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Poultry, Pet and Live Stock.
- —Section of =
The Atlanta Georgian
AND NEWS
DEVOTED TO POULTRY. PET AND LIVE STOCK, PIGEONS AND KENNEL
~ ATLANTA, GA„ SATURDAY, JUNE 24, 1911.
POULTRY HOUSE CONSTRUCTION AT UNIVERSITY
Illinois Expert Discusses Three Kinds of Hen Houses and Tells Why the “Open Front”
Is the Best—Modest Little Plant Is Profitable—Legislature Should Add a Small Farm
By PROFESSOR D. O. BARTO, University of Illinois, in Farmers' Voice
To faulty housing of poultry more
than to any other factors or conditions
in poultry raising may be charged the
failures or lack of success which un
fortunately are so common among peo
ple who are growing chickens.. The two
systems of housing poultry which are
most frequently found in use among
poultry keepers represent the two op
posite extremes of bad practice”
"The Mere Thought of It Makes One
Shiver."
In the one case the hen houses.are
wretched, dilapidated structures, often
a "lean-to" on the north or west side of
some other farm building, into which
no ray of sunlight falls from September
to May at least, with leaky roof and
seamy sides thru the wide cracks of
which the winds whistle unchecked and
rain or snow beat with every storm.
Such. a place hasn't a suggestion of
comfort or protection and is a constant
source of danger and loss in keeping
poultry. The mere thought of It makes
one shiver, and yet there are more
chicken houses of this sort in Illinois
and other states than of any other
kind. Is it strange that so many peo
ple doubt if there is any profit in keep
ing poultry? The only thing that might
be said in extenuation of such buildings
is that they haven't cost anything in
making them.
Then the Elaborate, Expensive House.
The other style of housing, which is
Photo by Mathewson.
The fine herd of Jerseys on Gaymont Farm.
also quite common. Is all that the
other is not Often the buildings are
elaborate and expensive. The feature
most in evidence and In which the
owner feels most pride Is the large
amount of glass window surface. - The
appearance of these houses, when first
built is as light and cheery as the other
kind of houses is dark and gloomy.
They seem the very picture ot comfort
and healthfulneas and to the Inexperi
enced poultry keeper represent the ideal
of all a poultry house should be.
But IPs the Greatest Failure.
But more blasted hopes and lightened
pocketbooks have resulted from this
style of poultry architecture than from
any other mistake in the poultry busi
ness. It is hard to believe, but this
kind of poultry housing is more surely
fatal to success In poultry raising than
the sort of house first described.
Features of the Ideal House.
The ideal poultry house must possess
these qualities: Sunlight reaching every
part of the house for as long a time
each day as possible; absolute absence
of draughts; as small variation In tem
perature during the 24 hours as can be
secured; freedom from moisture gath
ering on walls and making the floor
and litter damp and clammy to touch;
a constant and abundant supply of
fresh air.
Why Both Kinds Are Bad.
The trouble with the first kind of
chicken houses described Js especially
due to draughts and lack of sunlight.
In the case of the second class the evils
are an excessive variation in tempera
ture between day and night caused by
the free’ passage thru the glass win
dows of the heat rays when the sun
shone on them, and later the rapid ra
diation of heat out again thru the
same openings when the sun had
ceased to shine, leaving a chill in the
air which is depressing to the spirits
and dangerous to health; also the lack
of ventilation which, combined with
the cooling of the air within, caused
the moisture from the breath of the
fowls to condense on the walls in drops
or congeal as frost in cold weather.
No fowls can thrive when exposed to
such conditions and many will sicken
and die.
The "Open-Front" Most Successful.
The style of poultry houses which is
most successfully overcoming these dif
ficulties is called the “open-front"
house and is now being used with
great satisfaction by successful poultry
breeders all over the United States.
Building Items and Reasons.
The house is 12 feet by IS feet and
will accommodate CO to SO fowls. The
rear wall is S feet and the front 4 1-2
feet high. The highest point in the
roof is 8 feet The^outh front is closed
for 11-2 feet from the floor to protect
the hens from the wind when they are
scratching in the litter, and the re
maining 30 Inches above is covered
only with inch-mesh poultry wire. On
the west side Is one 12-Ught window
placed 10 feet back from the south
front and opposite It on the east side
is the door.
How Draughts Are Prevented.
The house is perfectly tight except
at the front, and hence no draughts are
possible on the fowls and the strong
est wind from the south can be felt
only a few feet back within the house.
It is impossible to blow very far Into a
bottle. Yet the air Is always fresh and
there is no poultry house odor percep
tible. _
Always Dry in Any Weather.
In addition the house is perfectly
dry in all kinds of weather, and it is an
attractive picture that the happy flock
make when scratching for their break
fast In the deep, dry straw and singing
at the top of their voices. No surer
evidence of their comfort and thrift
is needed.
The Interior Arrangement.
The droppings board is 30 inches
wide, raised three feet from the floor,
which allows the placing of the nest
boxes underneath without restricting
the space on the floor for feeding. The
roosts are pieces of “2 by 4" fastened
six inches above the boards, which are
sprinkled over with sifted coal ashes
or dry earth and cleaned each morning.
These roosts run across the north end
of the house with a projection extend
ing out from the center.
Feed Hoppers, Fountains, Boxes.
On the east and west walls in the
front part of the house/ feed hoppers
are fastened in which a supply of “dry
mash" is always kept, and there is also
a rack on which the water fountains
and boxes for feeding grit, oyster shell
and charcoal are placed to keep them
up out of the litter. There Is a box
about three feet square and one and
one-half feet deep in the center of the
floor near the front partly filled with
dry earth and Dustyne. which serves
os the hens* bathtub to help keep them
clean and free from lice and mites. —
Built of Hollow Cement Blocks.
This house is built of hollow cement
blocks and the floor is concrete,
the few months that it has been in use
it impresses me most favorably and
seems to be far superior to any poul
try house that I have used.
The blocks were presented to the
poultry yards by the manufacturers,
the Somers Bros., of Urbana, that a
test might be made'of this material
for poultry house construction. These
blocks, if purchased at the regular
price, would have cost 331. and the
cost of the building, including material
and labor, would have been about |75.
Poultry Raising Demonstration.
The other picture gives a view of
the university poultry yard® and the
readers of The Farmers Voice will see
how modest and inadequate at present
is the entire equipment which is at
tempting to represent and foster the
interests of the poultry industry of
the great state of Illinois.
The beginnings of this little plant
were made in September. 1909. thru a
desire to demonstrate to the high
schools of Illinois and elsewhere that
poultry husbandry is a subject that
can be successfully taught in the pub
lic schools, and that It has many ele
ment® which warrant the claim that
there Is no other agricultural subject
so well adapted for educational pur
poses and of as great importance to the
agricultural Interests of the people.
The work has necessarily been crude
funds of any of the other departments
for It. Only about 3700 has been used
thus far in building and maintaining—
in building the houses, fencing the lota,
buying the stock, utensils that were in
dispensable and the feed and paying for
labor.
How This Poultry Pays.
The balance has been accomplished
with the profits that have been real
ized from the sale of eggs and stock,
and this speaks well for the commercial
possibilities of poultry husbandry. The
value of the poultry alone in the uni
versity poultnr yards today Is worth
more than all that the university has
Invested in the enterprise, and these
results have been secured In about
eighteen months.
Choice Stock Donated.
Not all of this could have been ac
complished in this short time without
the interest and generous aid of friends
who ore desirous that poultry culture
shall receive as much support and at
tention in Illinois as is paid to it in
other states. Some of these friends
are sending choice stock from their .
own breeding yards, others wno are
manufacturers of poultry .4uppli* > h > • -
presented valuable articles for instruc.
tlonal work, and all have helped with
expressions of Interest in the under
taking.
Ought to Establish Poultry Department.
What we are asking and hoping for
now is that our friends at Springfield
will look with favor upon our appeal
for an appropriation for the establish
ment and maintenance of a poultryde-
partment at the University of Illinois.
This is a matter that is of such gen
eral concern that It ought to attract
hosts of supporters to its aid.
Something for Voice Readers to Do a
Will the readers of The Farmer*
Voice who are interested in develop
ing the possibilities of poultry culture
in Illinois see to it that the movement
doesn’t fail this time because of the
impression that the people of the stale
do not care very much about it? What
we want and are asking for is a sum
sufficient to purchase a farm that can
be devoted exclusively to poultry in
terests. Its size should bo sufficient te
make it profitable to employ a man and
team constantly in its cultivation and
care. It is now possible to secure a
tract of 40 acres suitably located and
adapted to this purpose and it is up to
iito wuib. tius iiacssoiuji uccu uuuc vv» vius k>ui iv is
and simple, for there was very little the poultry people of Illinois to decido
money that could be spared from the I the question.
GEORGIA POULTRY ASSOCIATION!
The Great Central Show oif South—Jan. 8 to 13,1912, Atlanta, Ga., C.0. Harwell, Sec., 113 N. Pryor-St. j