put in under the eaves, and
light studding is set up as suggested, being nailed to
the rafters for the roof of the chicken room. Simply
lay boards in place for the top, and fill in the space
above with hay. Board up in front, leaving openings
for doors. Cover the floor with chaff, and put the hens
ADDITIONS AND EXTRAS 83
and their chicks in here during February and March,
and April, too, in the case of some states. The broods
will do much better here than on the cold, wet ground.
Adding a Scratching Pen—The cut (Figure 57)
shows the ordinary farm poultry house, to which an
addition has been made in the form of a scratching
shed, for use not only in the winter season, but also
during rain storms at other times of year.
Such an open shed is also most convenient as a
roosting place for growing chickens during the sum-
FIG 57: HOUSE WITH SCRATCHING SHED
mer. The front can have a frame, covered with cotton
cloth, fitted to the opening and hinged at the top, to
be let down at night in summer if desired, and on
stormy days in winter, when snow would be likely to
blow in if the front of the shed were left open. The
cost of a shed built in this way is very small, as no floor
is laid.
Poultry House Additions—The cut at the right of
Figure 58 shows a way to utilize buildings already
existing when constructing a poultry house. A hay
barn or other structure having a long side toward the
84 POULTRY ARCHITECTURE
south can be used as in the case shown here, where the
high side of the poultry house has its boarding and
framing already furnished free of cost. There is
another great advantage in building poultry houses in
this way; the added warmth that is thus secured. In
cold regions this is a matter of great importance, mak-
ing this plan exceedingly useful.
The open summer shed shown in igure 58 at the
left was recently seen in operation, and answering its
purpose admirably. A “shed roof’? was placed upon a
corner of a board fence, the open side being toward
the south. Here was protection for the fowls and cool
quarters for the summer. A wire fence met the two
FIG 58: SHELTER AND LEAN-TO
sides of the board fence, making house and yard all
in one inclosure. Extra summer colonies can thus
easily and cheaply be kept.
It is quite common to appropriate the sunny side of
the barn, building out toward the south and eastward,
for an aspect, which requires only a pitched roof and
low front, with the ends well boarded and seam-
battened, to render the inclosure quite comfortable,
stormproof, and sufficiently spacious for winter uses.
In summer this can be used for laying and roosting pur-
poses. If kept clean and free from vermin, it answers
very well, costs but a trifle, and may be of any size that
the barn side will afford for the back of it. There
should be a few sashes inserted in front or at the ends,
ADDITIONS AND EXTRAS 85
where the sun can shine in, and this will make an eco-
nomical house, as well as a useful one, in many cases.
Preparing House for Winter—Many farmers can-
not afford to build a suitable house. There is the mate-
rial about almost any farm for making the most open
house one of the warmest. There is no expense
attached to it except the labor.
At each corner of the house (Figure 59) and about
two feet out, set a post that will extend well above the
eaves. If the coop is large enough to make it necessary,
“o (ang
aN (DT i,
FIG 59: PROTECTED COOP
other posts of a uniform hight and at the same distance
from the walls of the coop can be set in the ground.
The posts should not be more than from six to eight
feet apart. Then about six inches from the ground
staple a smooth wire to the posts, and another about
two feet above, and so on to the top of the posts, requir-
ing five or six wires. Then fill in between the posts and
wires and the coop with hay or straw. Small poles or
pieces of waste boards can be woven in the wires to
keep the hay in place. When the eaves are reached,
some material that will lead off the water should be put
SO POULTRY ARCHITECTURE
on top. Long slough grass has been found good
for this.
By setting a post each side of the door frame, and
one to correspond with each in a line with the outside
posts, and boarding up each side and fixing the top to
be covered with hay, the door of the coop will be
guarded from the cold. Of course an outside door of
some sort will be necessary. The windows can be pro-
vided for in the same way or a box of some rough
i
Ne Bes we
FIG 60: RUN OF SASH AND STRAW
lumber be made and set in as the banking up is
being done.
Aside from a place reasonably warm to roost in,
chickens, to do well, should have a warm, sunny place
in which to exercise on warm days. Such a place can
be made each side the coop in the shape of a lean-to
facing the south. Set a line of posts the length desired
to make the lean-to, and spike two by fours across the
top, from one post to another, six to eight feet from the
ADDITIONS AND EXTRAS 87
ground. Then cut the poles of a length to make the
desired pitch to the roof and lay one end over the two
by fours (it is well to notch the under sides so there
will be no danger of slipping), letting the other end rest
on the ground. Lay fine-limbed brush across these, and
upon this put the hay or straw covering. In this place
can be put up nests and a dust box fixed and filled for
them to wallow in. The chickens, too, can be fed here.
Cheap Winter Run—Figure 60 shows an easy way
to make a sunny winter run for poultry at little expense,
either of money, time or labor. Some old window sash
is set up for the front, and the top is covered with straw
or corn stalks. Make the top strong enough to hold the
weight of the snow that may fall upon it. If there is no
tight board fence at hand, the back can be boarded
roughly and then banked right up to and over the top
with straw or other material.
Protected Scratching Sheds—The idea of an open
scratching shed for poultry has come to stay. Con-
tinuous poultry houses, with shed roofs, are now built
with two open scratching sheds side by side, then two
pens, then two open sheds, and so on. A section show-
ing two sheds, one each for the pens on either side, is
88 POULTRY ARCHITECTURE
given in Figure Or. The special point brought out
here is the cotton cloth screen, or door, that closes the
front of each shed in stormy, very cold or blustering
weather. They are hinged at the top and are turned up
to the ceiling when the weather is suitable. Drifting
snows are kept out by putting down the screens, while
the outside air can come in and the light also. An open
shed in a snowy latitude without such a protection is
almost useless during the greater part of the winter,
unless one keeps shoveling snow.
CHAPTER VIII
FOR INCUBATORS AND BROODERS
The buildings of a large establishment for artificial
hatching and rearing should be arranged with especial
reference to convenience. A few steps saved by a care-
BREEDING HOUSE.
MILLING HOUSE.
Y fp resivence. VM
GROWING HOUSE.
Y, é
FEED HOUSE.
WM
WM
BROODER HOUSE.
R CELLAR.
S »
INCUBAT
FIG 62: PLAN OF DUCK OR BROODER BUILDINGS
ful plan of building with due reference to location, be-
comes an important factor of success when applied to
the numberless daily errands to and fro. Buildings to
Yu POULTRY ARCHITECTURE
be often visited, the incubator room, for instance,
should be near the dwelling. All the buildings should
be so arranged that the attendant can do the routine
work by a systematic plan, with no waste of time or
effort. The illustration (Figure 62) shows the actual
arrangement of a large plant to which allusion is made
in Bulletin 64 of the United States Department of Agri-
culture. Its convenience and compactness are seen at
a glance.
Improved Incubator House—Figure 63 shows a
plan for obviating the inconvenience of rising tem-
perature in the incubator house when the sun is shin-
FIG 63: DOUBLE ROOF INCUBATOR ILOUSE
ing, especially late in the spring or in the summer.
Then it is difficult to keep a uniform heat in the ma-
chines, as the house becomes overheated from the effect
of the sun upon the roof. A simple way out of the
difficulty is to put on an additional roof, leaving an air
space between the two. The inner roof can be covered
with cheap boards and roofing paper, with lath battens.
The outer may have shingles over a layer of building
paper.
Bauked Incubator Room—In Figure 64 is shown
an incubator room that is built on the surface of the
FOR INCUBATORS AND BROODERS gt
ground, and yet is surrounded by earth, banked up
against its stone walls. It is banked on three sides,
leaving one side unbanked for entrance door and a
window. The incubator room need not be large, so the
labor of banking it in this way will not be great. Many
are not able to secure a suitable place underground for
a cellar, and for such the above plan will prove advan-
tageous.
A Successful Incubator House, illustrated in Fig-
ure 65, is in use by an extensive woman poultry farmer,
Mrs J. Fairbank, Oregon. It is a combination incu-
bator cellar, water tank and windmill tower. The two-
FIG 64: BANKED INCUBATOR ROOM
es Ineubator Room.
story building is fourteen by sixteen feet, with a one
thousand-chick capacity hatching cellar, a tank in the
second story which holds the water supply for the
whole farm, and a windmill on the roof to perform all
the pumping.
A double brooder house is shown in Figure 66,
with walk in the center and pens on either side, and
with heater at the end. Many prefer this plan to the
single brooder house, as the care and attention required
for the youngsters is much less and the cost of heating
is reduced, one heater being sufficient for both lines of
pipes. Then, again, this latter plan shortens the length
g2 POULTRY ARCHITECTURE
vf the building by one-half and makes the work more
concentrated.
Combined Brooder and Growing House—l igure
67 shows a successful plan for a combination building.
The rows of brooder pens are at the right, while the
large pens and yards are at the left. In a duck plant
the right half of the buildings is used for the ducklings
ie 4) A SS ‘ / .
“les Ppa Nh i Ose ok wt
Weg > f =
° “ll W i Adttt.
FIG 65: INCUBATOR HOUSE AND TANK
as soon as they are old enough to endure a lower tem-
perature than that of the brooders. In a broiler plant,
the use of the buildings may be similar, or the large
pens may be used for laying stock.
The heater and feed room are between the two
parts of the building, the heater being in a pit beneath
the feed room. Pipes run into both parts of the build-
FOR INCUBATORS AND BROODERS 93
ing, as shown by the dotted lines. The pipes in the
right half of the building are raised two or three feet
from the floor, and a lower temperature is maintained
as compared with the brooders.
The brooder box (Figure 68) is next to the pas-
sageway, or walk, on each side, and runs the entire
length of the building. This box is thirty inches wide
and eight inches high; the sides are seven inches high
and nailed securely ; the top of the cover is nailed across
with cleats to make it substantial, aad the cover has an
FIG 66: DOUBLE BROODER HOUSE
inch strip nailed underneath in front and back to keep it
in position. These strips nest against the seven-inch
sides and make the brooder snug and tight when closed.
The heating pipes are directly beneath the cover and are
two-inch pipes, flow and return. Some prefer one-inch
pipes, using two flows and two returns. When three
pipes are used they should be about eight inches apart
from center to center. These pipes rest on the partition
boards of the pens. The front of the brooder, leading
into the pens, is cut out in the center about four inches
O4 POULTRY ARCITITECTURE
deep and four feet long’, while the ends and the other
side are solid, being seven inches high. The construc-
tion of the brooder is clearly shown in b with cover
removed, while c shows cover. The heater is located at
the end of building.
A pipe brooder house, well liked at one of the
eastern experiment stations, is shown in the combina-
tion drawing (Figure 69), in which dimensions and
interior construction are indicated. The hot water sys-
tem is used, but the small lamp brooders may be used
1
R|UINIS
Salemi eran) Meet el ee lapee: :
PLE NOES lee talelol ols |Ele|ay|
WALK us Ee eee = =
TET eToTa TET FT
Pye | NS HEATER, fatal s
Ln ea a i el — Sa eB ou oe a oe Ee er
RIiCIN|S
FIG 67: COMBINATION BROODER BUILDING
if preferred. The heating pipes extend the length of
the building under the covers, b b b. Through exit, e,
the chicks reach a twenty-foot run inclosed with two-
foot board and netting above. One of these houses will
accommodate about five hundred chicks while small.
Houses for Single Brooders—These little build-
ings, described by C. E. Matteson of Wisconsin, are
scattered over his place one hundred and fifty feet
apart, so that one colony will not interfere with the
other at feeding time, and each flock will go to its own
house at night. (See building at left of Figure 70.)
ce!
(sy WZ s
OTT rT i
aU 1
Yyy
TLC HHH LNs
FIG 68: CONSTRUCTION OF BROODER ROX
Qo POULTRY ARCILITECTURE
The dimensions are six by six feet, with shed roof
five feet high at front or south side and three feet high
on north. Sills are two by six, and the house is
studded with two by four, two feet on center, and sided
with six-inch drop siding.
The front has a window nine by twelve feet, set
eight inches above the sill, so as to leave place for the
chicks to get to the yard, and the window should be
arranged to slide wide open, making a kind of shed of
it when weather is warm. The door is two and one-
half by four fect, placed on cast side so you can enter
FIG 69: PIPE BROODER HOUSE
the building without first climbing into the yard. The
roof is of dressed and matched fencing, then shingled,
making it almost windproof. The interior shows a
brooder, a, set therein. These brooders are hot air,
thirty-six inches square, sunk in the ground floor of
these houses about four inches. The dirt that is taken
for the excavation is filled in around the brooder, which
gives the chicks a nice earth floor to scratch and ruffle in
when the weather will not let them go out. As they
grow older, say when four weeks old, they are given
full liberty in pleasant weather.
FOR INCUBATORS AND BROODERS 97
igure 70, at the right hand, shows a house built
against a bank, that can be twelve feet or more in
length. The cross section below shows how the home-
made brooder is located with respect to the run for
the chicks. Set on legs as it is, the attendant does not
have to stoop over his work, and with the raised run
for the chicks they are brought on a level with
the brooder, so they can easily run in and out.
This run is coated with gravel and cemented. The
brooder is three feet square. Allow six feet for each
BS ey
FIG 70: HOUSES FOR SEPARATE BROODERS
brooder and pen and you have three feet at the end of
each brooder—sufficient space to give access to each
pen, which can be cleaned from the walk with a short-
handled hoe or rake. The house is twelve feet wide,
the walk or alley six and the run six. The top of the
brooder is hinged, to give easy access, and the partition
in front of the runs is tight, to keep in the warmth that
is produced by the sunshine coming in at the window.
If a bank of earth is not at hand, earth can be heaped
up to form a bench on which to locate the runs. Such
g8 POULTRY ARCHITECTURE
a bank of earth makes the interior of the building much
warmer.
Both these houses are adapted for the lamp and
drum style brooder shown in the diagram at the left.
Later in the season may be substituted the cold brooder
shown at the upper left hand corner of Figure 7o.
Woolen cloth, an old blanket or some sort of heavy
material, is tacked loosely at the sides and in a few
i TAR ag ST Oe
e Wille» Neen.
qu
FIG 71 a OREGON BROODER HOUSE
places through the center, in such a way that the loose
folds will hang down nearly to the bottom of the
brooder. This cloth should be of several thicknesses,
or padded if need be. It should hang lower near the
sides than at the center. It should also be constructed
in such a way that it can be raised as the chicks grow
in size. This can be done easily. The cloth can be
fastened to a frame made of inch boards and of a size
FOR INCUBATORS AND BROODERS 99
that will just fit snugly inside the brooder. At each
, corner of the box put in pieces of two by four
studding, a, eight inches high, in which holes have been
bored an inch apart from the top to within four inches
of the bottom. Saw out the corners of the frame to
fit around these and insert a pin, c, in the hole that will
hold it at the desired hight. A strip, b, nailed to the
end pieces of the frame and reaching through the mid-
dle, will serve as a fastening to tack the cloth to in
the center.
Broodecr House—A building as shown in Figure
71 has been found satisfactory by an Oregon grower.
The floors of the warm hovers are covered two inches
deep with sand. They are warmed with two one and
FIG 72: HOUSES FOR WINTER CHICKS
one-half-inch pipes, a a, overhead. The hovers are
thirty inches wide, four feet long, one foot deep, ar-
ranged in two rows running lengthwise with a walk, b,
between. Through a small opening chicks enter a four
by four-foot runway, e e, and may thence pass outdoors
to runways four feet wide and thirty feet long.
A Brooder Attachment—In early spring the
brooder chicks can be let out upon the ground and yet
be protected from the cold winds by the attachment
shown at the left of Figure 72. A box without top or
bottom is hooked to the side of the brooder, an opening
being cut in the side where the door of the brooder
comes. The top of the attachment is covered with
coarse cotton cloth, or a sash may be used. The cloth
100 POULTRY ARCHITECTURE
lets in fresh air and the sun’s rays, but protects the
chicks from the cold winds.
Poultry House for Early Chicks—This house, as
in Figure 72, at the right of the illustration, is used by
Mrs J. Wilson of Iowa for raising winter chicks. In
it she can put three hens with about forty chicks. Take
a box about six feet long, two and one-half feet wide,
two and one-half feet high in front, with sloping roof,
cover with tarred paper and have a sliding window in
front near the top, as shown. Dig a hole in the ground
just the size of the box, as for a hotbed. Fill it with
horse manure, cover with dry earth and over this put
soft straw, chaff and hayseed from the barn floor.
Place the box over this and put the hens and chicks
in. Throw an old carpet over all and they are easily
cared for. In a home like this it is surprising how fast
they will grow. A small door near the bottom may be
opened on warm days to let them have a little sun, but
they will soon scamper back.
CHAPTER IX
SPECIAL PURPOSE BUILDINGS
Cold Storage of Poultry Products—The only
really satisfactory means for keeping eggs and poultry
meat is cold storage. The system is working a revolu-
tion in the trade ; tending to equalize prices and increase
demand. In course of time the difference between
spring and winter prices will no doubt be far less than
at present. Meanwhile there is a good profit in holding
ape ese foes) AS] TS a ee ees
\CE ROOM
Ee eS
FiG 73: PLAN OF COLD STORAGE HOUSE FOR POULTRY
stored eggs. A commission man and buyer lately re-
marked that farmers could secure this profit themselves
by putting up little storage plants on the plan of co-
operative creameries, and selling the product at the
right season to retail customers. He expressed the
Opinion that a town of one thousand or more people
would furnish ample scope for such an enterprise and
102 POULTRY ARCIIITECTURE
the plant could be used a part of the time for storage of
fruit. The design given herewith (Figure 73) is for
storage with ice, is not expensive, and has been success-,
fully used by a Michigan poultry farmer.
The ice room is eight by twelve feet in the clear,
being started with a six by six-inch sill laid in a trench
three inches deep. After the sills are laid in the ground
dirt is pressed in solidly, so as to leave no opportunity
for air to enter in at the bottom—a very important
point. The studding of the inner room is two by eight-
inch lumber, twelve feet long, set twenty-four inches
from center to center, and having a plate of the same
size firmly spiked to the top, the inside of the studs
being sheathed with rough boards clear to the top of
the plate and around the bottom except at a, where one
stud has been left out, leaving an opening through
which the ice is passed in filling the house. This open-
ing is stopped with boards and simply laid in as the
house is filled. The top of the ice should be no higher
than the plate, and be covered twelve or eighteen inches
deep with hay or straw, well trodden down.
The outer wall is of two by four-inch studding,
twelve feet long, the sill set in the ground the same as
for the inner room, but carefully sheathed on both sides
with good, tight boards, and the space between filled
with sawdust clear to the plate. The outside is finished
with drop siding, having a thickness of paper between
that and the boards.
At B the inner and outer sheathing boards project
one and one-half inches beyond the studs, and other
loose boards are cut one and one-half inches shorter
than the space between the studs.
Then, as the ice is fitted in, these shorter boards
are laid up and the space between filled with sawdust,
this opening being only to fill the ice room. About
thirty-five tons of ice can be put in this house, which
SPECIAL PURPOSE BUILDINGS 103
will be sufficient to last until cutting time another year.
The entrance door is made double; that is, a sort
of vestibule is built out so that the door can be closed
behind when going in or coming out, thus avoiding
warm currents of air in the cooling room. The four-
foot space around the house is floored over six inches
above the ground sill, and provides ample room for
butter, meat, poultry or eggs, though eggs must not
be kept at a lower temperature than forty degrees
above zero.
If desired, another story may be added by placing
joists across the space eight feet from the lower floor.
This gives a larger amount of room for storing onions,
etc. The roof is hipped and provided with a ventilator
having lower slats arranged to open or close at will.
They should never be tightly closed, as fresh air shou!d
always have more or less access to the top of the ice.
A six by six-inch timber is fastened at one end
under the hip rafter, projecting over the outer wall line
and provided with a stout eye-bolt to which the pulley
is caught in filling the ice room. This timber is braced
down to the plate with sticks of the same size.
The roof is shingled, and the cornice is made with
eight eight by eight-inch holes in the soffit, each being
provided with a board to close and open, thus perfect-
ing the ventilating arrangement. Windows are in both
sides, tightly fitted with two double sash for each eight,
and are set in the sides, so as.to throw light in the end
passages. A box drain should be laid in the ground,
made of two by eight-inch stuff, and should project
three or four feet beyond the outside wall, and at each
end a small pit should be dug, filled nearly to the top
with small stone, with an armful of straw next, and dirt
filled in, well rammed down. No flooring will be re-
quired in the inner room, as the ice can be laid on the
ground.
104 POULTRY ARCHITECTURE
An Ontario Turkey House—My turkeys have a
large range, and as foxes are numerous in this vicinity
a great many of the finest birds were killed last year.
In June I had a house built like the accompanying illus-
tration (Figure 74, at the upper half of the illustration )
FIG 74: BUILDINGS FOR TURKEYS
to secure the flock at night, to provide a feeding place
for the young birds during the day and to prevent the
old birds from eating with them.
The building is twelve fect square, ten feet high in
front and eight feet at the back. The foundation con-
SPECIAL PURPOSE BUILDINGS 105
sists of tamarack planks spiked solidly together and
four posts are set in at the corners. The sides are of
fine slats, four inches wide, nailed an inch apart so as
to provide light and air within. The roof is made of
boards put on to exclude the rain. On one side is a
door, a, six by three feet, fastened by hooks on the
outside and inside. On the front there is an opening,
b, and a door, c. On the ground the opening, b, is
four inches high and five feet long and permits the
ingress and egress of the young birds only. This is
closed by means of a drop board. The hanging door, c,
is twelve feet long, two feet wide and two feet from the
ground, is formed of boards like the sides, is fastened
by hooks and is attached to the front by strong hinges.
Inside the house are drinking and feeding troughs for
the young birds, clean straw at one side and three tiers
of roosts, the first very low, the second midway and
the third of strong poles as near the top as possible.
In the morning I dropped the hanging door to let
out the old birds, fed them outside, and closed the
door. Went in at the side door, fastened it, fed and
watered the young birds and left them until the dew
was off the grass. By raising the board the young
ones could come out to the old ones. Three times a
day they came to be fed, the board being utilized to
shut them in until all were fed. At night the young
ones remained in and by dropping the hanging door
the old hens flew in. When the turkeys grew too large
for the opening, b, I fed them just outside the house
and they entered by means of both doors, which were
fastened before dark—[Mrs Edwin Colquhoun,
Ontario.
Another Turkey House—Most people who have
had experience with turkeys know that these birds
prefer to roost on the ridgepole of a building rather
than under it, and that, too, in exceptionally cold
100 POULTRY ARCHITECTURE
‘weather. The turkey does not like close quarters, and
thrives best where it is given plenty of air.
’ In many sections of the country where the winters
are not too severe, the house shown in Figure 74, at the
lower part of the illustration, will be found an excel-
lent one for turkeys in winter, while in the northern
regions, even, such a building will be found mos
usefi! as a roosting place for both chickens and poults
during the late summer and fall, since they need pro-
tection from rain and prowling animals, but plenty
of pure air to secure the finest growth. This need of
pure air at night is not properly appreciated by most
persons who attempt to raise chickens.
Improved Duck Houses—Ducks are easily the
most profitable of all poultry, if the flesh product
simply is considered, while as a layer of eggs the Pekin
duck is exceedingly profitable. There can be no doubt
that it would be wise for more farmers to keep a flock
of breeding and laying ducks, and for this purpose
there is no better breed than the large, white Pekin. ~
As ducks roost on the floor, only low quarters are
needed. A low, shed-roofed affair can be put onto the
side of the barn or other farm building, in the manner
shown in Figure 75, three feet of hight being sufficient.
Let the pen open into the large building, the partition
between being hinged at the top, so that by raising
it one can clean out the pen and put in dry bedding.
One can thus build duck quarters very inexpensively.
Figure 76 shows a duckhouse with shed and an
inclosed roost room. It is single walled and built in
the cheapest manner.
In Building a Dove Cote in a barn for six pairs,
they should have at least twelve feet square of floor
and eight feet high. The more space the better, unless
the pigeons are to have the freedom of the yard. The
boxes should be at least eight in number, each box to
SPECIAL PURPOSE BUILDINGS 107
be double, completely divided so a young pigeon cannot
go from one to the other without flying. This allows
the mother to lay and hatch a second set of eggs before
the first are able to look after themselves. These
boxes must be set on the top of tinned posts or fixed
in some way so that the rats cannot reach the nests,
FIG 75: IMPROVED DUCKHOUSE
FIG 76: DUCKHOUSE AND SHED
for rats are sure to destroy the eggs or young birds
in the nest—[A. H. Streeter, Hampshire County,
Massachusetts.
Making a Pigeon Loft—Every boy on the farm
should have a flock of pigeons, be the variety Fan-
tails, Homers, Turbits or Jacobins. They are among
the most satisfactory pets that one can have, their pretty
108 POULTRY ARCILITECTURE
ways and beautiful forms and plumage making them
most desirable companions. xeccaiex aeeee et daccdion © warm .... 68
Duckhouses .......... well made Jo
Early phicks, coop for . Serap ae eal me
ouse for ......... : t
Exhibition coops ris with scratching shed ......... 21
: :. Houses, effect of heating ....... 5
Expermients, West Virginia northern colony 2.6.66. sewes 30
Pare poultry house .... Tée Foon bes
Pee GGSR Ee to RG CE OOM ot Shi thers eset e cane 3 anaee 2
Fence, hen tight. Incubator | house, a + 90
Fattening coops Mrs Fairbanks’s .. - gI
Floor, a cement ... a » room re Cea ake twas aeapaamnses,e 90
Of iClBY ci .4cdcecs ayers, house for ............. 18
Foundation, a post ... Lean-to for poultry ...... . 84
StONE ere ciara iene wecore 2|Location of poultry plant . 2
France, G. R., house of .. HP DeOR= ROUSE: ciencsm Sou cess ravens anaes 66
Glass in houses .............+. 6 | Material, preserving ........... 6
Heating pipes .............60. 93| Second hand ..........-..... 6
Hennery, handy ......... 16 |Nest boxes ...........0--000-- 75
Home, a practical poultry .. . Bo Notes for builders ............
PAGE
Qetagon house . ssc s eccess eee 5!
Pigeon: TOtts: gc seis a giide ww ware 107
Pollard’s poultry house ........ 76
Poultry plant, plan of ......... 89
Rhode Island colony house...... 2
Roof, lining for ............45 6
ARGOSES 2 yaa: sssnecs uadesdasien eth epaiaed otizeyar 75 9:5
MOVADIE: saspctesies rds esd oaetadins ease 55
WATER «eke aes ROE Se OED OE 5
Run, cool for chicks ........... 113
FOF WINER sce acai grceanes ss 86
Runway to second story ....... 82
Sand howSe «.se hina svweraw ex 67
Sash with double glass ........ 7
Second story room .. . 82
Scratching pen
shed
sheds protected
Shelter, cornstalk
summer and fall .
sunny
PAGE
Shipping coops .............05 124
Site for poultry buildings ...... 2
Slope for poultry plant ......... 2
SO, MOUSES = siuscc Sextseasens ascee device Guan 59
tO: May neces estan s nee ee 62
Soil for poultry plant ......... I
Stoddard’s poultry house ...... 25
Tank and incubator house ...... 92
Troughs and fountains ........ 8
Turkey houses ................ 104
Ventilator vagis. cic ceatotsee ae ee 36
Wall). a wartit << wens eqeseace 4
Water supply «cssccecsacnge ees 92
Windows, double .............. -
removable sis eccsicese vies 6
Winter protection ............. 85
Yard for three flocks .......... 125
Yards, movable ............... 127
for two or four flocks........ 126
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