SF 486 
 .T6 
 Copy 1 
 
 Building Plans for 
 Poultry men 
 
 and 
 
 Practical M^ethods of Poultry Raising 
 
— . — .—.4. 
 
 ■ BUILDING PLANS 
 FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 And Practical Methods of Poultry Raising 
 
 H. V. TORMOHLEN, Editor 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 4. — ,. 
 
 Poultry Breeders Publishing Co. 
 
 Waverly, Iowa 
 

 fife 
 
 Cojjy right by 
 
 Poullry Breeders' Publisliiny Company 
 
 1920 
 
 ©CU570799 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 Starting Right in the Poultry Business. 
 
 Each year finds many new recruits in the poultry industry. 
 The poultry journal solicitor with his aggressive friendly way 
 meets you at the county fair or poultry show and asks you point 
 blank. "Do you raise chickens?" You admit that you were 
 raised on the farm and although you do not happen to be so 
 fortunate as to be raising fowls now you certainly have a "feel- 
 ing" that way. Accordingly you suljscribe for the journal on 
 the strength that it will tell you all about how to raise poultry. 
 
 But many of the poultry journals have too much of the pro- 
 fessional air about them and the person starting with fowls 
 finds himself in deep water as far as understanding what a great 
 many articles are about. Too many of us forget the time we 
 got our first setting of eggs and just how eageily v^'e read every 
 word we could find on how to rear chicks, feed, make coops and 
 all the varied problems of poultry keeping. 
 
 I did, like many of you have just done, answered an adver- 
 tisement of one of the breeders claiming to have 57 varieties 
 of land and water fowls. We got the immense catalog and 
 then could hardly sleep nights thinking what an immense farm 
 that breeder must have and if we only had it we would be in 
 paradise, as far as this world is concerned. Somehow we are 
 all after something cheap and at bargain prices. These little 
 one inch ads scattered about in the periodicals and strangely 
 quite scarce in the poultry journals have an enticing way about 
 them. 
 
 The beginner who subscribes for a good poultry journal and 
 commences to get in touch with the breeders advertising in 
 them is on the right track. The poultry journals carry adver- 
 tising for a livelihood and do not be afraid, Mr. Beginner, to 
 place your order for stock or eggs with any of them for the 
 poultry journal cannot aft'ord to keep scoundrel advertisers more 
 than a month. Therefore you are protected and you need have 
 no hesitancy in placing your order with breeders who are mak- 
 ing a life study and specialty out of their variety. These are 
 the breeders to tie to. They are giving their individual at- 
 tention to their variety and are anxious to help you get started 
 right. Do not be taken in by ads found in the cheap magazines 
 and fai-m papers. You may get value received and you may not. 
 
 Decide upon the variety you like best and then go at it in 
 earnest. Do not make the mistake of trying out a half-dozen 
 varieties to see which is best. You will know little more about 
 it at the end of a year or two than you know now. Decide upon 
 one of the well advertised varieties for there is certainly merit 
 in a variety that is widely advertised. Decide whether you want 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 to breed for meat or eggs. Also whether for fancy or utility or 
 a combination of both. Make up your mind for all time to come 
 to stick to it. Making a success with poultry is principally 
 sticking to it and profiting by your own experience. If you want 
 to breed for meat choose one of the larger varieties. If your 
 tastes I'un to lots of eggs take up one of the lighter egg breeds 
 for they will produce more eggs as a rule and on less feed per 
 egg than any of the heavier varieties. 
 
 The next thing to decide is how much you can afford to put 
 into getting stock or eggs this fli'st season. Make up your mind 
 you are going in to win financially and as to quality of your 
 stock. Therefore do not be misled into getting cheap stock your- 
 self, into believing you will buy cheap stock and then breed up 
 for how can you, a person with no experience in breeding poul- 
 try, make much headway in the next five years breeding up your 
 cheap flock to a better flock. Answer the advertisements of 
 breeders advertising stock of the variety you have chosen and 
 ask them frankly what they would advise you as a beginner 
 to do. All of them will tell you that the best is none too good 
 and that the best pays in the end while the beginner who starts 
 with the cheapest stock or eggs he can find with the idea of 
 breeding up, finds after a few years dear experience that he 
 must dispose of all his stock and start all over with stock sever- 
 al grades higher than he has. Too many beginners scan the 
 advertisements for the cheapest stock or eggs they can find 
 offered. The only one I ever knew who made a success at this 
 was a red-headed boy friend of mine who became interested in 
 my thorobreds and decided to embark himself in fowls. He de- 
 cided upon White Leghorns but had only 50 cents. I loaned 
 him 50 cents until cherry picking time and he found an adver- 
 tisement of 25 eggs for $1. He hatched 23 chicks and raised 
 21 of the lot and in the fall sold a trio for $10. That was a 
 pretty good investment. But even this boy saw he must have 
 better quality and to make a success he had to keep this cheap 
 blood out of his flock with the care as if it were a contagious 
 disease for whenever he introduced it into the better fowls he 
 subsequently got, he found he had trouble with quality. 
 
 Make it your policy to go slow and get the best. Rather 
 buy one setting of $5 eggs than 100 eggs for $5 for the chicks 
 from the $5 setting eggs will likely be worth more than a dozen 
 raised from the $5 per 100 eggs. Often you can raise 10 or more 
 chicks from a single setting but do not count the money lost 
 if you succeed in saving one chick for nine out of ten chances 
 he will be worth more than you paid for the setting of eggs. 
 
 If you have a little back yard you have all taht is 
 necessary. I started with a back yaid. without a sign 
 of a fence or coop. I made the mistake of starting with a 
 cheap incubator and brooder. The brooder burned up with all 
 the chicks after the second hatch but I got valuable experience. 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 Buy a good incubator or brooder or what is better for the be- 
 ginner hatch your first year or two eggs with hens. Get ac- 
 quainted with nature's way. You can buy setting hens at this 
 time of the year most anywhere for 50c to $1 each. Get your 
 hen and make a nice nest in an empty barrel in the back yard. 
 Put a few glass eggs under her and darken the front and leave 
 her 24 hours. Order your eggs for you will have little trouble 
 getting the hen to stick to business. Face the barrel to a little 
 run if possible. Keep the hen quiet. Furnish her with plenty 
 of corn and wheat and water and grit. See that she returns to 
 the nest the first few days and by the time the eggs arrive 
 she- will be attending to her nest without coaxing. Nothing 
 beats a barrel for setting a hen in. It is roomy and the hen 
 walks into the nest instead of jumping dowTi into the nest and 
 breaking the eggs as so many do when a box is provided. The 
 barrel out on the ground is just near enough mother earth to 
 make an ideal place just as nature would have it should you find 
 the jungle fowl with her nest built in a thicket or underbrush 
 in the wild. 
 
 Keep the hen dusted with a good lice powder twice during 
 the period of incubation and a protection of a few boards up in 
 front of the barrel while she is on the nest, especially at night 
 to guard against possible accident thru a cat or dog or rat 
 bothering the nest and you will have splendid success with the 
 eggs. If you want to raise sevei'al chicks the first season a good 
 plan is to set two or more hens at one time and then reset one 
 hen. A hen fed and cared for well can easily incubate two 
 clutches of eggs without any harm or cruelty to the hen and 
 the other hen can raise the first lot of chicks. I have had hens 
 weigh more at the end of six weeks than they did at the start 
 simply because I gave them proper feed and care. 
 
 Raising Poultry as A Side Line. 
 
 To the suburbanite and small town dweller the raising of 
 poultry offers many wholesome, enjoyable hours of outdoor em- 
 ployment during the year if indulged in merely as a side line 
 if fowls are kept only for the purpose of furnishing the table 
 with choice spring fries and broilers and eggs the entire year. 
 
 The advantages to the business man in raising poultry in the 
 few feet of back lot or on the half acre at the suburban home 
 are many. There is no employment that offers to the person 
 who is closely confined by office work a greater amount of light 
 physical exercise, or a more pleasant means of recreation than 
 the culture of thorobred poultry in a limited way. 
 
 To the person who can interest himself in this industry, and 
 who can devote spare time to it with the idea of gaining not 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 only physical exercise, but of acquiring a knowledge of the busi- 
 ness that will enable him to excel as a fancier, there is a fasci- 
 nation about the work that increases as experience is gained. 
 The tilling of the soil for the garden of flowers or vegetables is 
 an enjoyable recreation but the garden plot lasts only for a few 
 weeks at the most and during that time very strenuous work 
 it is indeed, while the rest of the year — at the very time when 
 indoor workers need fresh air most — the garden cultivates habits 
 of cozy fire-side physical idleness. Our friends, the chickens, 
 require attention each and every day of the year and so we are 
 forced to get out and stir up the straw litter in the scratching 
 shed with the thermometer about the zero mark on those cold 
 winter mornings th3 same as in July. Thus the habit of getting 
 out and exercising in the cold fresh morning air is formed and — 
 good habits if formed in town invariably insures health and 
 happiness. 
 
 It is said that a well balanced variety of tasks makes one 
 task a recreation for the other and to come away from the city 
 and office with its cares and intense mental exertion and hurry 
 out to the poultry headquarters and attend to a nice flock of 
 busy but care free hens makes life take on a different aspect and 
 the close association with nature relieves the pessimistic and 
 bewildered mind in a very short time. Poultry raising as an 
 occupation might grow monotonous in a veiy short time to the 
 office man with a brain trained and accustomed to grasp big 
 problems and solve them but as a diversion from the daily 
 grind and routine of life, poultry raising forms an excellent 
 safety valve for the strenuous brain worker. 
 
 Starting in to raise poultry may be done on a very small 
 scale or on a more elaborate scale if much experience in the 
 rearing of poultry has previously been acquired. Starting 
 with a couple of old "biddies" and two dozen chicks is much 
 more satisfactory even to those who have had experience for be 
 it remembered that in this day and age of the world chickens 
 cannot be raised like we used to see our grandmothers back on 
 the farm raise them and even if we know a great deal about it 
 because of being reared on the farm or spending the summers 
 at grandmother's we will encounter difficulties in raising chicks 
 on back lots that we never heard of before. 
 
 The different breeds of thorobred poultry today are so far 
 superior to mongrel stock for the different purposes for which 
 they were developed that it is nothing short of folly to raise 
 anything but thorobred stock. Your individual tastes will have 
 much to do in selecting a breed but do not be unduly influenced 
 by the popular opinions of the day. Tomorrow the fad will be 
 over and you will be wanting to change breeds for the new ar- 
 rival in popular favor which is declared to be the "greatest 
 layer and best broiler ever." 
 
 Eggs are practically indispensible in the modern kitchen 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 and they are used every day in the week while a dressed fowl 
 is used probably once a week. Nice fresh eggs seem to be the 
 hardest to get on the market the year round while seldom, if 
 ever, is a nice carcass hard to procure. For this reason I would 
 deem it the better plan to keep fowls primarily for eggs and 
 secondarily for meat. Then again where the young birds must 
 be continually confined their carcasses when ready to fry, will 
 have cost more for feed than if purchased on the market as the 
 broiler man on the farm can raise and market fowls much cheap- 
 er on his acres than the city man can on the back lot where he 
 must purchase every morsel of feed. 
 
 But eggs can be produced with about one half the market 
 price of eggs from a good laying strain of hens when confined 
 in very limited city quarters the year thru.. 
 
 There is no best breed or variety. But there are better 
 strains of layers among the different varieties. One Plymouth 
 Rock will lay better than another because it has come from a 
 long line of ancestors which have been bred for egg production. 
 
 Senator Mooney of Mississippi recently asked an old colored 
 man what breed of chickens he considered the best and he re- 
 plied, "Marsa Mooney, all breeds of chickens has de merits, for 
 instance the white ones am de easiest to find after dark and de 
 black ones am the easiest to hide after you once gits em." 
 
 I chose BrowTi Leghorns because I had known from a 
 small boy up that they were noted layers of white eggs. I had 
 seen some flocks of white birds in town and they always pre- 
 sented a dirty appearance. These were the reasons why I de- 
 cided on the Brown Leghorns but your way of looking at it might 
 lead you to an entirely different conclusion and you might decide 
 on the Minorcas, the Houdans, the Anconas, or the Rhode Island 
 Reds. Then again as a student of colois as found in nature > 
 found the Brown Leghorns presented the deepest mysteries and 
 difficulties in combining the shades of any of the Gallinaceous 
 tribes. I found it very hard to produce show woi'thy specimens 
 at first and for several seasons my efforts proved a failure in 
 that at least I was unable to produce as good specimens as the 
 parent stock itself. But after delving in nature's laws I finally 
 worked out the principles as to how to mate to make colors re- 
 produce themselves. Indeed, it was such a fascinating study 
 that every leaf and flower and painting that came under my 
 eye was observed closely for some hidden combination or prin- 
 cipal in color combinations. 
 
 To start in the spring in raising fowls it would be desirable 
 to purchase baby chicks or eggs from some reliable breeder and 
 place them under a setting hen which you have bargained for 
 from some neighbor who keeps mongrel hens or some farmer 
 friend. Setting hens should be purchased for not over $1.00 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 apiece and they can be sold for 75 cents when the chicks are 
 raised. The chicks can be kept in a small coop until nearly- 
 grown and in the fall a poultry house can be built. 
 
 How to Make A Piano Box House. 
 
 A great many people who raise poultry, either on a large 
 or a small scale, will find the plans for a cheap poultry house 
 given here are just the thing for which they have been looking. 
 They will appeal especially to the city man who can keep but five 
 or six hens and on rented property possibly, and alike to the 
 large poultry raiser for colony houses to be moved about the 
 farm in the green fields during the summer. There are hundreds 
 of these colony houses in use on the largest poultry farms in 
 the country. 
 
 The ease with which the house can be built commends it to 
 those who are not skilled carpenters and who do not have 
 the time to build an elaborate house. The house is modeled 
 on the most approved lines of poultry house construction, being 
 a combination of the open and canvas front types, and having 
 the shelf dropping board under the roost, which is along the 
 
 back wall to catch all the 
 droppmgs while the fowls are 
 on the roost during the night. 
 If a small breeding pen is 
 kept in the house the space 
 beneath the dropping board 
 is utilized for nests and the 
 floor, which is covered with 
 several inches of straw, for 
 scratching. 
 
 Piano boxes for different 
 makes of pianos differ slight- 
 ly in size. The ordinary box 
 is from five feet to six feet 
 in height by five or a little 
 over long, the back generally 
 being square. They are two 
 and a half to two and three- 
 quarters feet wide at the 
 bottom. 
 
 After getting two piano 
 boxes of the same dimensions 
 we remove the backs and tops 
 shown in the illustration. The 
 backs are then spread out as 
 T,„„ ^;„„^ K„^„ f +u • -^i, shown and sawed in the por- 
 
 Iwo piano boxes of the same size, with .• • • i. i i n t'^^ 
 
 tops and lids removed, are required for K^^ns micated by the arrOWed 
 the house. lines. 
 
 
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BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 The one back is sawed into halves while the other is sawed 
 into halves and one of these halves halved again. These quar- 
 ters form the topmost part of the roof with an additional six 
 or eight inch board. 
 
 The second half numbered 3 forms the floor between the 
 two boxes. Half of number four fits in at the back between 
 the two boxes while number five is used for the dropping board. 
 All the additional lumber required for the house are the tw^o by 
 
 
 
 
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 The two backs of the boxes are cut as shown by the arrow lines in 
 above illustration. The method is described in full in accompanying 
 
 article. 
 
 
 '?^m^kj-Tr-^^ 
 
 Completed piano box poultry house 
 
10 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 fours under the floor and for the roof and one by fours for the 
 door. No glass windows are required for the house as the light 
 is admitted thru the open front door. The door is merely cov- 
 ered with wire netting. During a very cold winter night a can- 
 vas curtain is hung over the wire netting and fastened onto 
 buttons on the frame of the door. As the whole house is cov- 
 ered with tarred paper or some good roofing paper it is sur- 
 prising how comfortable and warm the fowls keep in this style 
 of house and yet with the canvas off the front of the door almost 
 every day in the year. Only about three months of the year 
 need the canvas be used in the central states even at night, as 
 the more fresh air the better after the fowls become accustomed 
 to this mode of housing. The general tone and health of the flock 
 is greatly benefited by the fresh air type of house. 
 
 These houses make excellent ones in which to keep an out- 
 door brooder early in the season and they may be used at every 
 stage of the work of poultry raising. 
 
 Some Pitfalls in the Way of a Beginner. 
 
 I remember as if it were yesterday my first season's work 
 with poultry^ — my first real earnest determined effort at be- 
 ing a poultryman. altho I had worked with poultry some each 
 year since a small boy, when as a chap of three I had a pair of 
 bantams given me and with them the first germs Galli which 
 later developed into a bad case of "hen fever." I can remember 
 each diflficulty and obstacle which I had to overcome and can still 
 see those mountains which I had to cross altho at the time I was 
 often so discouraged and disheartened that I ottcn thot i wnuki 
 give up. I can therefore appreciate the position of every ama- 
 teur at the poultry business as I have been all along the road 
 and know the trials and troubles and know just how big some 
 of the obstacles look to you while in a year or two you will look 
 back and have to take a magnifying glass to find them. 
 
 Remember the poultry business never was, is not now nor 
 ever will be all peaches and cream, but also remember that thr> 
 longer you stay in the game the easier it is to play it and of 
 course, the fewer the obstacles, the more enjoyment and profit. 
 
 After careful observation I am convinced that infant mor- 
 tality with new born poultry enthusiasts is just about as great 
 as it is with infants. The chances for quitting the business are 
 in about the same proportions as the death rate in infants, if 
 not greater. Like infants, if the amateur poulterer lives his 
 babyhood of two, three and five years out without deceasing in 
 any respect his enthusiasm and love for the fancy, he can be 
 counted on to live to a ripe old age as a fancier. It is a matter 
 of common knowledge among poultymen that the great ma- 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 11 
 
 jority of people quit the chicken game quite at the end of the 
 first, second, or third year. Therefore, take heart and have 
 courage, you who have newly started raising poultry and look 
 forward to the better days ahead, if you feel it is all one grand 
 round of troubles. If, tho, you are so enthusiastic at this stage 
 of the game to feel like you never would quit and have read 
 this article to this point, read it thru if you care to, but if not, 
 lay it aside carefully where you can turn to it hastily a little 
 later when a "fit of the blues" comes over you. 
 
 Taking up some of the common every-day troubles of the 
 new beginner, we will take them in their order with the season. 
 
 Probably some are having trouble in keeping their parent 
 stock in the pink of condition. To be in good condition and 
 health the fowls must be fed right, housed right and not crowd- 
 ed. If your fowls seem out of condition, give them more park 
 and house room. Give plenty of sunshine and fresh air and 
 water. If you are having trouble in getting fertile eggs or are 
 getting soft shelled eggs, your troubles come under this same 
 general head. Keep a dry mash before your fowls all the time, 
 composed of three parts ground corn, two parts bran, two parts 
 middlings, two parts gluten feed, and one part beef scraps. Keep 
 grit, oyster shell and charcoal before them and with the dry 
 mash, fresh water, dry litter to scratch in, your breeding stock 
 will take on more life, lay better and the eggs be more fertile. 
 If possible, get them out on the grass whenever you can. 
 
 If you have trouble in getting the hens to set after chang- 
 ing them from one nest to another, change them after dark af- 
 ter this and have the new nest dark and so the hen can be in- 
 closed in it. Place your eggs under her the second day and watch 
 when she leaves the nest for a week until she becomes accustom- 
 ed to returning. If laying hens eat eggs, make all nests so dark 
 that the fowls cannot see the eggs after getting in the nest. 
 If the setting hens begin to break eggs, you have built the 
 nest wrong, and she breaks the eggs when she jumps down on 
 the nest when returning. Close the nest on top and have the 
 entrance on the side where the hen can walk right in on the 
 eggs. When you find the eggs smeared up with a broken egg, 
 wash them ofl" in luke warm water, change the nesting and 
 they will be little worse for the wear. 
 
 Keep the setting hens free from lice by dusting with lice 
 powder often. Do not grease the setting hen. Feed principally 
 whole corn and wheat to the setting hens with plenty of grit 
 and water and they will hold out in fine flesh. 
 
 In operating the incubator, follow the directions carefully. 
 If you have lost the directions, write for more. Keep the lamp 
 clean by wiping carefully after filling each time and you will 
 not notice the oil fumes. 
 
 If you have had trouble with the chicks sticking in the 
 shell spread a piece of cheese cloth over the eggs twice a day 
 
12 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 for the last Ave days which has been wrung out in warm water. 
 
 If the chicks die in the shell get more fresh air to the 
 eggs and keep ventilators wider open during next hatch. 
 
 After the hatch, keep the chicks under hen or in incubator 
 first twenty-four or thirty-six hours. This is much more im- 
 portant than feeding them. 
 
 After putting them in the brooder be sure to keep them 
 from chilling the first week especially. Chilling means bowel 
 trouble, white diarrhea, lack of life and loss of many. 
 
 Leg weakness is caused by warm brooder floors and crowding. 
 If your chicks show general debility they have been overfed or 
 are bothered with lice. 
 
 To get best results with small chicks, feed a variety of 
 food. Keep plenty of grit and clean water before them. Also 
 plenty of bran. Then by feeding chick feed in the litter and an 
 occasional feed of stale bread, moistened with milk, hard boiled 
 eggs, lettuce leaves, raw apples, the chicks will lack for nothing 
 and will do well. I have found it a safe rule when the chicks 
 are not doing well on the feed and I am in doubt as to the 
 trouble, to feed a variety. 
 
 The chicks should be treated with carbolated vaseline, salty 
 grease or grease with little kerosene added for head lice every 
 two weeks for eight weeks. Head lice kill more chicks than the 
 general poultry public is aware of. 
 
 Clean the brooder often. Whitewash all coops in which 
 hens and chicks are kept. Do not try to make one hen do the 
 work of three by giving her thirty chicks to brood. She will 
 make a failure of it until they die oflF, until only about eighteen 
 or twenty remain, if that many. 
 
 Where little chicks pick each others combs and toes and 
 seem to have a craving for blood, get them out in the open 
 and on grass runs and feed milk or beef scraps. Isolate the ones 
 that have been picked so they will not be injured farther and to 
 keep the rest from going farther with the habit. 
 
 In case of gapes, a parisitical disease, where the chicks 
 stand around and seem to gasp for breath, moisten the throat 
 with turpentine, use a gape worm extractor, or place chicks in 
 a box and sift some air slaked lime over their heads until they 
 sneeze or gasp for breath and shake their heads violently when 
 the worm will be dislodged and sneezed out. 
 
 White diarrhea is a disease of small chicks that has caused 
 many a poultryman to cjuit the business. Volumes have been 
 wi'itten on it. Only the last two or three years have our agri- 
 cultural colleges found the cause and remedy after it has once 
 gotten a stai't in the flock. The only word we will give it here 
 is to say that you will never be bothered with it if the parent 
 stock is kept in large runs and fed and cared for properly. If 
 the chicks have it the disease was transmitted thru the egg to 
 the chick. Some have advocated washing the eggs to be incu- 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 13 
 
 bated in a weak solution of alcohol to free the eggs from the 
 germs. There are several good remedies on the market to 
 combat the disease in the chicks. Home remedies will be of 
 little use. Heroic efforts must be made to save a flock of little 
 chicks after they once have become incubated with the disease. 
 It is a significant fact that brooder chicks are much more sus- 
 ceptible to it than hen brooder chicks. 
 
 By all means make it your policy, wh^n starting in with poul- 
 try to raise a few well than to raise a whole lot and make a 
 miserable failure before the summer is half over. The 
 great mistake made by all beginners is that they attempt 
 too much. On the average village or city lot, fifteen to thirty 
 chicks is the greatest of plenty. Think of the town dweller on 
 a lot 50x60 getting the "chicken fever" and attempting to raise 
 two hundred chicks to maturity on that small space. It will 
 keep one man busy digging graves during June and July when 
 nature is doing her best to right the trouble by killing off 90 
 per cent to give the 10 per cent a chance to live.. 
 
 Among my friends and acquaintances each season I number 
 two or three who have the "chicken fever" and attempt too much 
 and are down and out before the end of the year. Consider your- 
 self fortunate then if you read these lines and profit by them. 
 
 I will mention only one of these failures in passing as they 
 are all similar except in setting. My young friend, newly mar- 
 ried, came to me for advice about raising chickens on his back 
 lot. Thought it would be profitable recreation and furnish the 
 family table with fresh eggs and broilers. Wanted a thorobred, 
 as he wanted to have a nice looking flock and birds that he could 
 show. The first season he raised thirty-five on the back lot. 
 Fine success, hardly a one dying, due to the fact that the lot 
 had not had chickens on it for some time. By fall he had become 
 so infatuated with his flock that he wanted to keep the majority 
 over for breeders, having visions of a great poultry farm by 
 this time and must save every one of these to make the nucleus 
 for the start of his poultry farm. I tried to dissuade him from 
 such a hasty move when he came to me for advice, but he 
 insisted that he was tired of town life and was planning on 
 leading the back-to-nature life and in a year or eighteen months 
 at the most would be on the farm. Asked for poultry house 
 plans, but after reading a description of the two best, had an 
 idea of his own and built one according to his own idea which 
 would beat any yet. Before the winter was over a great num- 
 ber of his fowls had the roup in this house, which was away too 
 small by this time for the growing youngsters. In the spring 
 bought a ten dollar prize winning cockerel, a fine strong fellow. 
 Only got three chicks out of seven settings of eggs, set under 
 hens, and not a chick out of 100 eggs in the incubator, all 
 caused by the lack of vitality and crowding of hens. Cock- 
 erel proved all right on other hens. Before the end of the sec- 
 
14 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 ond summer he wanted to sell me his $40 house for $20 and 
 his fowls for a song, as he was greatly disgusted with the 
 "chicken business." and his whole trouble was in attempting too 
 much, overcrowding, and failure to pay any attention to advice 
 and warning of those who had raised fowls for years. Many 
 of the trying obstacles that confront the novice may be obliter- 
 ated by putting into practice the teaching of this article. 
 
 Essential Requirements of A Poultry House. 
 
 From Pennsylvania State College Circular No. 39. 
 
 The essential requirements of a poultry house are comfort 
 for the hens and convenience for the attendant. It should be 
 economical in construction, cheerful, well ventilated and sani- 
 tary. 
 
 Location — In choosing a location for a poultry house, the 
 following f acto)'s should be considered : 
 
 (a) A southern or southeastern exposure is best because 
 it insures the largest amount of sunlight during cold weather. 
 The house will be more cheerful and the fowls will get out 
 earlier in the spring. 
 
 (b) Shelter. While sunlight is essential, the poultry build- 
 ing should be sheltered from the intense heat of the sun during 
 the hot months and from the full force of prevailing winds. If 
 possible, use of natural shelter such as trees, an orchard, a 
 hill, or a bam. 
 
 (c) Water Drainage. The poultry house must be dry. 
 Select a location that provides natural water drainage. 
 
 (d) Air Drainage. Air drainage is as important as water 
 drainage. Avoid a location that allows cold, damp air to settle 
 around the poultry building. 
 
 (e) Convenience. Locate the poultry house in as con- 
 venient a place as is consistent with the requirements of ex- 
 posure, shelter and drainage. The poultry building should be 
 easily reached from the house and other farm buildings. 
 
 Portable or Permanent House. A portable colony house 
 should always be used for chicks and growing stock. " It may 
 also be advantageously used for housing the breeding stock. 
 When a large flock is kept for egg production a large perma- 
 nent house will be most economical. Unless two large yards 
 can be provided for the permanent house, the portable colony 
 houses will give better results. Poultry should not be kept 
 in the same location more than two years in succession. 
 
 Size. An 8x12 ft. colony will comfortably house 25 fowls. 
 Equipped Avith four portable hovers or a colony brooder heater, 
 it will care for 150 to 200 chicks from the time they are hatched 
 until maturity. For laying hens, four square feet of floor space 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 15 
 
 should be provided for each fowl. For egg production, hens 
 may be profitably housed in flocks of 100 to 500. 
 
 Yards. The close yarding of fowls in long, narrow yards is 
 to be avoided as much as possible. Small yards are difficult to 
 till, increase the cost of equipment, increase the labor of caring 
 for the fowls, and tend to make the latter restless and discon- 
 tented. Give the fowls the free range of a large field. Let 
 them run in the orchard, pasture or corn field. If yards must 
 be used, provide a double yarding system. One yard can be 
 tilled and sown to grass or clover for pasture while the fowls 
 occupy the other. This is necessary in order to avoid disease 
 and to provide an economical supply of green food. 
 
 Type of House. Some form of fresh air house should be 
 used for poultry of all ages. Poultry will thrive in rather cold 
 houses if they are dry and provide an abundant supply of fresh 
 air without drafts. Fresh air is of more importance than 
 warmth. 
 
 Floor. The essentials of a good floor are a hard surface, 
 smooth enough to be easily cleaned, dryness, durability, econo- 
 my construction and warmth. It should be rat proof. A com- 
 mon cause of dampness in a poultry house is a poor floor. 
 
 The three most common floors are earthen, board and 
 cement. 
 
 Earthen or Dirt Floor. Altho it has a low initial cost, it is 
 liable to be damp and hard to clean. It harbors mice and rats 
 and must be replaced every year. The final cost is high because 
 of labor required to keep it clean. 
 
 Board Floor. This is best for a portable house; it is sani- 
 tary, fairly inexpensive, durable and may be made rat proof 
 by lining underneath with fine mesh wire. 
 
 Cement Floor. This is the best for a permanent house, as 
 it is rat proof, easily cleaned and very durable. It is liable 
 to be cold, however, and is more expensive than other types. 
 
 Walls. The walls should provide warmth, dryness and 
 strength for the house. They should be cheap, durable and easy 
 to clean and disinfect. They should be high enough in front 
 to admit sunlight to the back part of house. A height of 4* 
 to 5 feet is sufficient for the rear wall. The front wall should 
 be 6 to 8 feet in height depending upon depth of house and type 
 of roof. Double walls are not necessary. Walls should be tight 
 on all sides except the front. Rough boards covered with roof- 
 ing paper and grooved siding or flooring may be used. 
 
 Roof. The types of roof most commonly used are the 
 shed, gable, combination and "A" roofs. The "A" i-oof is adapt- 
 ed to small colony brooder houses. The shed roof may be used 
 on houses not over 15 feet in depth. The gable roof is adapted 
 to small colony houses for breeding stock. For large houses 
 over 15 feet in depth, use the combination or double pitch roof. 
 
 Roofing Materials. Prepared roofing materials are most 
 
16 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 satisfactory. Shingles require a 1-3 inch pitch and are ex- 
 pensive. Tar paper is not durable. Use a good grade of roof- 
 ing. 
 
 Windows. All windows, both for light and ventilation, 
 should be placed in the front of the house. Both glass and cloth 
 windows should be used. 
 
 Glass windows should be long and narrow, placed vertically 
 and high up. This allows the sun the fullest sweep over the 
 floor with the least amount of glass area. Use 8x10 inch, or 
 9x12 inch glass. Provide one square foot of glass for each 12 
 to 15 feet of floor space. 
 
 Cloth windows are used for ventilation. They should be 
 rectangular in shape, placed horizontally, and high enough to 
 protect the fowls from wind and storm. Provide one square 
 foot of cloth surface for each 10 or 12 feet of floor space. Use 
 a good grade of unbleached muslin. The cloth window should 
 be kept open as much as possible. Close it only on very cold 
 nights, during a storm, or on dark, damp, cloudy mornings. 
 
 The cloth windows should be hinged at the top to swing 
 in and up. 
 
 The combined cloth and glass surface should be approxi- 
 mately one-third of the area of the front side. 
 
 Doors. These should be of convenient size, wide enough to 
 permit a cart or wheelbarrow to enter. Outside doors should 
 swing in. 
 
 Alley Way. An alley way is not advisable. It occupies 
 valuable floor space, is expensive both as to construction and 
 labor, increases the air space in proportion to the number of 
 fowl's that may be cared for, thus making the house cold, and 
 it prevents intimate contact with the flock. 
 
 Interior Fixtures. These should be portable to make clean- 
 ing easier and to aid in controlling lice and mites. They should 
 be as few in number and as simple in design as possible and 
 should be so placed that fowls may have the range of the en- 
 tire floor. 
 
 Plans for Poultry Houses. So many conditions must be con- 
 sidered in building poultry houses that each individual must, in 
 the end, plan his own house. 
 
 The Right Soil for Poultry Yards. 
 
 When the place for the poultry quarters is selected, gen- 
 erally little attention is given to the character of the soil, al- 
 though this is one of the leading factors in being successful in 
 the raising of poultry. 
 
 When poultry is raised as an adjunct to the average Amer- 
 ican farm fowls are generally given the liberty of the farm, 
 be it clay, sandy, muck, or loam, level or rolling ground, and 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 17 
 
 from hence forward they are left to shift for themselves. The 
 hens are allowed to roost in some abandoned shed, in the trees 
 or a poultry house is built on a spot of ground which could not 
 possibly have been used for any other purpose. The house has 
 one or two small windows with a generous portion of the panes 
 broken out and the whole house is built with the sole idea of it 
 being a roosting place and not to be used during the day, as 
 the roosts are built after that well known staii'way style of 
 architecture, with the first roost near the floor and to the front, 
 and one rising above the other, until the last is well up under 
 the roof. The fowls roosting upon the topmost roost show their 
 supremacy, as this is the choicest place and cannot be easily 
 reached by the good wife wishing a hen to fill the pot for the 
 Sunday dinner, or when company unexpectedly comes. With 
 this state of affairs it is a matter of the survival of the fittest. 
 The fowls shift about for themselves for their food and they 
 take their choice of scratching in the chaff in the barn, roam- 
 ing about in the pasture, field or orchard or wading about in 
 the shallow water of the creek or ditch in quest of morsels of 
 food. All the Gallinaceous tribes have wonderful faculty of 
 adaptability when given their freedom, as they will roam about 
 and find the place most suited to their liking and welfare, and 
 remain there the greater part of the day, only returning to 
 shelter at night, but the moment the attempt is made to confine 
 them to a certain limited territory then the quality of the earth 
 upon which it is intended they are to be placed must be taken 
 into consideration as well as providing them with a house to be 
 used during the day as well as night. 
 
 The kind of soil best adapted to poultry raising is rolling, 
 shady or gravelly soil. Fowls thrive better on this kind of soil 
 and need less attention than they do any other kind. The 
 reason is obvious. Where fowls are kept in any great num- 
 bers the ground upon which they tramp day after day quite 
 naturally becomes filthy. The sand and gravel soil, being looser 
 and lighter, the surface does not become so compact and the 
 fowls keep the soil stirred up to certain extent with their 
 sci'atching. Then, after each rain this soil is fresh again as 
 the water becomes dirt-laden and quickly soaks away. 
 
 With a clay soil, even when rolling, or hilly, quite to the 
 contrary is the rule, as well as wdth a muck soil. The more a 
 clay soil is tramped the more compact it becomes, added to its 
 naturally very compact state. Then when poultry offals and 
 rain are added, instead of the filthy water running off or soak- 
 ing up quickly, it tends to stand upon the surface and gradually 
 dry up, leaving a coating of germ-laden fllth upon the 
 ground, which is constantly being added to and in a short time 
 fit for neither fowl nor beast to live on until it has been plowed 
 or spaded. When it is taken into consideration that filthy and 
 
18 BUILDING PLANS P'OR POULTRYMEN 
 
 unsanitary quarters are the source of nearly all the evils in the 
 poultry yard, then the importance of a naturally healthy footing 
 for the fowls may be realized. 
 
 With a heavy soil the only safe way to keep the poultry 
 healthy, and the soil clean as well, is by frequently turning the 
 soil and sowing it to some forage crop whenever possible. A 
 high and dry place, even with sandy soil, should be chosen for 
 the poultry runs and houses where there is an abundance of 
 drainage. Then the nms should be ample and two runs for 
 each pen of fowls. Each alternate run then can be turned under 
 and sown to a mixture of lettuce, rape, oats, and wheat, and 
 whatever the fowls relish and thrives well in the locality 
 during the summer. Just as often as one run becomes divested 
 of its crop of green the fowls are turned into the other one 
 which has been growing a crop in the meantime. One run then 
 is being sweetened up by the growing crop, while the other is 
 used by the flock, and vice versa. Then late in the fall one i-un 
 should be sown to rye, which furnishes 'an excellent late winter 
 and spring green crop. By this method of alternating most any 
 soil, high enough to prevent surface water from standing on it, 
 will yield good returns in the keeping of fowls when handled 
 in an intelligent manner and housed in light, airy houses with 
 clean floors and scratching sheds with plenty of litter to keep 
 the hens busy. In exceptional cases in towns and cities, where 
 a few- hens are kept in very limited quarters and the runs are 
 overshadowed so ])y buildings that it is impossible to grow green 
 foods successfully in the runs to keep them sweet and sanitary, 
 the runs should be co^'ered with several inches of coarse coal 
 cinders and a little soft earth spread over. This surface will 
 keep clean better than almost anything else used for poultry 
 runs. 
 
 Why Some Succeed and Others Fail. 
 
 If we analyze the charactei's of the successful and the un- 
 successful poultry keepers, we will find an explanation for the 
 quantity and quality of poultry raised by each set of people. 
 One is satisfied with the grade of poultry he now raises, and 
 if he saw a way open for betterment he would lack in determin- 
 ation to have better; wiiile on the other hand the other class 
 reads or is told of better stock and other poultry keepers* 
 methods that are superior to theirs, and by "determination" they 
 go into their work of improving what they already have. Can 
 we afford to say that all those wiio are not successful in reach- 
 ing wiiat they desire are lacking in determination? I think not, 
 because we find men who are striving for better, but for the 
 lack of proper tiaining fail. Then we can say that for the 
 lack of determination or training or both, they make failures. 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 19 
 
 The word "experience" rules success and failure more or less, 
 and the best way of getting it is to be determined that what- 
 ever you want to leam will be accomplished one day or another. 
 
 While determination and experience are very vital and of 
 so much importance, yet, unless one has proper stock to begin 
 with, houses to protect them in, suitable quarters for them to 
 exercise in and wholesome, practical food to grow on and pro- 
 duce whatever is expected, he cannot expect very much in re- 
 turn for his labors. I am satisfied that there are thousands 
 of "cull" hens, "roosting in tree tops" and getting their "food 
 wherever they chance to find it" today. Still the consuming 
 populace is wondering why eggs and poultry meats are so 
 high. Where you find one farmer getting eggs from his hens 
 during the cold winter days, you will at the same time find two 
 that get none at all. Every neighborhood has its intelligent and 
 "I'll go" people in it; those who are aware that if you expect 
 to get something out of anything you must first put some- 
 thing into it. Again, there are those who realize this fact, yet 
 for the lack of "I will" fail to make any headway in life. 
 
 It requires grit, gumption and go to be a successful poul- 
 try raiser, and unless you are blessed with these you had better 
 take up some other calling in the business world, for poultry 
 culture is one of the most businesslike vocations to be found. 
 Poultry culture is one line of business which needs men who 
 have and use business "go" and methods. 
 
 Still another drawback with many who fail is the lack of 
 proper selection in the breed that is kept and the best stock 
 that is raised each year for future breeding purposes. There 
 are thousands of the best pullets that find their way to market 
 because they developed faster, while at the same time thousands 
 will be kept at home for futvire breeders, because the huckster 
 wouldn't take them on acount of undersize. 
 
 You will not find men entering any kind of business unless 
 they are somewhat familiar with its general working principles 
 yet we find those who will buy a large farm, stock it to its full 
 capacity and begin raising chickens without any previous ex- 
 perience. No wonder, when we consider some methods used, 
 that so many lose out on their poultry ventures. The only 
 reason for it, too, is that the hen side of fami work has always 
 fallen to women and children, until people had decided that any 
 old way would do. At the present stage of advancement one 
 must be qualified, having much of "I'll go" and the proper 
 kind of material to run his poultry venture on, to be anywhere 
 near a successful poultryman. 
 
20 
 
 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 A Model Poultry House at Reasonable Cost. 
 
 Poultry house architecture has gone thru as many and radi- 
 cal changes and has progressed quite as much in the last few 
 years as dwelling house architecture. Only a few years ago 
 the poultry house was merely a roosting room, and was dark 
 and poorly ventilated. Then to make a success with the flock 
 it was found that the poultry house should be made a living 
 room for the fowls, during the winter months at least. It was 
 then that the glass front house sprang into pi'ominence. Whole 
 south sides of houses were made of glass. But these houses 
 absorbed so much heat during the day and cooled off so rapidly 
 in the evening that the health of the fowls soon became seriously 
 undeiTnined. With this style of house, too, the problem of 
 
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 proper ventilation never became satisfactorily solved. Popular 
 opinion then went to the other extreme and we had poultry 
 houses with canvas fronts and now we have them with the 
 front entirely opened. The difl'iculty with the canvas front was 
 the lack of sunshine which the fowls so much crave during the 
 coRl winter months. The canvas front admitted fresh air in 
 abundance but obstructed the direct rays of the sun. The open 
 front house admitted both, of course, but these houses do not 
 protect the flock from the severe and many changes of the 
 weather enough to make the getting of eggs every month in 
 the winter a certainty. 
 
 Primarily, all poultry houses should face the south or south- 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 21 
 
 east, and the one door should invariably be on the east end. 
 The ground upon which the house is built should be well drained 
 and with a sandy or gravel surface if possible. Near or in an 
 orchard makes an ideal place. 
 
 The design of the house shown is pleasing architecturally 
 and combines economy and convenience. Built as planned with 
 cement floor the combination canvas and glass front, a warm, 
 dry and sanitary house is assured. These, together with an 
 abundance of sunshine and fresh air, are the prime requisites 
 of a good poultry house. 
 
 A trench for the foundation is dug one foot wide and one 
 foot deep. Coarse grout cement is filled in the trench and the 
 
 foundation is built six or eight inches above the surface. The 
 part of the foundation above the surface is made of a greater 
 proportion of cement. The earth dug out of the trenches is 
 filled in under the floor. Coarse stone, gravel or cinders is used 
 to fill in the floor within an inch of the top of the foundation. 
 This should be tamped down very tight. A thin layer of coai'se 
 cement— an inch to an inch and a half in thickness in sufficient 
 for poultry house flooring — is filled in on the cinders. Finish 
 the floor out with an inch of richer concrete for a top dressing. 
 This need not be blocked out or smoothed as painstakingly as 
 concrete sidewalks. It will be noted that the two by fours and 
 siding nailed to them are dropped an inch or more below the 
 
22 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 surface of the floor made by imbedding a two by four in the 
 cement above the foundation and removing it after the cement 
 hardens. Dropping the siding thus below the surface of tlie 
 floor prevents v/ater from beating rains flowing in under the 
 siding and upon the floor as it does quite frequently where the 
 house is built upon a flat surface cement floor. 
 
 The house may be made from tongue and grooved siding 
 or cheap rough lumber and covered with roofing paper. In 
 either case the roof should be covered with cheap sheathing 
 lumber and with a good grade of roofing paper or felt. Shingles 
 or tin should not be used in any case. The sheathing should be 
 laid in the I'oof aci'oss the short dimension of the roof by the 
 interior elevation, to eliminate many rafters, and to make the 
 roof tighter upon the framework. 
 
 Below is approximately what is required in the way of lum- 
 ber, for the building: 
 
 Seven 2x4's 12 feet long. Thi-ee 2x4's 8 feet long. Three 
 2x4's 4 feet long. Four hundred square feet of lumber for 
 three sides and the roof. 
 
 The house is ten by twelve feet, the roof twelve by fourteen 
 and the house seven feet high in front and four in the rear. Do 
 not make the mistake of making a larger house. This house 
 will accommodate twenty-five hens easily and if a larger flock 
 is kept several of these houses should be built about the orchard. 
 Fowls will not do so well where they are kept in large houses 
 or large flocks. It is more natural for six or ten fowls to 
 roam about together. The house is divided into two parts or 
 pens thus making the work of caring for the fowls easier and 
 giving each bird a better chance. The partition dividing the 
 pens should be built up solid about two feet high, so the fowls 
 cannot fight thru the cracks. Above this may be wire netting. 
 
 A single roost or perch is made along the north wall well 
 up under the roof. It should be placed about fifteen inches from 
 the roof and the same distance from the rear wall. A shelf 
 dropping board thirty inches wide is built six or eight inches be- 
 neath the roost. This should be made of flooring or hard pine 
 and painted with pitch to make it impregnable to moisture. 
 With a rake or hoe the board may be cleaned in a moment of 
 time. Three or four nests in each part are built directly be- 
 neath the dropping board. The dust boxes are also built up off 
 the floor about tv^elve inches thus leaving the entire floor space 
 for the straw litter for scratching. The floor should be covered 
 with six or eight inches of straw at all times into which the 
 small grains are thrown which furnishes the fowls exercise, so 
 beneficial to their health. 
 
 A canvas curtain tacked upon a frame is hung in front of 
 the roost to drop down and meet the front edge of the dropping 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 23 
 
24 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 board. It is used only on very cold nights. With this curtain 
 down the fowls are enclosed in a cozy little compartment with 
 plenty of fresh air passing thru the canvas all the time. 
 
 The windows, four in number, may be 24 inches by 24 inches 
 or 20 by 30 inches. They are placed midway between the top 
 and bottom of the house. The space above and below the windows 
 is covered with canvas which may be tacked to the two by fours 
 or on frames and hinged to the two by fours so they may be 
 opened during the summer. The windows are made to take out 
 so the house may be left as open as possible during the sum- 
 mer. Frames of one inch wire netting are desirable to protect 
 the window's on the inside and to be used during the summer 
 while the window frames are removed. With the two trap doors 
 at either corner of the house no other opening should be made 
 in the house except the large door in the east end. The north, 
 east and west walls should be made wind tight and the roof 
 fitting down perfectly tight upon these three walls. This house 
 then will be draft proof. 
 
 It will be noticed that a board one foot wide projects over 
 the lower canvas and the eave extends out at least twelve inches 
 at the top, so that cold, beating rains may not soak the canvas 
 and then freeze, thus retarding the ventilation. The wide eave 
 not only protects the front, but, as it extends all around the 
 house, it also protects the walls and keeps the ground imme- 
 diately around the house from becoming so thoroughly w^ater- 
 soaked during wet weather. Carbon-dioxide gas, the principal 
 ingredient of the expired breath of an animal, is heavier than 
 air, and damp air, it is also known, sinks to the floor and thus 
 the reason for the canvas below the window and near the floor. 
 Warm air rises and the house becomes quite warm during the 
 sunshiny days even in winter if there is not a way of ventilating 
 the upper portion of the house and so the reason for the canvas 
 above. No system of trap door ventilator or drafts has been 
 found practical in poultry house ventilation. They either do not 
 ventilate at all or cause drafts. The canvas permits a constant 
 diffusion of air without drafts. With the canvas frame down 
 in front of the fowls at night the air must pass thru two sets 
 of canvas. If the roof fits down tight and there are no cracks 
 admitting air about the walls of the house this combination of 
 glass and canvas front will make as cheap, convenient, attractive 
 and serviceable house as can be built and combs will not freeze 
 until the temperature drops many degrees below zero. 
 
 A Poultry House That is Different. 
 
 Herewith is presented the plans and description of a poultry 
 house that is built radically different from most of the accepted 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 25 
 
 Ne&t 
 
 plans. The idea for this house was suggested by A. V. Thompson, 
 Salt Lake City, Utah, and is used with success by him. 
 
 The house fronts south and may be built from any conven- 
 ient lumber that is at hand as most of it is protected by the 
 roofing paper or material. The width is six feet, the height 
 six and three-quarters feet, and the length twelve feet. 
 
 The bottom of the house is made box fashion of one inch 
 stuff and is two feet high. The back is boarded up tight and 
 Nor iK if practical, is covered 
 
 with tarred paper the same 
 as the roof. It is hardly 
 necessary to cover the 
 sides with the roofing pa- 
 per as the eaves extend 
 out over them and protect 
 them fi'om wind and rain 
 alike. The roof is six feet 
 t s from the drip to the cone. 
 
 A window is placed in the 
 roof on the east side well 
 to the front and is covered 
 with wire netting from the 
 inside and a door or lid to 
 fit doMTi tight from the 
 outside when the weather 
 is very bad or it is rain- 
 
 Box 
 
 t tK 
 
 Fl 
 
 Pl0L.tv3, 6 X. ISLft. 
 
 HevjUlv (,%K- 
 
 Floor Plan of Thompson dov.sc jiescnbecl b. 
 Mr. Tormohlen in Accompanying Article. 
 
 mg. There need not be 
 any glass for this window 
 for whenever it is nice 
 enough for the sun to 
 shine in it is nice enough 
 to have it shine directly 
 in without being obstruct- 
 ed by the glass. A small 
 ridge or raised place mlist 
 be made under the roofing 
 paper all along the roof 
 just above the window so 
 the rain cannot seep down 
 under the lid when closed. 
 Above the two feet base 
 in front and to the roof it 
 is covered with muslin as 
 shown in the illustration. 
 Another door should be 
 provided beside the muslin 
 or canvas as shown in 
 the illustration and cover- 
 ed with one inch wire net- 
 
26 
 
 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 ting. The one door can swing out and the other in. Most of 
 the time the inner door, only, will be used. 
 
 The ground plan of this house is interesting in that it is 
 quite different than most houses now advocated. Mr. Thompson 
 saye he does not like dropping boards as they are too much 
 trouble and he does not like the nest under the dropping board 
 as they are too hard to get at and to keep the lice and mites out 
 of, so he places the roosts in a second compartment in the back 
 of the house down under the roof on the west side and the 
 nests he places up off the ground as indicated and with the 
 entrance for the hens at the rear. Of course, then, it is so 
 dark in this nest that the hens never leani the egg eating 
 
 
 
 habit nor do they fight over the nest. A little trap door or lid 
 is made in the back of the nest from which the attendant can 
 remove the eggs. This is quite handy. Straw to the depth of 
 six inches is placed under the roosts to catch the droppings and 
 this is removed whenever necessary and clean sti'aw put in. 
 It is strange how men's experiences differ with poultry. For 
 my part I think the dropping board one of the modern con- 
 veniences and nothing could be easier for me to clean and to 
 go back to the old fashioned way with no dropping board would 
 almost cause me to lose my chicken experience altogether, but 
 this is where man's ideas differ about what is work and what 
 is play. 
 
 A muslin partition is placed between the roosting room and 
 scratching floor and during the coldest nights the door to this 
 part is closed. As a I'ule though it is left open. With this door 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 27 
 
 closed the roosting' room of this house would be one of the 
 warmest that could be imagined. With the same thought, I 
 think this house would be most too hot with all the windows and 
 doors out during the summer for poultry to roost in comfort- 
 ably. This house would rather be for the extreme northern 
 fancier and those on the plains where high winds are pre- 
 valent as it is economical from a use of lumber standpoint and 
 is so low that it could be kept warm where most houses could 
 not. 
 
 Six foot fanciers, like myself, would not take readily to this 
 house, I am afraid, for to be practical, a house must be high 
 enough to permit the attendant to stand erect in all the work- 
 ing space in the house. This is the principal draw back to these 
 plans. 
 
 Mr. Thompson fills the whole house with about six inches 
 of wet clay or earth and t&^ps it down tightly for a floor. The 
 scratching room floor is co\^ered generously with straw and into 
 this he feeds all the grains. The feed boxes or hoppers are filled 
 with charcoal, grit, oyster shell, beef scraps and bran and chop. 
 This house will accommodate twelve birds easily. 
 
 A Practical Small House for Fowls. 
 
 Some of the poultry keepers think that the coop or house 
 in which they keep their fowls is one of the least important 
 things connected with the work. This is where many people 
 make their first mistake which results in failure. Proper hous- 
 ing of the fowls should come first in our consideration. One 
 should never purchase chickens unless he has a proper place 
 in which to keep them. The coop illustrated in connection wjth 
 this article is to my mind an ideal one, both for the large and 
 small fancier. It answers all requirements for all seasons of 
 the year. It can be located at any convenient place, but the 
 window should face the south. Almost any kind of lumber is 
 suitable for consti-ucting the coop. The one important feature 
 is that the coop mtist be tight and dry. In case the boards do 
 not fit closely together, the sides of the house can be covered 
 with a good roofing or tar paper. The same material can be 
 used for the roofing. It will be noted by referring to the 
 sketch that the entire coop is under one roof, but it is divided 
 into two appartments. For the purpose of describing the con- 
 struction of the house we will call the left half of it section A 
 and the right half section B. 
 
 The sides of the entire coop are boarded tightly with the 
 exception of the door and opening in section A and the door, 
 window and ventilator in section B. The two sections are sep- 
 arated by a partition which has but two openings, the door and 
 
28 
 
 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 the exit for the fowls. Section B has a board floor while sec- 
 tion A has a ground floor. The former is raised about six 
 inches from the ground to prevent damp. The window should 
 be made as large as possible as light is essential. There should 
 be an opening in section A covered with a small mesh wire and 
 on the outside of this a curtain or canvas to pull down in the 
 winter time. The interior of section B should be the same as any 
 other coop. The nests should be about eighteen inches from the 
 floor, the dropping boards under the roosts and the curtain 
 
 The left half of the house is referred to a s section A and the right half as section B. 
 
 in front of the roosts which may be pulled down during cold 
 weather. Section A should contain litter about six inches deep. 
 Section B is the sleeping quartei's of the fowls and section A 
 is the scratching compartment which sei-ves as a refuge for the 
 fowls in cold and rainy weather when it is not advisable to 
 allow them to run out into the yards. I believe that this house 
 is really without faults and I am sure that all who try it will 
 be pleased with it. I have not specified the size because the 
 house can be built large or small according to one's needs. 
 
 Back Yard Poultry House. 
 
 Poultry house construction is without a doubt the most 
 important factor in poultry management. Without a suitable 
 poultry house it is impossible to obtain the most profit from the 
 poultry flock. Disease and vermin are hard to control. The 
 vitality is apt to be lowered and even with the most efficient 
 ration, good results cannot be hoped for. For these reasons, the 
 first step after securing the right kind of stock is to provide 
 suitable homes for the poultry flock. 
 
 On the opposite page is illustrated a type of house that is 
 very practical and of the right size for the average family 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 29 
 
 flock, as it will conveniently house from twenty to twenty-five 
 birds. 
 
 Among the first things taken into consideration with this 
 design, or these working drawings, are cheapness and simplicity 
 in construction. It will be noted that the only two-by-fours 
 required here are three six-foot pieces on which the floor is 
 laid, the walls being nailed to cleats of same thickness as the 
 boards forming these different sections. 
 
 The largest boards showTi are the roof and floor boards, 
 which are eight feet, but should boards of this length not be 
 available, they could be laid the narrow way of the coop, which, 
 of course, would make them six feet long. However, if the 
 latter is done, it will be necessary to lay the two-by-fours 
 lengthwise of the coop, which would increase them two feet in 
 length. 
 
 The longest boards required for the walls are five feet, 
 running down to three feet in length, which will enable us to 
 use such old lumber as may be lying around the yard, or using 
 the boards from old shipping cases, etc. 
 
 Nests should be about eighteen inches square, two on each 
 side, under dropping board. The bottom of the nests are 
 to slide on cleats to which the boards of the side wall are nailed, 
 and the top of nests to be guided with a cleat nailed to bottom 
 of dropping board. This method you will find very convenient 
 in gathering the eggs, which should be done several times a day 
 in freezing weather. 
 
 As for the sash, it will be noted that no glass sizes are 
 marked, as it is quite possible that second hand sash may be 
 purchased, which might vary a little from sizes showTi. 
 
 Under certain conditions, I would suggest covering the 
 entire outside of coop with water proof building paper to elimin- 
 ate any draught through the cracks, but this is a matter to be 
 considered according to the climatical conditions. 
 
 The hopper and drinking fountain should be kept off the 
 floor for the purpose of keeping them clean when the fowls 
 scratch in the litter for their feed. 
 
 The scratching shed is to have no floor, as the fowis enjoy 
 dusting themselves in the dirt, which is an excellent remedy or 
 preventative for lice and unites. 
 
 The building should be shifted enough several times a sea- 
 son to place the scratching shed over new soil, and the old soil 
 spaded under, as the droppings cause the ground to become 
 sour, which is detrimental to your flock. The board which is 
 sho^vn to screw on is for the purpose of separating the building 
 readily and moving it in two sections. 
 
 The walls and roofs of this building may be put together 
 with hooks and screw eyes, instead of being nailed together, but 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 31 
 
 this is not necessary, however, unless you care to have it port- 
 able. 
 
 Don't overlook using a disinfecting white paint such as 
 "Carbola" or white washing the entire interior of your build- 
 ing, as this is one of the most important things to be con- 
 sidered from a sanitary standpoint, as well as adding consider- 
 ably to the light. 
 
 "A"-Shape Colony House. 
 
 The accompanying drawing illustrates a type of coop known 
 as the "Colony House," but as this design is particularly adapt- 
 able to back yard poultry keeping, we will describe it briefly 
 along this line for the benefit of those who are limited to the use 
 of a city lot, where a larger building would be prohibitive. It 
 will be noted that this building is shown to be constructed port- 
 able by the use of hinges or loose pinned butts and hooks. This 
 construction is particularly good for those who wish to build one 
 or more of these coops under shelter during the winter months, 
 and place same at their selected location in the spring. The 
 butts are to be screwed securely to cleats to hold the different 
 sections tightly in place, and when ready to move or store away, 
 the loose pins can be removed, leaving the butts in the proper 
 location for erection. The entire coop is secured to the floor 
 by the use of hooks and screw eyes, but should it be decided to 
 locate the building permanently, the sections may be nailed to- 
 gether, which would, of course, eliminate tha additional cost of 
 hardware. 
 
 This coop being only eight feet square and supplied with 
 plenty of glass to admit sunlight, it is especially adapted for 
 limited space, where a scratching shed would cover too much 
 ground. Altho matched flooring would make a tight and draft- 
 proof building, it is a rather expensixe construction, so I would 
 suggest a cheaper grade of lumber and cover the entire exterior 
 of the coop with water-proof building paper. 
 
 It will be noticed that the dropping board does not extend 
 the full width of the coop, allowing room to get at the back of 
 the nests, but I believe I could improve on this by running the 
 dropping boai'd the full width of the coop and constructing nests 
 to pull out on truck rollers or cleats. Another suggestion I 
 would make, owing to the shallowness of this building, is this: 
 Where the winters are severe I would px'ovide a drop curtain in 
 front of the roosts to eliminate as much as possible the freezing 
 of the combs of the large-combed varieties. 
 
 Roosts are things that seem to be a matter of opinion among 
 fanciers, but in my opinion it is natural for a chicken to stand 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 33 
 
 flat-footed and not be obliged to cling to a round pole or narrow 
 roost. I find the use of two strips about three inches wide, one 
 being nailed edgewise to the other for stiffness forming a "T" 
 shaped roost, to be very desirable and simple in construction. 
 
 Iowa Model of Half-Monitor Roof Type Poultry. 
 
 By H. A. BITTENBENDER, Professor in Poultry Husbandry, 
 Iowa State College of Agriculture, Ames, Iowa. 
 
 The semi-monitor poultry house appears to be a good prac- 
 tical house for the general farm, because it contains those prin- 
 ciples of construction which are essential for successful produc- 
 tion. First of all it has the floor space arranged so that it 
 will be most practical and beneficial for the poultry flock during 
 the winter months. The principle of ventilation is maintained 
 in the best possible manner. Sunlight can readily gain access 
 in almost all parts of this house. Its cost, when compared with 
 other types of houses is not much greater and for the few addi- 
 tional dollars that it may cost in construction it will pay good 
 interest in the form of healthy poultry. 
 
 A few of the principles of poultry house construction which 
 should be kept in mind are: 
 
 1. For 150 hens a house 22x24 is necessary. 
 
 2. The foundation of floor should consist of six to eight 
 inches crushed stone or gravel, a layer of hollow tile and an 
 inch of cement. 
 
 3. For every ten feet of floor space allow one foot of 
 opening in front. 
 
 4. Face house toward south. 
 
 5. Windows in upper portion of house should be open four 
 to six inches in winter and one to two feet in summer, hinged at 
 bottom. 
 
 Poultry house construction is without doubt the most im- 
 portant factor in poultry management. Without a suitable poul- 
 try house it is impossible to obtain the most profit from the 
 poultry flock. Disease and vermin are hard to control. The 
 vitality is apt to be lowei'ed and even with the most efficient 
 ration good results cannot be hoped for. For these reasons we 
 think that the first step after securing the right kind of stock 
 is to provide suitable homes for the poultry flock. 
 
 The semi-monitor type of farm poultry house is not only 
 economical in construction but its design fits in attractively 
 with other farm buildings. These factors are not so essential 
 to obtaining a high egg production, but when a house combines 
 all of these essentials together with those for the development 
 of the best health of the flock and a high and economical egg 
 production, it is the best type of house to build. 
 
 The semi-monitor type of farm poultry house has been 
 

 
 I = 
 
 H 
 EI 
 EB 
 EE 
 
 EE 
 EB 
 
 Ea 
 
 EH 
 
 
36 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 constructed in practically all parts of the country and it seems 
 to work in equal success in the south as well as in the north. 
 The depth of 22 feet with the arrangement of the windows and 
 the open front, provides that almost the entire floor space of 
 the house is reached by sunlight at some time during the day. 
 Especially during the winter months when the days are short 
 is the sunlight at its best from the standpoint of this house. 
 
 For extreme northern conditions, if the open front covered 
 with muslin frames proves too severe, part of the front can be 
 equipped with windows but only in a few instances has this 
 been found necessary. 
 
 The house is complete in practically every detail. The 
 roosts are hinged at the back and can be raised for cleaning, the 
 dropping board slides in and is easily removed for thoro disinfec- 
 tion. With all of these conveniences it takes but little time to 
 care for a flock of 150 chickens. This unit of construction should 
 be kept in mind and if the flock desired is more than 150, add 
 to the length of the house but do not change the depth or 
 height of the house, as it has been found that these dimensions 
 produce the desired results. 
 
 Agricultural Extension Poster No. 18, issued by the Iowa 
 State College of Agriculture gives detailed plans of the Iowa 
 Model House. 
 
 A Cheap Scratching Shed. 
 
 In spite of all the precaution not to have too many fowls in 
 a house a great many poultrymen find that their houses are too 
 small to comfortably accommodate the flock which they would 
 like to keep ovei-. On account of being over crowded quite a 
 number of poultrymen have found that their hens do not lay 
 in November as they should when the price of eggs goes 
 soaring. Hens can't possibly do well if they are crowded or are 
 not fed right. The feed is a great factor in getting eggs but 
 no matter how perfect the feed or well balanced the ration the 
 hens will not lay unless they have comfortable quai-ters, cozy 
 roosts, fresh air and plenty of litter to exercise in. 
 
 Even if it is December and winter, if your hens are not 
 laying as they should and are overcrowded it is not too late 
 to build a shed like the sketch, on the side of the poultry 
 house or bam. Have the lumber and roofing material all ready 
 and the first nice day two men can put up a shed like this in a 
 very short time. If the ground is frozen so that you cannot 
 put a lot of gravel in it, fill it with cinders so the shed will 
 not be damp on the floor. I would not advise putting in a 
 wooden floor unless you have a lot of cheap waste lumber, but 
 then if you do this you will have to take care to build it high 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 37 
 
 enough so that it will not be a harbor for rats and if it is 
 built up off the ground the wind sweeping under it is liable to 
 make it cold. 
 
 Don't make the mistake of making this shed 
 too high. The lower it is the more comfortable. With a suit- 
 able roofing material the slant of the roof need not be very 
 great. 
 
 Leave the whole south side of this shed open. It may be 
 covered with wire netting as it a good idea to keep the hens 
 
 A cheap scratching shed. 
 
 confined in the house, where a shed for scratching is provided, 
 the greater part of the cold winter months. Some of the weaker 
 fowls cannot then be driven out in the cold wind and take cold 
 or roup as is so often the case. 
 
 The secret of making the hens happy, like a boy, is to 
 give them something to do and the only way to keep the hens 
 busy in cold winter months when everything is frozen up, is 
 to provide plenty of litter. You can hardly provide too much 
 nice clean straw for a hen to scratch in. Many farmers wonder 
 why their hens do not lay during the winter and yet they have 
 plenty of the wherewith with which to make the hen happy and 
 keep her busy. 
 
 Into the litter of straw some six or eight inches deep feed 
 all the whole grains and make the hens work for as much of 
 their feed as possible. 
 
 A California Poultry House. 
 
 Chickens thrive most and do best where they can roam 
 about over green fields and under the orchard and woodland 
 shade at will, searching for the morsel that strikes their par- 
 
38 
 
 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 ticular fancy. To keep the fowls close to nature is the secret 
 of success of many of our most famous fanciers and exhibitors. 
 Even when it comes to conditioning for show purposes the 
 secret of success of many a string of blue ribbon winners has 
 been that thev were left to roam hero and there, but -with care- 
 ful attention and extra morsels of food placed in inviting places 
 each day, and the fowls thus left round out their bodies and fill 
 out their plumage until almost the last day before the show. 
 
 Tho California poultry house. 
 
 This brings a fowl in in what is termed "the pink of condition," 
 which cannot be beaten by any amount of unnatural condition- 
 ing. Wlien they are housed unnaturally and pampered they soon 
 show a lack of vitality. 
 
 The canvas front and open air types of houses have solved 
 the problem for the poulterers in the northern states, but it 
 was left for the California poulterers to adapt a different style 
 of architecture entirely in poultry house constiaiction, and the 
 type of house shown in the illustration is the product of Cali- 
 fornia same as the bungalow. 
 
 This house is used quite extensively upon some of the large 
 Leghorn egg-laying farms. These houses are distributed out 
 over the orchard or almond grove, and units of thirty or forty 
 hens roost in a house. The fowls kept in this fashion are as 
 near to nature as it is possible to keep them. They do much bet- 
 ter when kept in small flocks as it seems to be nature's plan 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 39 
 
 to have small flocks and abhore great masses. The houses are 
 far enough apart that it is not necessary to place wire netting 
 between them. The fowls, of course, run together somewhat 
 during the day, but large numbers of them are never found 
 congregated together in one place. 
 
 It will be noticed that their roosts are rather high and on 
 a level. The higher the roost for the Leghorn, the better as it 
 seems to give them an air of security and contentment. The 
 highest roost, you have always noticed with fowls, is always 
 the choicest place according to chicken idea, and so they are 
 all placed on a level, eliminating crowding in one part of the 
 house. 
 
 Making the Poultry House Burglar Proof. 
 
 It is a safe maximum to say: "That the higher class the 
 home and its out buildings and the better the stock and posses- 
 sions the more liable they are to be tampered with and invaded 
 by thieves." No matter where you are situated, you are run- 
 ning a risk of having the horse stolen, the barn burned, or the 
 hen roost lifted, however remote the risk might seem to you. 
 And by the way, had you ever noticed that the person who rests 
 so secure persuaded to believe he is by his own reasoning, is 
 the one fii'st touched by thieves. Like the farmer of old, they are 
 the ones who lock the barn after the horse is gone. 
 
 For the want of reliable information on the subject and 
 because the average electrician does not make a business of 
 putting in burglar alarms and therefore does not keep posted 
 on the latest methods of putting them in the average property 
 owner has been led to think the cost of installing one is rather 
 heavy and the systems too complicated to work well and be 
 absolutely reliable under all circumstances in untrained hands. 
 
 There are two systems of wiring — the open and the closed. 
 The open circuit system is used much more than the closed altho 
 the closed is the more reliable in some respects. In the open 
 circuit system all that is required is two dry cell batteries, a bell 
 and the insulated wire is arranged in the building so that if 
 a wkidow or door is opened it will cause the wire running from 
 the batteries to be connected and thus ring the bell. Most any- 
 one with any knowledge of electrical appliances at all can install 
 the open circuit system for the doors and windows of the home. 
 The weak point about the open circuit is that it is easy to put 
 out of commission by the ordinary thief if it is installed in the 
 barn or poultry house with the wires running to the house. The 
 thief will be almost sure to see these wires and with an ordinary 
 pen knife cut one or both and thus opening the open circuit all 
 the wider and cutting off all chance of the two ends of the wire 
 meeting and completing the circuit and ringing the bell in the 
 
40 
 
 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 house. But if the wires can be put in an underground conduit 
 or concealed so they cannot possibly be discovered the open cir- 
 cuit is just as reliable in any of the outbuildings as in the 
 home. With the closed circuit, which will be described later, 
 the thief gets himself into trouble all the sooner by cutting the 
 wires and it is advisable with this system to put them in plain 
 view for just the moment the circuit is broken by the wire being 
 cut the bell immediately rings in the house. And no matter how 
 expert the thief he cannot experiment with the wires on the out- 
 side of a building to find whether they connect an open or closed 
 system without setting the bell to ringing if the closed system 
 is used. The closed system is so seldom used that he will most 
 likely sever the \nre. I say this is the most likely thing he 
 %\ill do. Nine chances to one it is an open system and then nine 
 chances to one he has put the electric alarm system out of 
 commission in short order but if yours is the tenth chance and 
 the closed circuit trouble is on hand at once. 
 
 The Open Circuit. 
 
 The open circuit needs an electric bell with a 25 inch gong 
 and enough annunciator, or bell wire, to make a metallic circuit 
 to your residence. Rubber covered heavier wire is preferable 
 for outside wiring. Two cells of dry battery should operate a 
 distance of two hundred feet and an additional cell for each 
 hundred feet. To wire a poultrj- house or barn, on the sill of 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 _■ - - - 
 
 ■m -'d 
 
 
 
 -^ - . 
 
 > ' 
 
 V 
 
 » ! 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 -*-n 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 i^ho^vlng plate under door for open system. When a jierson steps 
 
 on the board the contact is made on the copper plates between the 
 
 board and sill. 
 
 each opening tack a piece of copper tin 2x4 inches, ever\- two 
 feet. Under this tin plate, coil a piece of wire, free from" insu- 
 lation for two or more inches so that the tin will press firmlv 
 agamst the bare bright ^\ire. Then saw a board the width of 
 your sill and about one inch shorter at each end than the open- 
 ing to fit over the sill. Mark on the board where the tin plate 
 will strike this board, if placed in its proper place and place tin 
 or copper with two feet of wire attached, on the board the same 
 as on the sill. Now get some No. 1 brass spring wire and make 
 three or four springs about one inch high when opened enough 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 41 
 
 to spring good. Bore holes in the sill and the board to match 
 about one-quarter inch in depth and fit the springs in them. 
 Placed thus, they should keep the square pieces of contact 
 plates about one-quarter inches apart. Bore four holes thru the 
 top board a little larger than a good sized wire spike. Then 
 set the board in its proper position with springs under and drive 
 spikes in the holes down until the heads leave about one-quarter 
 in play at the top above the board. This allows the board to 
 work up and down if pressure is made on the board at any point 
 and yet the board is finnly attached to the sill so that it cannot 
 be detached easily. 
 
 The two wiz-es brought from the residence attached to the 
 fence posts and the outbuildings and carried along under the 
 brought inside the wired building and carried along under the 
 windows and past the doors. Each wire of the upper contact 
 boards is connected with one of the wires from the residence 
 from the sill are connected with the other wire from the resi- 
 dence. Care must be taken to remove the insulation from the 
 wire wherever a connection is made. 
 
 Plates or boards as described above should be placed under 
 or on the sills of all the windows and doors but as an extra pre- 
 caution for the doors where the thief is liable to be careful not 
 to step on the sill, tack a piece of tin or copper two inches 
 square on the back edge with the bare end of the wire under it 
 the same as under the sills. On the wcathei'-boarding place a 
 piece of the spring wire about two inches long with an eye at 
 one end for a heavy screw. Then fasten a short insulated wire, 
 ends scraped off, to the screw, i-unning it (the wire) thm the 
 board and into the building. The wires attached to the tin on 
 the door and the screw on the spring should be attached to the 
 wires leading to the residence, the same as the sill connections. 
 If the door opens inwardly it is much better as the connection 
 is on the inside where it cannot be tampered with. Now when 
 you lock your house at night turn the spring on door over the 
 tin plate just so it will not touch unless door is opened. The 
 connections on the sills are always set so that the door is all 
 that need be bothered with each night. Now fasten your bell 
 where wanted in the house, attaching one wire from the wired 
 building to one binding post on the bell, and the other wire from 
 the building to the zinc post of nut attachment on the outer 
 edge of one battery. With a small piece of wire attach the 
 center post of this same battery to the zinc of the seconcl bat- 
 tery and the carbon center post of this battery to the other 
 binding post on the bell. The system is complete and the mo- 
 ment pressure is applied on the sill in the poultry house or barn 
 bell gives the warning. 
 
 The Closed System. 
 
 The closed system is much more complicated and therefore 
 costs more to install but when once installed it will last for 
 
42 
 
 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 years and will operate clear across a town, if wired properly, 
 and is absolutely dependable. The batteries are strong enough 
 with this system that the house and all the outbuildings can 
 be wMred and attached to the same circuit. The closed circuit 
 is really two circuits. The electricity is continually flowing thru 
 one thus causing an iron bar (in the telegraph relay) to be 
 magnetized continually so that it holds another iron bar firmly 
 
 Showinvr method of tacking' wire on each l)oard in rnof and sido to 
 lirevent thieves rcmovinK lioards. Kor closc^d circuit and wft batteries 
 
 only. 
 
 to it. immediately when the wire is cut or the circuit broken 
 the iron bar loses its magnetism and drops the other iron bar 
 and this bar in dropping completes the circuit on another sys- 
 tem and it rings the bell just as in the open circuit. 
 
 It takes the following material to make the closed circuit 
 system: 
 
 1 telegraph relay, cither Pony or main line. 
 
 I two point switch. 
 
 6 jars crow foot batteries. 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 43 
 
 Main line covered telephone wire for all outside wiring. 
 Annunciator wire for inside work. 
 
 Porcelain knobs if you run wire outside on posts, other- 
 wise staple it but do not break the insulation. 
 Blue vitrol. 
 1 small door bell, electric same as open circuit. 
 
 1 two-point switch. 
 
 2 dry batteries. (The last three items are required for the 
 bell circuit inside the house.) 
 
 With the closed circuit it requires six wet batteries beside 
 the two dry ones. Each work independently of each other, or 
 rather their circuits do not connect. Set up the six wet bat- 
 teries a couple of days before using as follows: Take the cop- 
 per plates furnished with the wet batteiics. open them out and 
 bend ends over a trifle and place one in the bottom of each jar. 
 Hang the zinc crow foot on the edge of each jar and then care- 
 fully fill the jar with water until the water covers the prongs 
 
 ■\ 
 
 M 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 T", 
 
 1 ' 
 
 i^ 
 
 •L. 
 
 1 1 
 ' ■ 1 
 
 "' 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 rl 
 
 o 
 
 h I 
 
 Method of weaving: insulated wire in wire netting or back of canvas 
 
 in the fresh air style of iioultry house so widely used at the present 
 
 time. The moment a thief cuts the wire the bell rinns. 
 
 of the crow foot. Connect up the batteries A\ith short pieces 
 of copper wire by attaching the copper of one jar to the zinc 
 of the other and so on thru the six jars and finally connect the 
 copper with the sixth one to the zinc of the first one and let 
 them work 48 hours. 
 
 Put the wet batteries in the cellar or some out of the 
 way place where they will not freeze. Place the relay up on a 
 shelf where it will not be disturbed. Run a wire from one of the 
 binding posts on the relay to the copper plate of the first bat- 
 
44 
 
 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 tery. Run a wire from the other binding post of the relay to 
 the poultry house, placing a two-point switch in it at some con- 
 venient point about the house so it can be opened and closed at 
 will. From the crow foot on the last wet battery run a second 
 wire to the poultry house. Two wires are attached to the other 
 two binding posts "of the relay and one is attached to the center 
 post of one of the dry batteries. The zinc of the first dry bat- 
 tery is attached to the center post of the second dry battery by 
 
 :5=^ 
 
 A wet battery crow-foot kin''. Six of these are re(iuire<J for the closed 
 circuit alarm. 
 
 a small wire and a wire fi'om the zinc of the second battery is 
 run to the small bell in the bedroom and attached to one of the 
 binding posts. Run the second wire from the binding post back 
 thru a two-point switch to the relay. Then as stated above, 
 when the current is running thru the wet battery sysem it keeps 
 the dry battery system open but the moment the wet battery cir- 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 45 
 
 cuit is cut or opened it releases the open battery circuit, closing 
 it and ringing the bell. As might be expected, then, with the 
 wet battery or closed system, the houses have to be mred 
 exactly opposite so that the circuit is complete all the time. 
 Instead of springs to keep the points of contact apart, as in the 
 open circuit, springs should be used to keep the contact plates 
 together all the time so that the moment they are tampered 
 with, the window opened or door opened, they fly apart. 
 
 The advantage with the closed circuit is that the wire can 
 be tacked to each board on the back, sides and roof of a Poul- 
 try house, if there is any danger of thieves removmg the boards 
 to get in, as they quite often do, and then when a board is pned 
 off the thief breaks or cuts the wire causing his undoing. If the 
 small insulated wire is securely stapled to each board in the back 
 and sides of the barn or poultry house the prying off ot the hrst 
 board will easily break the wire and the thief will probably not 
 know anything about it, and you can dress at liesure and then 
 yet get to the building before he has pried off enough boards 
 
 ° ^Another decided advantage of the closed system is that the 
 house to be wired for thieves need not be closed tight. In the 
 case 6f a poultrv house it may be an open front with only wire 
 netting covering the opening or it may be that the openings 
 are covered with canvas or muslin in which case they can be 
 wired just as easilv as the closed building. If a bara is wired 
 and several windows are to to be left open during the summer 
 a covering of wire netting is all that is necessary. Use the 
 small insulated bell wire in this case and across any opening 
 weave it in and out in the wire netting across the opening at 
 intei-vals of eight inches or a foot. Then connecting with the 
 same w-ive weave it, likewise, up and down across the opening, 
 thus making squares eight inches or one foot m diameter. With 
 a canvas front poultry house the wires should be tacked across 
 in the same manner just back of the canvas. In either case 
 be sure the wire is securely fastened on the sills each time 
 so it A\'ill require cutting to get it loose. The thief will hardly 
 notice the wire if woven in with the wire netting and he will 
 not lose much time in cutting it after cutting the canvas front 
 
 or wire netting. ^i , ^ • +i,„ 
 
 Even with closed windows this same method of ranning the 
 wire back and forth across the opening just back of the ymdow 
 and fastening it to the sill each time, may be employed. Ihe 
 window may be opened or closed at will and yet the system 
 is always ready. Where a window is always closed at night 
 or opened a certain distance (being sure the distance is not 
 enough to admit a man's body without raising it higher) two 
 points of contact may be made by imbedding a copper plate in 
 the window frame and one in the A\indoAV just opposite so that 
 they press finnly against each other. When the window is 
 
46 
 
 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 raised these points of contact are pulled apart, thus breaking the 
 current and ringing the bell. A copper plate may be imbedded 
 in the door and door frame in the same manner so that they 
 press firmly against each other when the door is closed. When 
 the door is opened, then, the current is broken. So easy is it 
 to set up a closed circuit system and have it work that a wood 
 pile might be wired in a few minutes time. Two sticks of wood, 
 which would most likely be picked up should have the ends of 
 the insulated wire fastened to them. The insulation is cut off 
 in a convenient place on each stick and then the sticks placed 
 on the pile of wood so the bare wires of each stick press 
 against each other and foi-m a firm contact. When the current 
 is turned on it flows through this break uninterrupted. But 
 when one of the sticks is picked up or moved the current is 
 broken and the bell rings. 
 
 During the day when the system is not in use the switches 
 
 leic'i^'i-aph pony relay lor the closed system. 
 
 leading each way from the relay and controlling the dry and 
 wet battery circuits should be opened so the wet batteries will 
 not be worldng and wasting continually. 
 
 The wet batteries are cheaper to keep up after once installed 
 than the dry ones. They should be cleaned about every two 
 months and half of the old solution used again. The crow-foot 
 should always be covered with water to insure it working prop- 
 erly. 
 
 Follow the following insti'uctions in adjusting the relay, 
 which can be purchased of any electrical store: 
 
 Reverse the back contact screw so that the platinum point 
 will be in front of the armature and the i-ubber point screw 
 over the magnets. The relay must be adjusted close up to the 
 ai-mature. These terms will be easy to understand if the relay 
 is in hand. The electrician, though, in a moment's time, can 
 explain the working of it. The relay is similar to the ticker on 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 47 
 
 With the tiiangular piece of board 
 hinged at the top as shown and a 
 spike nail or iron bolt fitting in a 
 hole in the door jam on the hinged 
 side, a contact is made by opening 
 the door. When the door is closed 
 the contact is broken. Can be made 
 in ten minutes for the open or dry 
 battery circuit. 
 
 a telegraph instrument but it 
 does not have the telegraph 
 key attached. They can be 
 purchased for various sums, 
 but the cheapest will answer 
 the purpose well. 
 
 The closed circuit system is 
 generally used in wiling jewelers 
 show cases and windows and 
 doors and homes with private 
 collections or rare and costly 
 collections of gems or books or 
 what not. But because the in- 
 formation is not given out how 
 to install it by electricians, 
 generally, it is not as exten- 
 sively used as is the open cir- 
 cuit which can be installed by 
 most anyone today. They are 
 so simple that the average 
 school boy can set them up and 
 the knowledge of how to oper- 
 ate them is not and cannot be 
 kept in the hands of the expert 
 electricians. 
 
 All owners of valuable 
 stock, poultry or outbuildings 
 should install the closed circuit 
 and have all fear of thieves 
 allayed. For the home, only, 
 the open circuit described first 
 is the better and cheaper. 
 
48 
 
 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 Automatic Release Door. 
 
 Poultry breeders who are believers in the old adage: "The 
 early bird gets the woi-m," will undoubtedly be interested in the 
 accompanying illustration of an automatic release door to be 
 
 used on poultry houses 
 where it is desired that 
 the poultry shall be se- 
 curely locked during the 
 night and yet have the 
 advantage of the first 
 rays of the morning sun 
 out on the range. The 
 flock out on the range 
 with the first rays of 
 daylight has the advan- 
 tage of two or three of 
 the best hours of the day 
 to gi'ow and to find the 
 early bugs and worms 
 which they would not 
 otherwise have, should 
 they have to sit and fret 
 waiting for their keeper 
 to release the trap door 
 to let them out to free- 
 dom and the fresh morn- 
 ing air. 
 
 Those who have had 
 
 the sad experience of the 
 
 nightly raids upon their 
 
 hen roosts, by weasels, 
 
 foxes or other night 
 
 prowlers, when the house 
 
 ( was left open for the 
 
 / fowls to get out bright 
 
 and early will especially 
 
 Automatic release door. Welcome these plans. 
 
 An explanation of the plans is hardly necessary as the 
 sketch well gives the details of construction. The movement 
 of the trap is very simple and easy and is released by the first 
 bird which walks onto the slightly raised false floor. A string 
 is fastened to this floor passing up over the projecting T-shape 
 attachment and down to the wire hook. To this cord is at- 
 tached a weight, heavy enough to balance the false floor when 
 raised and set for action as sho\\ni in the lower plan. The trap 
 is attached to the outside of the building and can be of any size 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 -^Ki^ 
 
 .1 \i^c 
 
 ^. 
 
 z 
 
 ^ 
 
 —J 
 
 J 
 
 
 
 •^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . _ 
 
 
 
 T 
 
 i- 11"-. 
 
 
 ■// 
 
 ° 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 / 
 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 49 
 
 desired according to the breed. The dimensions given are 
 siiitable for any of the medium sized fowls, but for any of the 
 large ones, such as Brahmas, Cochins, or Langshans, the opening 
 into the house will have to be enlarged accordingly. 
 
 The front trap door is covered with inch mesh wire netting 
 or the finer one-half inch if it is desired to be sure of the 
 weasels. This door must be covered with wire that the fowls 
 may be attracted by the light and thus be induced to come out 
 upon the false floor and release themselves. When the wire 
 door is up the hock is pulled down over the edge and should be 
 tight enough to hold on by its own weight, as all resistence is 
 relieved by the counter weight which is fastened just above the 
 hook. The weight, of course, should be just heavy enough to 
 balance the false floor, so that it will stand in any position to 
 which it may be raised. 
 
 About four inches is sufficient incline to set the false floor. 
 The end of the false floor toward the building should be 
 fastened to the floor with a hinge. The weight of the first hen 
 will release the trap door the instant she walks out upon the 
 inclined board permitting all the flock to pass out. 
 
 A Good Home Made Trapnest. 
 
 The illustration shown gives a fair idea of a trap nest that 
 anybody can make in a little while with only a hammer and a 
 saw for tools. Of course, if you have many hens you will have 
 to make several nests to accommodate all, and then all the 
 other nests must be closed or torn up. 
 
 The trap nest has been quite an important factor in build- 
 ing up strains of heavy layers among most of the popular breeds 
 today. The down-to-date American has insisted upon knowing 
 just how many eggs a hen could lay in a year when the state- 
 ment was made that she was a good layer. Then with definite 
 figures and a standard to go by, made by the best layers in a 
 large flock, he has insisted that it was possible to have a whole 
 flock of layers as capable of turning out a great number of eggs 
 as the few heavy layers that he started with. What the Bab- 
 cock test has done for the dairyman in eliminating the non- 
 cream producing cows from his herd, the trap nest has done for 
 poultrydom in eliminating the non-layers from the flock of hens. 
 Using the trap nest, the breeder, by a process of elimination 
 and culling each year, breeds from only the best layers in his 
 flock and has slowly increased the average egg yield per hen 
 until it is a third more than twenty-five years ago. The small 
 fancier and back-yard poultry raiser has taken more interest 
 and has been more successful along this line, as he has had only 
 a few hens and a limited space. He knew just how many hens 
 
50 
 
 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 he had and how many his neighbor had and the neighborly pride 
 in getting more eggs per hen from his flock excited more care 
 and interest. 
 
 The trap nest is made in two compartments. The box 
 proper is fifteen inches square by thirty-two to thirty-six inches 
 long. The hole or opening between the compartments need not 
 be round as pictured unless you care to make it so, but it should 
 
 be just large enough 
 for a hen from your 
 flock to pass through 
 easily. The larger 
 breeds require a larger 
 opening, of course. 
 
 A large stiff wire is 
 bent in the shape indi- 
 cated, and the part 
 passing over the open- 
 ing is made to work 
 freely up and down 
 under the wire guards 
 hold by small staples, 
 the whole wire as- 
 suming a lever ac- 
 tion. 
 
 With the trap door 
 caught up on other arm 
 of the lever, the hen 
 passes under it and as 
 she stai-ts to pass un- 
 der the wire lever into 
 the second compart- 
 ment and into the nest 
 proper, her back gently 
 presses against the 
 wire raising it and at 
 the same instant slid- 
 ing the other end of the 
 lever out from under 
 the trap door. The first 
 compartment should be 
 made a little longer 
 than the trap door is high enough to prevent the door 
 dropping on the hen's back before she gets quite into the nest 
 proper. The wire arm over the opening should be placed high 
 enough so that the hen will naturally try to pass under it in- 
 stead of over it. Each hen should have an aluminum or copper 
 leg band, with a number on it, on one of her legs. Then as 
 you release the hen you can put the egg down on your memo- 
 randum to her credit. Sometimes the hens will enter the nest 
 
 Home made Trap Nest, desoribed by H. 
 Tormohlen in accompanying article. 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 51 
 
 for curiosity, and especially is this true when the system is first 
 installed, but after they become used to it, they will seldom ever 
 enter except to lay. To get the hens acquainted with the nests 
 the doors may be propped up for several days. 
 
 The trap is also excellent for sitting hens — you can release 
 the hen to get her feed and trap the door, and then after she 
 goes back on her nest she shuts the door after her and other 
 hens cannot enter to bother her or break the eggs. You can 
 also easily catch the hen that is an egg eater with the trap nest, 
 as some of the broken egg shells will tell the tale. 
 
 A Simple Home Made Trapnest. 
 
 This illustration shows a simple trapnest that can easily be 
 made by anyone handy with tools. It can be made out of any 
 ordinary box with the proper dimensions. The complete nest 
 should be about eighteen inches long and the front about one 
 foot square. A strip about two inches wide should be fastened 
 on the floor of the nest about twelve inches from the back, mak- 
 
 I - 
 
 Hg le FRONT OF NEST AND TRIGGER 
 Th^ door should be constructed of light matensl so a 
 illy One-tpch iraicnal should be used in tnaking the itigg 
 
 ing a nest in the back of the box about twelve inches square. 
 The trigger, which is made out of one-inch material, is fastened 
 to the side of the nest box. When the trap is set the door rests 
 on this trigger. As the hen enters, she raises the door slightly 
 with her back, thus releasing the trigger, which drops down, 
 pei'mitting the door to close as the hen continues to enter the 
 nest. This nest is one of the simplest and most satisfactory 
 trapnests that can be made at home. 
 
52 
 
 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 The False Floor Trapnest. 
 
 T>'?vc ere many ways of making- tiapnests, some of them 
 more or less ccmplicated and depending upon the various trig- 
 gers, springs, trips, etc., 
 but the one shown in the 
 illustration is about as 
 simple as any made. The 
 disadvantage this nest has 
 is that the nest material 
 is liable to interfere with 
 the working of the false 
 floor upon which it rests 
 and also is liable to get 
 under the false floor and 
 keep it from dropping 
 down under the weight of 
 hen as it should. For this 
 reason it would not be pronounced the best trapnest devised 
 but it may be classed as one of the simplest and easiest made. 
 All that is necessary to make this nest is an oblong box 
 into which a light board the size of the floor is fitted. Onto 
 this board is tacked a light inch strip underneath so the board 
 will balance on it. Then a lever or upright bracket is nailed on 
 so that it will barely hold the door up as shown in the cut. 
 When the hen walks into the nest and passes back past the 
 balance plate her weight pulls the lever back out from under 
 the door and thus it falls into place and holds the hen until she 
 has laid the coveted egg and been credited with same by the 
 keeper. 
 
 False floor trai) nei^t. 
 
 Nesting Boxes. 
 
 As many nests as desired may be constructed in one section. 
 
 The illustration herewith shows four. For Leghorns, place 
 
 the partitions twelve inches 
 apart and for the larger 
 breeds fourteen inches. Nail 
 the partitions only to the 
 roof or top and to the three- 
 inch strip in front, leaving 
 the bottom loose. The wall 
 of the house fonns the back 
 of the nests. They should 
 be set against it and not 
 
 fastened, thus making them easily removable for cleaning. 
 
 Braces for holding the nests should be fastened against the 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 53 
 
 wall as shown. If nests are much above the floor of the house 
 the bottom board should be six inches beyond them in front to 
 form a platform upon which the fowls can fly when getting into 
 the nests. 
 
 Troughs for Fowls. 
 
 During the rainy days of spring or even while it is yet too 
 cold to do much work outside the thoughtful poultryman will 
 
 anticipate his n e e ds in 
 troughs and fountains for 
 his breeding pens and for the 
 many chicks he is going to 
 hatch. During these days 
 while in doors many con- 
 *~ ^ veniences like the one illus- 
 
 Home made feeding trough. ^^.^^^j ^^^ ^^ ^^^^ jj^^g 
 
 them on hand when the rush is on and when you will have time 
 only to steal out a pie pan from the kitchen to feed the new 
 chicks on if you haven't made enough troughs and feeders. 
 
 Cement Nests for Hens. 
 
 The steady rise in the price of lumber and the ever-increas- 
 ing scarcity of good lumber has made the impetus of the cement 
 age all the more pronounced. The encouraging feature about 
 the gloomy lumber situation has been, though, that cement, as 
 a general thing, has been found superior, in nearly every respect 
 to lumber. Nearly everything about the farm which was form- 
 erly built out of lumber is or can now be constructed from 
 cement. Barns, troughs, tanks, mangers, floors and bins and 
 what not built of cement are much more satisfactory than 
 frame. The up-to-date poultry raiser has not been far behind 
 in acknowledging the superiority of cement for poultry house 
 construction. With cement floors they are much warmer in win- 
 ter and cooler in summer. They are much more sanitary and 
 easier to clean and they are rat and vermin proof. The time is 
 not far distant when we will possibly have cement dropping 
 boards and nests built with the cement walls of our hen houses, 
 but thus far this has not been found practical on account of 
 the bulkiness of the cement and the vast amount of tedious 
 work and small moulds it would take for a house of any consid- 
 erable dimensions. 
 
 The hens should be discouraged in laying in the hen house 
 during the hot summer months, anyway, providing plenty of 
 cool nests are provided out about the premises. The laying and 
 setting hens will find more comfort in these nests and the lice 
 and mites are much easier to combat. 
 
54 
 
 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 The advantage of the cement nests for outdoor use is that 
 they are practically indestructible, they are cool, they do not 
 
 harbor rats, and they 
 do not easily become 
 infested with lice — they 
 can be burnt out in a 
 few moment's time and 
 you are sure every nit 
 and louse has been de- 
 stroyed. 
 
 The accompanying 
 sketch and drawings 
 show a method for 
 making a cement hen's 
 nest. The inner and 
 juter forms consist of 
 galvanized sheet ii'on 
 (No. 15 B. & S. gauge), 
 hinged to 1 inch boards 
 for the bottom, which 
 are hooked together as 
 shown when the mould 
 is closed ready to be 
 filled. 
 
 For the outer form a 
 piece of sheet iron 41 
 inches long and 15^ in. 
 wide is required, and 
 for the inner form a 
 piece 29 inches long 
 and 14 inches wide. 
 Two loops are cut in 
 the galvanized iron or 
 riveted on to one end 
 of the mould and mark- 
 ed X in the drawing. 
 These are placed di- 
 rectly opposite each 
 other as shown, so that 
 a stick or rod can be 
 passed through them. 
 When in position this 
 stick rests upon the 
 outer form and holds 
 the inner form up li 
 inches from the back as 
 ^ .u 11 1 *v, 1 ,.11 ^^n the nest forms are 
 
 Plans of the wooden base and the shell nee- 1 ,,Vi*1q Ko 
 
 essary in making cement nests as described. piaceu On enu wnue oe- 
 
 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 4= 
 
 j) 
 
 
 * 
 
 J) 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 c 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 55 
 
 ing filled with cement. The wooden base for the inner form 
 consists of two 1 inch boards 6 inches long, and for the outer 
 forms of two 1 inch boards H inches long and 15* inches long. 
 These wooden bases are prevented from bending at the joint 
 by placing a small strip or rod in under the brackets. 
 
 The concrete should be composed of 1 part cement to not 
 more than 4 parts sand or bank run gravel with no particles 
 coarser than S-inch. The mixture should be of such consistency 
 as will require a slight amount of tamping to force it to all 
 parts of the mould. 
 
 The outer form is first placed in position (on end) on a 
 wooden pallet or floor and IJ inches of concrete then deposited. 
 The inner form, with sticks thru parts z, is then set in position 
 and three pieces of wood IJ inches wide (s in diagram) and 14 
 inches long are placed between the inner and outer forms to act 
 as spacers. 
 
 The concrete is then deposited, and when the mould is half 
 full the spacers are removed. The mould is then filled and re- 
 moved to a cool, moist place to cure for seven days. At the end 
 of twenty-four hours the moulds can be removed, care being 
 
 taken not to knock off 
 any corners. With a 
 few moment's spare 
 time each day with one 
 mould enough nests 
 can be made to have 
 enough nests out doors 
 to accommodate all the 
 hens during the warm 
 months. The nest can 
 be placed under bushes 
 and in out of the way 
 places and the hens will 
 enjoy them much more 
 than being crowded in the hen house. The hens will not be 
 so apt to hide their nests, either, when the nests are put in 
 secluded and shady places. 
 
 Cement nest as it appears when leady for 
 ui^e. 
 
 A Common Sense Window for Fresh Air Poultry- 
 Houses. 
 
 A few years ago it was quite general among our farmers 
 and poultry raisers to plaster the walls of their coops and 
 furnish artificial heat to induce their chickens to produce more in 
 
56 
 
 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 the winter months, but in recent years we have learned through 
 experience that plenty of fresh air at all times is one of the 
 most essential factors in successful poultry raising. 
 
 Our agricultural colleges are teaching the raising of poul- 
 try successfully with the use of fresh air poultry houses, the 
 government is advocating the use of fresh air poultry houses 
 in their bulletins, and uses them extensively at their experi- 
 mental stations, and the most successful poultry raisers in the 
 country are using the fresh air type of houses. 
 
 Vigor and hardiness combined with proper feeding are what 
 have brought the productiveness of our fowl to the maximum 
 today, and without plenty of dry, fresh air we have neither 
 
 CXTCEIOe 
 
 .^^ 
 
 the vigor nor the hardiness, and w'onder why our flock is not 
 as productive as the flock kept under modem methods or fav- 
 orable conditions. 
 
 We will not go into detail on feeding in this article, but 
 will adhere to the necessity of fresh air, and show our friends 
 what we mean by fresh air construction with these drawings, 
 which I have prepared as simply as possible so the man with 
 the least mechanical ingenuity can grasp that which we are 
 trying to show him. 
 
 To begin with, in making a drawing to scale, we must de- 
 cide upon certain dimensions, but let it be understood that the 
 dimensions showTi on my drawings are for the purpose of 
 illustrating only, as the type of window may vary considerably 
 according to the size of the building. However, it is well to 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 57 
 
 know that in the construction of new buildings, standard sizes 
 should be taken into consideration, such as glass sizes and 
 lumbei'. 
 
 It will be noted that I have shown my wall of a height that 
 enables me to use ten-foot studs, sawed in two, making the 
 distance between plates five feet. The same thing should be 
 taken into consideration when deciding upon the depth of a 
 building, so as to use evon lengthed material without waste. 
 When laying out the window opening, we miust first decide on 
 how many lights we want our sash, the sash, of course, determin- 
 ing the width of the opening. After glass sizes have been de- 
 cided upon, we then have the width of our opening and the dis- 
 tance from the floor to the sill, as it is necessary in this con- 
 sti-uction to have the sill the proper height from the floor to 
 allow the sash to drop down. The sash is to be hinged on the 
 bottom and the muslin frame at the top, allovdng the frame to 
 swing up and being held in place when open by a wire hook from 
 ceiling or roof rafters. 
 
 When the sash or frame, or both, are closed, they are to be 
 held in position with barrel bolts or steel buttons, this, of course, 
 being done only when weather conditions are unfavorable. 
 
 In oi'der to eliminate a ledge from snow or water to settle 
 on, it is better to tack the muslin on the outside of the frame, 
 which will form a smooth surface for the rain or condensation 
 to run down onto the galvanized drip. The galvanized iron drip 
 is important in the construction of this window, as it is for the 
 purpose of carrying away all water that would othei-wise follow 
 the rabbet of the meeting rail and get inside the coop. Make 
 a saw cut the full length of the bottom of the muslin frame 
 to receive the edge or drip and tack or nail the face of drip 
 to frame as shown in detail. Be sure to locate drip so it wll 
 not interfere \\'ith sash and frame when opening. 
 
 Should the size of this window be increased considerably, 
 I would suggest making the sash and frame of heavier material 
 to eliminate warping, and place a fastener in center to hold 
 sash and frame together when closed. I would also use four 
 hinges instead of three as shown. The entire opening is to be 
 covered on the outside "with wire netting tacked to the window 
 frame. 
 
 Drinking Vessels for Fowls. 
 
 Too little care is given the fowls in providing them with 
 clean, pure drinking water. All observing breeders of poultry 
 have found that it pays to give the fowls only the best whole- 
 some feed. They have noticed that the egg supply has increased 
 
58 
 
 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 materially after such treament; but many have forgotten that 
 the principal part of the egg, as well as of the fowl itself is 
 water. Pure fresh water then is of vital importance. 
 
 As a practical experiment, if you do not believe water plays 
 an important part in the life and health of the fowl, try giving 
 
 the fowls tainted or stagnant 
 water for a few days and 
 
 notice how quickly the eggs 
 become tainted and strong 
 and unfit for use. Keep the 
 water supply entirely away 
 from the fowls for one whole 
 day, and note how few eggs 
 are gathered the next day. 
 Reason how much better con- 
 dition the fowls must be in 
 by having plenty of cool wa- 
 ter during the hot summer 
 days, and water with the 
 
 DrinkinK vessel made froni candy butket.^j^jji ^^^^^ ^^ during freez- 
 ing weather, by thinking of a really warm day last summer 
 when you could not get a drink just for one hour. 
 
 There are many devices and fountains on the market, but 
 the two illustrations given here show how the flock may be 
 watered in a sanitary way for a trifle or no cost. The feature 
 
 shown about these methods 
 of watering is that the de- 
 vices are simple and neat and 
 ^an be easily and speedily 
 cleaned. 
 
 A candy bucket is cut down 
 to the proper height in the 
 one mstance and a lid fasten- 
 ed to it by a couple of screen 
 door hooks to keep the fowls 
 ^ from overturning it. Little 
 chicks cannot get in and 
 drown and the water is in the 
 shade. 
 
 DrinkinK vessel made from cheese box. ^^ ^^^ ^^j^^^. JHustration 
 
 a cheese box is gotten from the grocery, the bottom removed 
 and the slats arranged as shown in the sketch, and the ar- 
 rangement set over a gallon crock. You cannot imagine how 
 convenient this fountain is until you try one. 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 59 
 
 The Sprouting Frame. 
 
 In the majority of suburban and village poultry yards it is 
 an impossibility to have the poultry runs sodded dowTi to grass 
 or clover, as they are too small to permit this. The runs must 
 be so large as to almost afford the fowls free range to keep them 
 from destroying all the sod if the yards are sodded to begin 
 
 with. The lawn clip- 
 pings make excellent 
 green food during the 
 spring and early sum- 
 mer, but somehow the 
 fowls tire of them and 
 they seem to become 
 tough and unpalatable. 
 You can make your 
 bare poultry run pro- 
 duce fine succulent 
 green food in a few 
 days, provided it is not 
 covered with cinders or 
 ashes and is rich and fertile as poultry-runs generally are. Make 
 a frame any desired length and width and about six or eight 
 inches high, as showTi in the illustration. Cover the top of it 
 with one or one-half inch wire netting, being careful to get it 
 on very tight, so it will hold up the weight of the fowls and 
 not sag much. To keep the top from sagging much the frames 
 should not be made over three feet wide. Spade up a plot the 
 same size as your frame in the yard where the sun will shine 
 most of the time. Pulverize the ground thoroly, as a quick 
 growth depends upon this. Soak the oats twenty-four hours 
 and after it is sown, rake it in thoroly. If it is watered regularly 
 it will be scarcely no time until it is up and in the course of 
 two or three weeks high enough that an occasional blade will 
 grow thru the wire. The fowls cannot kill it while thus pro- 
 tected by the wire, but it will not grow above the wire you 
 may be sure. 
 
 Wire top frame for growing giecn food for 
 chicks and fowls. 
 
 Breaking UP Broody Hens. 
 
 Owners of flocks of the Mediterranean class — Leghorns 
 and Minorcas — will not be annoyed so much by the sitting hen, 
 but all the heavier varieties in which the sitting instinct has not 
 been bred out, attempt to sit after each clutch of eggs has been 
 laid. Some of the meat breeds — the Brahmas, Cochins and the 
 Langshans — insist so persistently in sitting that it is often 
 
60 
 
 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 a hard matter to break them 
 up even when confined in an 
 empty crate or box. 
 
 There are several other 
 ways of breaking up the sit- 
 ting hen besides the ordin- 
 
 Tying a broody hen with string attached ary method of COOping them 
 to leather band around the leg. ^p jj^ ^ ^^^^ Qne unique 
 
 method is to make a yoke out out of a small forked sappling 
 
 similar to the yoke used on fence breaking cattle. With this 
 
 yoke about their neck the hen cannot remain on the nest with 
 
 any degree of comfort, but 
 
 she can manage to eat. 
 A hen that is very 
 
 persistent in sitting may 
 
 be tied out under a tree 
 
 \vith a soft cord for two 
 
 or three days where she 
 
 cannot find anything to 
 
 roost or sit upon except 
 
 the ground. Care should 
 
 be taken to use something 
 
 soft to attach to the leg. 
 
 A leather band, as shown 
 
 in the illustration here- 
 with is very satisfactory. 
 
 Where there are a great many sitting hens to break up, a 
 
 double compartment fowl shipping coop hung from the roof of 
 
 a shed or from the limb of 
 a tree in the poultry run 
 and the broody hens con- 
 fined in it, will break them 
 up quicker than any other 
 method. The broody hen 
 will often attempt to sit 
 in the dark corner of the 
 ordinary stationary crate, 
 but as the hen moves 
 about in the crate hung 
 from a wire it swings, 
 causing the hen to think 
 — if such the hen can do 
 — more about keeping her 
 balance than of sitting. 
 Water should be given the 
 broody hens, together with 
 a scant supply of food 
 "•. ' ' '- , ,^ /" , .,,. , during the two or three 
 
 This coop breaks the hen of sitting and ^Imro ^-P -i-i^^Jt. ^ -fi- 
 
 does it in a humane way and in a much "^^^ ^^ ^heir COnfme- 
 shorter time than other methods. ment. 
 
 The "yoke" plan of breaking a hen of 
 silting. 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 61 
 
 The Richmond Hopper. 
 
 Recently while on a trip I met an old friend who in turn 
 introduced me to a traveling man friend of his. It was but a 
 few moments until the con- 
 versation drifted to chickens 
 and I found the traveling 
 man an enthusiastic fancier. 
 It is an old axiom that goes 
 something like this: "Every 
 one has some redeeming 
 quality," and I apply this to 
 my everyday life with this 
 version, "We can get valu- 
 able information and lessons 
 from every one we meet and 
 see." It depends much, tho, 
 how you go about it to be 
 benefited by everyone and it 
 IS as much of an art -o be 
 able to acquire knowledge 
 than it is to impart knowl- 
 edge. 
 
 On this trip the traveling 
 man gave me an idea with a 
 
 rough sketch on the back of an en- 
 velope of a feed hopper that I have 
 found since to be all that he, in 
 his enthusiasm as embryo inventor, 
 claimed for it. The great difference 
 between the hopper and all others 
 which I liave ever sftn or maclo 
 is that it keeps the feed working 
 to the front while the others keep 
 shelving it back away from the 
 fowls. The dimensions do not need 
 to be given, as they are plain 
 enough in inches in the profile dia- 
 gram. Try one or two of these 
 hoppers as an experiment, and see 
 how admirably they work. You 
 can probably find a box at the gro- 
 cery which will just answer the 
 purpose. 
 
62 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 Caring for Eggs for Incubation. 
 
 To the average person raising poultry only as a side lin*^ 
 on a few feet of back-yard on the back lot, it is hardly expedient 
 to set hens before the first of April. The earth then will have 
 had time to warm a little in our northern latitudes, before the 
 chicks are hatched, and they will mature so much casioi' and 
 faster under the later favorable conditions. 
 
 It is well, tho, to plan ahead and decide how many young 
 chicks we intend to raise during the season and be thoroly pre- 
 pared. To have fertile, strong eggs we must have vigorous 
 parent stock, and to have chicks full of vitality we must have 
 strong, fertile eggs. Much depends, too, on the care of the egg 
 after it is laid and before it is placed under the hen. 
 
 Eggs for hatching can not be removed from the nest too 
 carefully. They should not be placed in a large basket with a lot 
 of other eggs. This often causes a very small crack, so minute 
 that it can hardly be seen until the eggs have been under the 
 hen several days and become soiled. 
 
 The hands that gather the eggs should be clean and free 
 especially from any oily or greasy substance as the oil will 
 surely enter the pores of the eggshell, thus smothering the germ, 
 within. In going about from one nest to another and opening 
 and closing doors we are most likely to jar the ba.sket in which 
 we are carrying the eggs, more than we realize, and enough to 
 jar several germs from their web-like mooring between the yolk 
 and white of the egg. During severe cold weather the egg 
 should not remain in the nest until it becomes chilled or be re- 
 moved from a warm nest out into an open basket and carried 
 about in the cool breezes of the evening for several minutes 
 while gathering eggs. It is more advisable to gather the eggs 
 three or four times a day during cold weather. The shell of 
 the egg should be observed from time to time and care taken 
 that the fowls are supplied with oyster shell at all times if the 
 eggshells are inclined to be thin and fragile. Eggs not well pro- 
 portioned or with a rough surface should not be saved for set- 
 ting and you should know whether your exceptionally good hen 
 is laying a nice smooth egg. 
 
 Low, flat wooden trays or boxes make ideal receptacles in 
 which to gather the eggs before setting them. The box should 
 be lined with three or four thicknesses of newspaper, as paper 
 is a nonconductor of heat and the eggs will not be affected by 
 rapid changes in temperature so readily. It is much better to 
 place one layer of eggs over the bottom of the tray, as then 
 they can be easily turned each day. To turn the eggs, lay a 
 r^w of them to one side and gently roll the rest over to their 
 place and in this way the eggs will have been turned just half 
 over, so that the part that was at the boottm the day before is 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 now at the top. Paper makes a very good covering for the eggs, 
 too. If they are left to the open air for ten days in a dwelling 
 they will dry out more than were they left in a nest in the 
 natural state built upon the moist earth. The temperature at 
 which they are kept should be about 60 degrees Fahrenheit. 
 Eggs of extraordinary fertility may be kept two weeks safely. 
 
 A Home Made Feed Hopper. 
 
 The hopper method of feeding poultry has proven one of the 
 most successful devised during recent years. Many of the largest 
 poultry plants, as well as the great army of back yard fanciers, 
 are adopting it to the exclusion of all other systems. 
 
 It has been generally acknowledged that fowls thrive bet- 
 ter when given free range and Avhen they have an unlimited 
 variety of food and can choose the morsels that happen to be 
 appetizing at the time. Following this theory, poultrymen have 
 attempted to provide their fowls with a complete variety of food 
 and have it where they could get at it at all times. In at- 
 tempting this the chief difficulty has been in keeping the food 
 before them at all times without waste. The fowls persist in 
 pulling the food out upon the ground whenever the feed box is 
 so constructed that they cannot possibly do this. 
 
 The hen hopper has been an invitation to English sparrows 
 and rats to make the poultry quarters their home. Cement 
 floors and foundations will generally stop the rat nuisance, and 
 if the feed hopper is placed in the poultry house sparrows will 
 seldom bother it. 
 
 A very satisfactory hopper that will feed and not waste 
 grain may be easily made from a soap box or small shoe box 
 at a trifling cost. 
 
 The dimensions of the box shown in the illustration are not 
 important, as far as height and width go, but the depth should 
 invariably be from 11 to 12 inches. The hopper shown is made 
 from an ordinary shoe box and is 12 inches deep and the same 
 in width and about two feet high. This makes the hopper large 
 enough to hold feed for a large flock. 
 
 After removing the side of the box which formed the lid, 
 take out one end of the box. Place the lid in the position 
 shown by the dotted line in the side view diagram, letting the 
 bottom come to within four inches of the bottom and to about six 
 inches from the front of the box. Take six inches of the piece 
 that came out of the end of the box and tack it on in front at 
 the bottom. This contrivance allows the feed to come down 
 so it cannot clog and gives the space for the fowls to put their 
 heads in and eat. but as the front is six inches high the birds 
 cannot raise the feed over the front to waste it. 
 
64 
 
 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 The lid of the hopper should be made quite slantinj?, so that 
 the fowls cannot perch upon it. A piece should be tacked upon 
 
 the back extending 8 or 
 10 inches above the 
 back, to which a board 
 wide enough to cover 
 the top of the hopper is 
 attached with leather 
 hinges. 
 
 The hoppers may be 
 made in all sizes, from 
 single ones six inches 
 in width to three-com- 
 partment ones two to 
 three feet in width, but 
 all must be 11 to 12 
 inches deep from front 
 to back to work prop- 
 erly. 
 
 One hopper should be 
 provided for grit, one 
 for bran, one for chop 
 feed, one for beef 
 scraps, and one, in fact, 
 for all the different 
 
 Feod hoiijier, ni;ido fiom a wooilcn shoe box. 
 
 foods which should be before the fowls. 
 
 For the busy man with a small flock the hopper method of 
 feeding the fowls is the solution to the vexing question how to 
 get the fowls fed often enough and at the right time each day. 
 especially during winter. Many men go to work eaz'ly in the 
 morning and do not return until late in the evening. In these 
 hoppers feed can be placed to last two or three days, or even 
 longer. The fowls are released from the house early in the 
 morning and watered and a little grain scattered in the straw 
 to keep them busy and the drinking vessel is filled. All that 
 is necessary in the evening is to gather the eggs and lock the 
 house. 
 
 Successfully Shipping Eggs for Incubation. 
 
 How the eggs are packed for shii)ment is quite an important 
 factor. It is one of the most important, I have found, for egg^ 
 as a rule are fertile, and the buyer, as a rule has had experience 
 in hatching eggs to some extent at least and therefore between 
 two experienced men it is a question of handling between and 
 how they are packed for the handling. 
 
 I am convinced the better the egg box the poorer receptacle 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 65 
 
 it is for shipping eggs for hatching. The expressmen of this 
 country have learned by sight all the best egg boxes and know 
 they will stand the weight of a man without breaking. Ihey 
 therefore throw Ihcm with imy:)unity as they know they will land 
 in the car, on the truck or platform, in good shape, as far as 
 all outside appearances are concerned. Watch eggs being hand- 
 led at some important transfer point in the busy season and 
 you will agree with me. It used to be that eggs for hatching 
 in boxes had to be handled with care but the manufacturers of 
 boxes have so improved them that the average box could be 
 dropped fi'om the second story window without injuring the 
 box or breaking the egg — but, alas, with the germ! 
 
 I like a good egg-box. No one admires a good box more 
 than I and I believe they have their place, but from costly ex- 
 perience I have found it does not pay to intrust them openly to 
 the expressman. Nothing beats a basket, I have found, and the 
 place for the box is in a basket. A basket cannot be handled 
 very roughly without being broken and the price of the eggs 
 comes out of that particular expressman's pocket when the 
 checking-up time comes. Eg.gs packed in a basket are not nearly 
 as safe as when they are lirst packed in a box and then the 
 box placed in a basket. 
 
 When eggs are packed separately in a ba.sket, yoti will find 
 each egg gets the benefit of the jar given the basket, but first 
 pack the eggs in a box and the box in a basket, ard the i r x 
 of eggs is like a bi'ick in a basket cf .'^trr-w. Shn^'o 'hr ba^-rt 
 all you please, the box by its compact, heavy weight, juggles 
 about like a cork on water, never once getting the benefit of a 
 sudden or quick jolt. 
 
 I have seen people pack eggs in boxes with bran, sawdust, 
 and what not. The eggs arrived unbroken but a poor hatch 
 resulted, because every egg was packed in so firmly that every 
 iar and iolt of the box was directly transmitted to the eggs 
 just as the tap, tap, of the dentist's hammer is directly trans- 
 mitted to your sensitive tooth thru th" medium of a little chisel. 
 The germ of the eggs is just as sensitive as your sore tooth. 
 
 Candy buckets, and other buckets I have also seen used. 
 The eggs were packed in oats or bran or rice hulls and they were 
 packed so well and the bucket was such a good bucket that the 
 expressman i:new he could handle it just about as he pleased 
 without br ; king the bucket and as long as the bucket did not 
 break tho eggs were safe. That is the wrong principle upon 
 which to jhip eg<Ts. Pack them securely in a box so the eggs 
 will be heavv and compact in the center. Then pack the box 
 in a frail nick'^l market basket or bushel basket, as the case 
 might be, packed in chaff or straw and covei'ed over tightly 
 with cloth. The package appears frail and this is the impression 
 you must make with the expressman all along the line — but it 
 
66 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 is deceiving and not frail, because it puts the expressman on 
 his guard with the result that the eggs arrive safely. 
 
 I have known instances where eggs in patented boxes, after 
 three successive trials, could not be shipped thru three states 
 so they would hatch, but when shipped as above directed had 
 nine to hatch. I have known other cases, to my personal knowl- 
 edge, where eggs were shipped a thousand miles and every egg 
 hatched but one; another time all but two and cases like these 
 are without number. In my case it has come to b^ that I can 
 almost instantly tell whether eggs have been packed right at 
 a glance, as there are only two ways — a I'ight and wrong — 
 and it is like thumping a watermelon to see if it is ripe, only 
 it is much easier to tell if a shipment has been packed right 
 or not. 
 
 If I were buying eggs for hatching I would not buy th"m 
 unless they were packed on their sides, each egg wrapped and 
 packed securely in a box and the box in a basket of straw or 
 chaff. If the buyer of eggs would only consider, even if he had 
 to pay 25 cents additional, that he was eliminating a vast 
 amount of chance from the transaction, to have his eggs packed 
 first in the best egg box obtainable and then in a basket. 
 
 I am convinced that eggs should not be shipped on end. 
 Nature does not place them on end and it is an unnatural posi- 
 tion and the web holding the germ is constantly on a strain in 
 this position. This is often the cause of a poor iiatch. j he web 
 holding the germ is strung from end to end and when the egg 
 is placed on end the web becomes taut and is easily broken. 
 Place the egg on its side and the germ rests in the web like a 
 hammock. Plain, isn't it ? Never thought of it that way before, 
 though. 
 
 Coops for Hens and Chicks. 
 
 The hen expected to raise a large brood of chicks should be 
 provided with the best quarters possible. The coop should 
 admit plenty of sunshine, should be wind, water, and vemiin 
 proof. It should be cozy and dry and afford easy access to all 
 parts for cleaning and caring for the little chicks. The floor 
 should be near enough the ground that the little chicks after 
 getting out can easily find their way back and yet far enough 
 off of the surface of the ground to insure dryness and prevent 
 the harboring of rats. Th'^ coop should not be cumbersome or 
 elaborate, yet it is advisable to build it substantially. 
 
 The box shaped coop shown in the illustration is well adapt- 
 ed to the needs of the small fancier with only a few broods to 
 raise in his back yard, during the spring, or the large poultry 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 67 
 
 
 
 JiL 
 
 
 
 //, * 
 
 f^lM. 
 
 Coop for hen and chicks. 
 
 raiser who raises large number of chicks with hens. It is 
 built on the open colony type plan. 
 
 The coop is 36 inches long by 18 inches wide, and 18 inches 
 high in the rear and 24 inches high in front. It is divided into 
 two compartments, making each compartment 18 inches square. 
 Using these dimensions, even length lumber may be used with 
 scarcely any waste. The two side walls and back are made 
 tight fitting, and it is well to cover them with roofing paper, 
 if tongue and groove siding is not used. The roof should be 
 of light pine lumber covered with roofing material. Shingles 
 
 The modernized "A" coop. 
 
68 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 are not adapted to this coop, or any coop or poultry house for 
 that matter, as they require too steep an angie, thus requiring 
 additional lumber, and, also, they harbor lice. All roofs for 
 any kinds of poultry houses should be as flat as possible to hold 
 the warmth down next to the fowls during the winter, and the 
 same applies to cooping hens and chicks. 
 
 The compartment in which the hen is confined is to the 
 left, and is divided from the one to the right by slats. The dotted 
 lines represent the door, which is hinged at the bottom in front 
 of this compartment, and acts as a platform in front of the 
 coop during the day, and at night as a tight fitting door, exclud- 
 ing rain, wind, and rats alike. One or more of the slats in front 
 should be made loose fitting, so the hen may be released. 
 
 The compartment to the right, or sun parlor, is fronted 
 with a door covered with one-half inch mesh wire netting, which 
 will exclude cats and weasels. A little trap door is made di- 
 rectly above the wire door, sho\\Ti partly open in the illustration, 
 and thru which the feed and water is given to the chicks early 
 in the morning before the dew is off the grass and while they 
 should yet be confined. The little fellows cannot slip past your 
 hand when fed thru this dooi', as they do so often, to our great 
 annoyance, when a door is opened near the floor thru which to 
 feed them. In this sun parlor the chicks can be fed the small 
 chick food and delicate morsels too expensive to fill the old 
 hen's crop with. The little chicks can feed here early in the 
 m'oraing on rainy days, and when it is too cold to let them out, 
 unmolested. The hen is fed whole corn at the same time, and 
 cannot trample or bother the chicks. When the dew is off the 
 grass, and the chicks old enough to be given the run, the 
 door-platform in front of the hen's apartment is dropped to 
 the ground, and the chicks get out into the open directlv from 
 the mother hen's compartment while the hen is confined. This 
 makes a most admirable and convenient way for caring for the 
 hen and her brood. For convenience, the fioor may be made 
 to drop out and the roof hinged. 
 
 The second illustration of a coop for hen and chicks is one 
 of the old fashioned "A" coops modernized. The frame work in 
 front is covered with one-inch wire netting, and in this part 
 the chicks may be fed apart from the hen, and given a grassy 
 
 The Setting of the Hen. 
 
 Many people who have been about chickens for years know 
 no more about setting a hen properly than they did when on the 
 farm these many years ago. They like to tell how many 
 chickens mother used to raise. But years soften their memory 
 and they forget how many she did not raise and how many just 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 69 
 
 raised themselves and how many hens took this duty upon 
 themselves and brought forth a brood in nature's way. 
 
 Again I cannot do better than to refer you to nature. The 
 common domestic fowl is certainly a fowl belonging to the land. 
 Not a bird of the air. So watch the common domestic hen in an 
 isolated farming district pick out her nest, and invariably you 
 will find she picks it upon the mother earth where there is 
 straw and chaff with which to line the nest. You have noticed 
 how the hen has that instinct sent down thru all these ages 
 of throwing small straws up over her back and letting them 
 slide down cozily about where they will. Occasionally a hen will 
 take to the hay mow, but this does not prove the rule untrue 
 that the hen is a land fowl. It only shows that she is bewildered 
 by her long association with man in domestication and has not 
 followed the dictates of nature. 
 
 I would like to have the eggs wasted each year through 
 faulty nesting conditions. I would have enough to retire on I 
 am sure. Instead of man giving the hen a natural position in 
 a natural suiTounding he is just as liable to make a nest in a 
 deep excelsior box and have the hen jump down in the nest. 
 What happens? The hen soon breaks an egg and after that 
 it is only a question of a few days until the whole lot is ruined. 
 
 Many make the mistake of placing the eggs in a brand new 
 nest. I have scruples against this plan. I like old nesting 
 material that has been used by the laying hens. It seems more 
 like nature would have it. A deep nest of new straw or any 
 other material gives too much ventilation to the nest and ac- 
 coimts for many failures. 
 
 The best way to set a hen is to place the nest in a cheese 
 ]-ing or low box where the hen can walk directly onto the eggs 
 without jumping down on them. During the early part of the 
 spring it is well to have a bottom in the nest container, but 
 after the middle of April in our latitude I knock out the bot- 
 toms and have the nest directly upon the ground in a nice 
 secluded place where air and light can enter. Many times I 
 scoop out a little hollow in the eailh and have no box of any 
 kind. The hen Avill attend to keeping every twig and straw 
 within many inches around snugly in her nest. Set in this 
 manner the hen will attend to business and seldom breaks an 
 egg. I change hens about and never set the hens where they 
 wanted to set in the first place. I give them the eggs at night 
 and cover them over with a good roomy box and then do not 
 bother them until the second day. The first three days are the 
 most critical and you have over half of this time gone already. 
 Watch that the hen gets back on her nest and you can cover her 
 up again once or twice and by that time she will go back without 
 any trouble. Too many people fuss and worry too much with 
 their setting hens. First place them in a quiet secluded place. 
 
70 
 
 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 Don't fool them with glass eggs, but place confidence in the hen 
 and your judgment that she surely wants to set. Then give her 
 a full set of eggs and cover her up and kept thus in the dark 
 she will stick right to business, and as I said above, very shoitly 
 will go right back to her nest and no moie trouble out of hei 
 until the chicks hatch. 
 
 The food the hen gets is important. Don't feed soft feeds. 
 Feed hard grains only. There is nothing better than corn. 
 Have plenty of grit and water before them, also a dust ba'ch. 
 Keep free of lice and v^ith this kind of treatment where she can 
 get a full feed of corn once a day unmolested, you will take 
 the hen off the nest in good condition and with a full nest of 
 chicks. Do not again make the mistake of setting the hens in 
 a deep box or in too much new deep stiaw, but let the hen have 
 some choice in the matter and vou will fare better. 
 
 Drinking Fountain for Chicks. 
 
 It is important that the little chicks have plenty of pure 
 fresh drinking water at all times. It is not always easy to pro- 
 vide it, however, especially when the chicks are supplied water 
 
 in the ordinary way — from a shal- 
 low saucer or tin pan. The saucer 
 of clean water becomes dirt laden 
 in a very few moments as the 
 chickens play about in it. If filthy 
 drinking water is allowed to re- 
 main before the chicks any length 
 of time they will invariably fall a 
 prey to some ailments to which 
 they are subject while young. 
 
 Drinking vessels .should be thor- 
 oly cleaned once a day and scalded 
 at least once a week with a little 
 soda added to the watei\ Galvan- 
 ized tin or earthenware vessels are 
 the best. The larger the vessel, 
 especially for adult fowls, the bet- 
 ter — the water remains cool much 
 longer. In warm weather the 
 drinking vessel should be set in a cool, shady place and never 
 where the direct rays of the sun fall upon it. The water in 
 the little chicks' vessels should be changed four or five times a 
 day and in that of the adult fowls at least twice a day during 
 the summer months. 
 
 Instead of using an open saucer or i)an for a watering ves- 
 
 Tin can drinking fountain for 
 
 fowls. 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 71 
 
 sel a water fountain can be provided at small cost. Gallon and 
 two-gallon containers are the best sizes for adult fowls. A very 
 satisfactory inverted fountain for the little chicks can be made 
 from a tomato can by 
 punching a few ho^p.s 
 around the edge of the 
 can near the top and 
 after filling it and in- 
 verting the saucer over 
 it, quickly turning it up 
 with the saucer under- 
 neath as shown in the 
 illustration. Only a 
 
 small amount of water ^.i^^,-,^^ fountain for little chicks. Made 
 IS in view at one tline from tin cans as described in accompanying 
 
 tind yet as it is used article. 
 
 up the saucer is continuously refilled to the top of the holes in 
 
 the tin can. 
 
 Another very simple way of making a drinking fountain 
 for the little chicks which have a fondness for getting into the 
 water with their feet is by taking a pound baking powder can 
 with lid fitting down over the can and push a dent in one side 
 as shown in the illustration. The can is filled with water, 
 the lid placed over it and the can inverted. 
 
 Moisture and Ventilation in Incubators. 
 
 It is important that eggs placed in the incubator be in- 
 cubated under conditions as nearly natural as possible. The 
 fact that an incubator hatches a fair percentage of the chicks 
 from the eggs placed in the machine should not be taken as 
 evidence that the incubator is a great success and the equal of 
 the hen. Many incubators hatch the eggs but do it in an un- 
 natural way and the chicks are weaklings and soon fall prey to 
 some disease and die. A fair percentage of the chicks hatched 
 in an incubator, even if they are improperly incubated, can be 
 raised to maturity if placed with hens, or the chicks may be 
 hatched under a hen and raised in the crudest kind of a brooder 
 and many of them \\nll reach maturity. But if hatched in a 
 poor incubator and then a poor brooder, the task wll be difficult 
 if not impossible. 
 
 Keeping the lamp well filled and clean and the wick trim- 
 med and the temperature at the proper degree will not always 
 insure a good hatch, although strong and fertile eggs are used. 
 The problem of getting sufficient ventlation and moisture is an 
 important factor and one that must be worked out entirely by 
 
72 
 
 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 Ce U 
 
 the operator. Evaporation goes on naore rapidly in thin shelled 
 eggs than in thick ones. The atmosphere absorbs more mois- 
 
 ^^^ ture in the summer 
 
 Ce u -^ ^^^H^^ than in the early spring 
 
 and thus a machine 
 tliat hatches well in the 
 spj'ing without being 
 supplied with moisture 
 will lequire some if it 
 is operated in the late 
 spring and summer. The 
 machine that is venti- 
 lated with a sufficient 
 amount of pure air will 
 dry off the eggs much 
 faster than the machine 
 that is not ventilated 
 so well. But neither 
 machine will hatch 
 properly without the 
 right amount of venti- 
 lation and moisture. 
 Possibly more machines 
 make poor hatches for 
 want of moistui-e than 
 because of an over 
 abundance of it. 
 
 If an egg, con- 
 taining a live chick, be opened on the eighteenth day of incu- 
 bation, the chick will be found to be full sized, but the yolk of 
 the egg will be lying loosely, encircled by a netting of bloody 
 vessels. During the last twelve hours before the chick breaks 
 the shell, the yolk passes bodily into the chick. It is the chick's 
 principal nourishment for the first two or three days of its life 
 and is gradually absorbed. This is the reason chicks just hatched 
 do not need food during the first forty-eight hours. In fact, 
 food is not good for them during this time. When the eggs in 
 the incubator are dried out too much duinng incubation, the 
 yolk gives up a certain amount of moisture, with the result that 
 it becomes waxy and cannot be readily assimilated by the chick 
 which consequently dies in a few days. 'I'he non-absorption of 
 the yolk makes the chick appeal' even larger than it should 
 and this fact deceives many into thinking that the little fellows 
 are so nice and large and therefore, healthy. Whenever the 
 temperature of the incubator is permitted to rise above 103 
 Fahrenheit several degrees and remain any length of time or 
 until the eggs are warmed thru to that temperature causing 
 rapid evaporation, the same conditions arise as when there is an 
 insufficient amount of moisture during the whole hatch. 
 
 Illustratii.i.; 
 
 of air cells as described in ac- 
 companying article. 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 73 
 
 With the evaporation of the egg through the pores in the 
 shell the air cell in the large end of the egg becomes lai'ger. 
 The air cell in the egg may be easily seen by placing the egg 
 at the end of a paper tube and looking thru it at a strong 
 light. An egg set under a hen under natural conditions con- 
 tains the approximate amount of air space during the dif- 
 ferent periods of the hatch indicated by the dark portion of the 
 diagn-am. By testing several eggs an average can be taken and 
 by consulting the diagram shown on this page, it can be deter- 
 mined whether the eggs have a proper amount of moisture or 
 not. The air cell will seldom extend directly across the egg, 
 but generally in a diagonal line. The egg should be turned over 
 and over while being tested, to determine the full size of the air 
 chamber. 
 
 Late hatches require moisture from the first day the eggs 
 are in the incubator. There are several ways of applying mois- 
 ture in the egg chamber. A flat pan, covering almost the entire 
 floor under the egg tray, filled with sand and kept moist is a 
 very satisfactory way. Two or three bricks which have been 
 soaked in water will answer very well, or a damp cloth may be 
 placed over the eggs. Warm watei' should always be used and 
 the sand and bricks warmed before being placed in the machine. 
 Otherwise the temperature will fall rapidly and remain low until 
 the brick or sand has had time to warm. If the sand tray is 
 used it may remain in the egg chamber during the whole hatch 
 and warm water poured over whenever the sand dries. A 
 hundred-egg machine will require several quarts of water during 
 the progress of the hatch, and especially in dry weather and 
 during the summer. The writer is waiting to see the miachine 
 that will hatch as strong and liveable chicks without moisture 
 as the old hen which steals her nest out upon the ground in the 
 grass or fence corner — all oi' many claims to the contrary. 
 
 Hatching Eggs in Incubators. 
 
 The incubator has long since passed out of the experimental 
 stage, as far as practicability is conceraed, and the incubator 
 has so successfully vied with the hen as to almost deprive her 
 of her favorite occupation. Nevertheless, all the incubator man- 
 ufacturers are continually seeking to improve their machines 
 so that, although we have not seen the perfect machine, some 
 are almost so. Almost any of the numerous makes on the mar- 
 ket today will produce fair results under favorable conditions. 
 
 The mechanism and heating and ventilating devices and 
 appliances differ in each make of machine. The instructions 
 sent out with each machine should be studied carefully, there- 
 fore, and, though you may have operated the machine a season 
 
74 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 or two before each hatch the instructions should be reread. If 
 the instructions have been misplaced, don't fail to send for 
 more before attempting to use it again. Many know so much 
 about incubatoi's in general and of every make that they think 
 it useless waste of time to read the instiuctions and this is often 
 the cause of a machine not working properly. The manufacturer 
 is glad to co-operate with his customers to assist in getting the 
 best results and a good name for his incubator. 
 
 A room for the location of the incubator should be selected 
 in which a moderately even temperature can be maintained. A 
 room containing a stove, as a rule, is not a suitable place, as it 
 varies too much and is too warm. A room adjoining that con- 
 taining the stove is better. It must be remembered, too, that 
 stoves often emit fumes. These must be guarded against; so, 
 also, must drafts be prevented. 
 
 The idea prevails that the cellar is the best place in which 
 to operate the incubator, but the great majority of the cellars 
 are wholly unfit for such purpose, especially at this time of the 
 yeai'. After the cellar has been aiied several weeks and the 
 atmosphere outside is warm, it may be safely used. At this 
 t;me of the year have the incubator placed wheie thei-e is plenty 
 of fresh air and sunshine. 
 
 It is well to start the machine at least two days before the 
 opei-ator intends to place the eggs in it. Care must be taken 
 not to fill the hot water machines too full at the first filling. 
 Wai-m rain water should be used. The lamp in both the hot 
 water and the hot air machines should be stalled low and grad- 
 ually increased. 'J'he damper over the lamp should be raised 
 just a little from the start to make draft for the flame and pre- 
 vent smoking. Evejy half hour or so the regulator will have 
 to be released a little more until the temperature reaches 100 
 degrees Fahrenheit. It will not have to be released to i-each 103 
 degrees. The lamp bowl and burner cannot be kept too clean. 
 If the lamp makes fumes at any time, it is because the bowl and 
 burner are not clean. If the smallest amount of oil is left on 
 any part of the lamp, the heat from the flame will soon cause 
 the oil to evaporate or turn to a gas, and this is the odor we 
 often detect where keiosene lamps are used and not kept scrup- 
 ulously clean. 
 
 A new wick should be used for each hatch, and the chan-ed 
 part scraped off with a match or blunt stick each evening. 
 Cutting with sheai's pinches the wick too much. Far more 
 satisfactory results are obtained from the best grade of incu- 
 bator oil. It makes a clean flame and burns without flickering. 
 Never try to be so saving as to try to regulate the machine to 
 such a fine point as to cause the damper to fit down tight, 
 as the best oil and lamp will then smoke. Should the tank be- 
 come covered with soot it should be wiped off and polished, or 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 75 
 
 you will find it difficult to keep up the temperature. Soot is a 
 nonconductor of heat. 
 
 The eggs should be placed in the tray with the small ends 
 pointing downward and all in the same direction. Too much 
 care can not be exercised in running the incubator the first four 
 days. If the temperature goes up several degrees a poor hatch 
 Aviil result. If anything, run the machine low the first four days 
 — 102 degrees is high enough. 
 
 On the seventh day the eggs should be tested to discover the 
 infertile ones. All clear ones should be removed and the 
 doubtful ones mai'kcd and tested again two days later. After 
 the fourth day the eggs should be turned twice a day, preferably 
 with the hands. The eggs need not be turned until the end of 
 the second day. See to it, however, that an even temperature 
 is maintained. 
 
 On the fourteenth day the eggs may be again tested and all 
 eggs that have a small black speck in them and seem dead 
 should be removed. It is always best to remove the infertile 
 eggs. Fresh eggs should not be placed in the bad eggs' places 
 or eggs piled on top of one another to get more in the incuba- 
 tor. A hen or two can be set the same time the incubator is 
 started and her eggs used to fill up the machine after the in- 
 fertile eggs have been removed. The temperature should be 
 kept as near 103 as possible after the fourth day. 
 
 Caring: for Incubator Chicks. 
 
 'to 
 
 The eggs in the incubator should be turned for the last 
 time on the eighteenth day and the thermometer placed in a 
 position where it will not be displaced by the hatching chicks. 
 The ventilators should bo opened as wide as possible and the 
 temperature maintained at 103 degrees or a little above. As 
 the hatch progresses it will be noticed that the lamp must be 
 turned lower and lower each day and while the eggs are hatch- 
 ing scarcely any flame at all is required. This is caused by the 
 chicks themselves supplying a great deal of heat. 
 
 White eggs will generally hatch a day earlier than the 
 bro\\'Ti and fresh eggs hatch sooner than older ones. White 
 eggs, if fresh, when placed in the incubator and the temperature 
 kept a little high during the hatch will begin to pip on the 
 eighteenth day. The hatch is not as successful, though, as when 
 the eggs pip on the nineteenth or twentieth day. When the in- 
 cubator has been allowed to cool off once or twice and the tem- 
 perature during the hatch to fall below 103 degrees the eggs 
 will not pip until the twenty-first day. 
 
 It is a most interesting sight to watch the hatch through 
 the glass door of an incubator. The shell is pierced by the 
 
76 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYI\lEN 
 
 chick's bill near where the circun?feronce of the egg is the 
 greatest. Instead of a large crack appearing in the shell like 
 when the shell is cracked from some outward force, a small hole 
 is made by the bill and is seldom more than a quarter of an 
 inch across. Through this small hole the chick obtains air in 
 abundance and, after waiting and resting several minutes, during 
 which time it has been growing stronger on the oxygen taken 
 into its body, struggles a little within the shell and the egg 
 probably shakes a little if not held fast by the suiTounding eggs. 
 As a result of the struggle the chick changes its position and 
 its bill again comes in contact with unbroken shell and soon 
 it has cracked away another portion of the shell, and so on it 
 struggles in its spiral motion within its prison until it has made 
 a wide hole all the \\ay around the egg or nearly so, when, with 
 a sudden display of strength, the cap of the egg, or cell, breaks 
 away and the chick finds itself free. The little wet chick will 
 sti-uggle in a very frantic way for a moment and to those im- 
 accustomcd to the sight it nxay seem that the chick is a freak 
 and will never gain control of its body. But, aftei- lying still 
 for another moment, it will suddenly open its mouth to obtain 
 more air and then sti-ugglo again. After it has dried off thor- 
 oughly it ^\•^ll soon gain control of its legs and begin to walk 
 about.' Then, if at any time, is when the little fluffy ball is the 
 prettiest. Should you weigh it and the shell from which it came 
 you will find that it weighs somewhat less than the ogg did 
 when first placed in the incubator. This is because of the 
 evaporation of the egg thiough the pores of the shell during 
 incubation. 
 
 The incubator should ne\or be opencul while the chicks are 
 hatching as the cold air striking the egg just broken or the little 
 chick just out. chills it, and, in the one case the chick is so 
 weakened that it never frees itself from the shell, and in the 
 other the chick dies. Only in rare cases where the weather has 
 been very dry and moistuie has not been supplied in sufficient 
 quantities to the incubator will the chicks need any assistance 
 in breaking the shell. The chicks that are too weak to free 
 themselves from the shell seldom live or make strong chicks if 
 they do live, when helped out artificially. 
 
 After a chick is hatched the empty shell fretiuently lodges 
 over an unhatched egg. If a visit is made to the incubator every 
 half hour or so this can be easily prevented. In this case the 
 door must of course be opened but it can be accomplished very 
 speedily if you will try. 
 
 As the first three days the eggs are in the incubatoi- are the 
 most critical, so the first few da>s of the chick's life are the 
 most critical. Too much caution cannot be used. In the great 
 majority of cases many of the chicks die a week or two weeks 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 after being hatched the cause was impropei' care the first three 
 or four clays. 
 
 There is no better place for the chicks the first two days 
 than in the incubator itself. After removing the shells and 
 placing the thermometer in the tray \\nth the chicks and a piece 
 of newspaper for a carpet on the tiay, the incubator may be 
 closed and the temperature gradually lowered to 90 degrees or 
 a little above. The chicks need no further care until thirty-six 
 hours after the last chick was hatched. They have a resei-x^e 
 of strength stored within that is sufficient for their need. In 
 the natural state under the hen the eggs do not hatch at the 
 same time and then the chick must develop enough strength 
 within itself to hurdle from the nest and follow the hen several 
 feet before the first bright crystal of sand or seed is found. 
 The hen generally takes the new brood off the nest the first 
 thing in the morning, too, so that it is not necessary to go 
 very far before some bright dew drops on blades of grass at- 
 tract the chick's attention and in this way it obtains its first 
 drink of water. The incubator chick does not know what water 
 is until it accidently falls into it or is taught by some one to 
 dip its bill into the water. Therefore, it is well to dip each 
 chick's bill into water on the morning they are placed in the 
 brooder. Be sure, too, that each and every chick gets a drink. 
 
 The brooder should be running a day or more before the 
 chicks are placed in it, so that it may be thoroughly warmed. 
 It will not hurt the chicks to get out into the cold air for a few 
 moments after the first two days, so they may be earned in an 
 ordinary basket from the incubator to the brooder with an 
 old cloth thrown over them. The old hen which stole her nest 
 and hatched a brood is never in haste to leave the nest with 
 her chicks, so don't be in a hurry to remove the chicks fi-om the 
 incubator. Have the floor under the hover covered with soiTi^e 
 sand and chaff. The chicks should be compelled to remain 
 in the hover compartment the first day. A small tray of water 
 placed in a light place and some fine grit and small seeds 
 scattered about on the floor. Millet seed will do but the pre- 
 pared chick feed is better. Some have poor luck with millet. 
 Wet or moist mashes or feeds are considered by some to be not 
 nearly so good as seeds but the little chick's system should not 
 be overloaded with dry seeds. 
 
 The scratching apartment or sun parlor of the broodei- 
 should also be covered with a libei-al supply of chaff from the 
 haymow. After the first day in the brooder the chicks should 
 always be fed in this part. Beef scraps and small tender blades 
 of grass chopped fine should be fed at the end of the first week 
 and also be in their diet after that time. 
 
 The best location for the brooder is on a plot of short 
 grass near some fresh spaded earth where the chicks can 
 scratch and find the minute forms of animal life which they 
 
78 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 relish so much. The earth should be freshened up every day 
 by raking or spading it. This is why the edge of a corn patch 
 or garden is such a fine place for chicks. Remember the chicks 
 do not do as well on the fresh, bare earth alone, or on the sod 
 alone. The combination is the thing. 
 
 After the first week the temperature in the brooder may be 
 lowered to 85 degrees. On warm days the lamp may be turned 
 out several hours during the middle of the day. The hover 
 should always be warm at evening though, until the chicks 
 feather out. The mistake is made too often in having a cold 
 brooder. Take example from the old hen and you will notice 
 she never changes her temperature much and the chicks lun to 
 her many times during the nicest days, while yet young, to get 
 warmed up and these I'epeated warmings is what makes them 
 grow fast and be able to wai'd off diseases that brooder chicks 
 often fall prey to. 
 
 Advantages of Marking Chicks. 
 
 Those who have been reai'ing high class fowls any length 
 of time have already learned how to mark their chicks so as to 
 identify them when gi-own, but there are many, perhaps, who 
 are hatching thoroughbreds from different pens foi- the first 
 time and contemplate line bi-eeding. Marking has a number of 
 
 advantages. No mat- 
 ter if the neighbor has 
 the same variety of 
 fowls, when the web in 
 the little chick's feet 
 is punched with a small 
 poultry punch made 
 especially for the pur- 
 pose, the birds can be 
 identified by the mark 
 and the combination 
 
 XK\^\\nc.v\ o\W\v.Nv\w« CW\s^^v\ Y""^'^- Moreover, to 
 
 ' breed intelligently it is 
 
 absolutely necessary that the chicks be marked, the progeny 
 of each mating receiving a destinctive marking. In mating 
 up the pen another season this will be a safeguard against in- 
 breeding as it is possible by this method to know what re- 
 lation, if any. the fowls bear to one another. Again, by mark- 
 ing the chicks fiom the different matings, we can know which 
 mating produced the best chicks and can mate accordingly 
 next season. In buying eggs fi-om another breeder, also, it is 
 always desirable to know what kind of mature fowls the eggs 
 
 1 
 
 ^•/'' 
 
 3 
 
 ^/r^ 
 •* 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 A> 4> 
 
 
 
 
 n 
 
 1 X 
 
 4\ yp 
 
 /3 
 
 
 ^/•h 
 
 /.** 
 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 79 
 
 produce, and it is impossible to know this unless the chicks are 
 marked. The marks serve also to establish the age of the 
 fowls from year to year. 
 
 The accompanying illustration shows how the chicks may 
 be marked in sixteen different ways — the liirdt of the com- 
 binations because there are only four webs in the two feet and 
 four squared is sixteen. Each pair of feet is numbered. The 
 holes are punched in the small web between the toes of the 
 chick. It is practically a painless operation, and the chicks 
 seem scarcely to notice it if punched the first few hours after 
 hatching. The fowls, as a rule, carry the mark as long as 
 they live. Care should be taken not to place the hole too 
 near the outer edge of the web, or it will tear out. As each 
 brood is hatched, carefully mark each chick, using a different 
 arrangement for each pen of eggi^ represented, changing the 
 arrangement in a manner similar to that indicated by the dots 
 in the illustration. 
 
 Have a blank book in which to record the marks and, as 
 the chicks are marked, record them by marking a diagram of 
 the dots as they appear in the web of the feet. Opposite the 
 diagram record the pen oi- breeding from which the eggs were 
 obtained, the date of the hatch and any other information that 
 may be of use in the future. 
 
 A Fireless Brooder. 
 
 Only during the late spring and summer it is ad\nsable to 
 attempt to brood chicks artificially without heat. Some forty 
 years ago the theory was first advanced that chicks could be 
 brooded artifically by confining the heat made by the little 
 chicks' bodies, but not until quite recently has this theory re- 
 ceived general attention. The assertion has been made that 
 chicks could be brooded by this method out of doors during the 
 most severe winter weather, and some who have ti-ied it have 
 been successful. The process has hardly left the experimental 
 stage far enough, however, and the attempt to use it on a laige 
 scale should not be made until it has been tried on a small 
 scale first. 
 
 But the fireless brooder may be employed for secondary 
 use for brooding in warm weather or in heated houses. It may 
 be also used in emergency cases where the hen leaves the brood 
 a little too soon, when the brooder becomes overcrowded, or 
 when the brooder is wanted for anothei- and younger flock, but 
 where it is hardly time for the brood to take to the colony 
 houses. 
 
 The principal object sought in building one of these 
 brooders is to make all parts easily accessible for cleaning and 
 
80 
 
 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 for caring for the chicks, to confine the heat as much as possible 
 and yet have a good supply of pure air, to have the hover ad- 
 justable and padded with plenty of heatholding cloth, so the 
 chicks may have something to press their backs up against as 
 they do when brooded by the hen. 
 
 " The brooder shown in the illustration is made in four 
 different parts, each of which may be easily and quickly 
 
 cleaned. The outside 
 measui'cment of the box 
 is 2x2^2 feet and the 
 height is eight inches. 
 The floor is made to 
 fit up in the box so 
 that the four walls fit 
 tightly on the floor of 
 the brooder house. 
 Where the walls of the 
 box sit on the floor of 
 the brooder it is too 
 easily displaced and 
 does not fit tight 
 enough. Four holes are 
 made in the corners of 
 the box an inch apart 
 and the top hole an 
 inch from the top ledge 
 of the wall. A peg fit- 
 ted into one of the 
 holes in each comer 
 holds the hover at any 
 height suited to the age 
 of the chicks. There 
 are also four large 
 holes in the walls of the 
 box, one on each cor- 
 ner an inch or an inch and a half in diameter for ventilation. 
 These ventilators are made big enough so that the air must 
 pass through the cloth of the hover before it can reach the 
 chicks. In this way thei-o is a continuous inflow of pure air 
 without a draft. Tin slides may be made to fit over the 
 ventilators so the supply of air may be regulated during ex- 
 ceedingly cold nights. 
 
 The hover shows two folds of cloth diopped down, but 
 another fold or two may be added with good results. The cloth 
 is dropped, too, in folds Vvithout being cut into long strips as 
 is the usual case and this makes the retention of heat much 
 easier. Woolen flannel is the best material to use. An old 
 blanket is generally available. The top is made to fit down 
 tightly on the box and may be roofed with tarred paper or tin 
 
 rioo r 
 
 Dr;i\vin:-cs of the i)aits for the fireless 
 bioodiT. 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 81 
 
 if it is to be used outside during the summer. The brooder 
 should not be used, though, out in the open, but a good smooth 
 roof is provided more as a roosting board than anything else as 
 the chicks soon take to it after they feather out well. 
 
 Home made feed trough that does not waste 
 the food. 
 
 Feeding for Quick Growth. 
 
 Those who wish to use a modified system of the hopper 
 feeding plan may use troughs like the illustration for this 
 purpose. The feed for the fowls for the day is placed in a 
 divided trough, mash in one end and mixed grain or cracked 
 corn in the other. The daily allowance of the food so fed varies 
 
 a little according to the 
 season and the appe- 
 tites of the birds. 
 
 The daily allowance 
 for twenty-five fowls 
 supplied in this trough 
 should be a little less 
 than three pints of 
 moist mash and about 
 21 quarts of dry grain mixture. The birds should be fed rather 
 liberally, as there is no profit made with fowls fed on a scant 
 ration. Just enough should be fed tho so that there is rarely 
 any feed left in the trough at night. 
 
 This method of feeding is especially well adapted to the 
 needs of the large poultry farmers where the main object is to 
 make the youngsters grow to a marketable age as quickly as 
 possible and with the least attention. Then where egg farming 
 is carried on and the hens are kept out over the fields and 
 grouped in colonies of 35 to 50 this is an ideal way, supplying 
 them with plenty of food without making the feeding place a 
 drawing card for rats during the night, as the fowls clean 
 the feed up before night. When the trip is made around the 
 farm with a one-horse wagon in the morning to feed and water, 
 the attendant can keep in touch with the entrie flock, as they 
 will not go out to range until they have been fed. 
 
 In the Little Compton district in southeastern Rhode Island 
 where the Rhode Island Red was oi'iginated and made famous 
 for this reason, the poultry farms generally use the trough 
 system. This section of Knode Island is noted for the great 
 numbers of chickens raised and the practical poultrymen. Here 
 men make the rearing of poultry a life study and make it a 
 specialty just as sheep and cattle raising is made a specialty in 
 many sections. The "one-man plants," as they are called, 
 clear from $1,000 to $1,500 per year on their forty and fifty 
 
82 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 acre farms by egg farming and bi-oiler raising. The product 
 of these farms is shipped to Boston, Providence and New York 
 principally. The Rhode Island Red fowl was originated by these 
 farmers by a process of selecting the fowls each year which 
 were best suited to their practical needs as egg layers and 
 market fowls as well. This accounts for the widespread pop- 
 ularity of the Reds. 
 
 The daily mash fed on these plants varies some according 
 to the season but generally consists of about half and half 
 bran and chop feed (cracked corn and oats ground together) 
 cooked until the corn is thoroughly done and then about ten or 
 twelve per cent beef scrap added before feeding. During the 
 winter cut steamed clover i.s mixed with the mash in about equal 
 quantities. 
 
 The mixed grain is usually a mixture of cracked corn, 
 whole corn, wheat and oats, the mixture being about 50 per cent 
 corn in the summer season and a considerably large percentage 
 during the winter season. After the chicks are old enough to eat 
 mash they are fed the same feed as the adult stock as much 
 time is saved which it would otherwise take in preparing addi- 
 tional food. Fish waste is fed quite extensively on these poul- 
 try farms in the spring to supplement the high priced beef 
 scraps. Fresh fish waste can generally be obtained for twen- 
 ty-live cents a barrel. The fish waste is well cooked before it 
 it is fed and care taken not to feed too much to the laying stock 
 as the fish taints the eggs. It is fed in abundance to the grow- 
 ing stock tho. 
 
 When one man cares for from 2,000 to 4,000 fowls each day 
 the farm must necessarily be laid off to the best possible ad- 
 vantage that all the fields may be easily and quickly reached 
 and the feeding done with expedience. All feeding and water 
 appliances must be simple, easily used and cleaned. 
 
 The feeding troughs vary in size, but on an average are 
 three and a half feet long by fourteen inches wide. Four up- 
 right posts on one-inch square stuff twelve inches long form the 
 corner and legs. The bottom of the trough is made of a smooth 
 board notched at the corners to receive the posts which serve as 
 a frame as well as legs. The bottom board is nailed to the posts 
 about four inches from the lower ends. On each side is nailed 
 a piece three inches wide by three and a half feet long, giving a 
 depth of about two inches to the trough. On each end is nailed 
 a piece of board six inches high and fourteen inches wide which 
 serves to form the end of the trough and support the removable 
 top board. The top board or cover is of heavy inch stuff ten 
 inches long, so that it will form a movable cover that is not eas- 
 ily shaken or jarred out of position. The whole makes a prac- 
 tical feeding device which keeps the food clean and prevents 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 waste. There is little more than a three-inch clear open space 
 for the feeding fowls between the top of the sides of the 
 trough and the cover or lid. 
 
 Missouri Colony Brooder House. 
 
 By T. S. TOWNSLEY 
 Stove brooders afford the easiest and cheapest method 
 of brooding large flocks of chicks. Farm poultry keepers who 
 appreciate efficient equipment are rapidly discarding all other 
 brooding methods in favor of the colony .^toves. With the coal 
 or oil heated colony hovers from three hundred to five hundred 
 chicks can be handled in one flock mth no more labor than is 
 required with a few dozen chicks brooded with hens or in lamp 
 heated biooders. The chick mortality is remarkably low on 
 farms using colony stoves and little difficulty is experienced 
 in raising early-hatched 
 chicks. The fuel cost for 
 brooders is low, and the 
 stoves are durable. 
 
 Brooder stoves are used 
 in all kinds of buildings, 
 but best results are secur- 
 ed with a specially de- 
 signed colony house. The 
 brooder house should be 
 ward, dry, well lighted 
 and ventilated, and be 
 iarge enough to fui'nish 
 room for exercise. It 
 should also be movable so 
 that the chicks may have 
 fresh groudn for their 
 range. 
 
 The Missouri colony 
 brooder house is designed 
 to meet at least expense 
 all the requirements of a 
 farm brooder house. This 
 house is built eight feet 
 wide and ten feet long, 
 with a gable roof. The 
 gable roof construction 
 has several advantages 
 over other types. It re- 
 quires less lumber, is 
 more substantial, easier 
 
 to move, and affords bet- Cross Section. 
 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 <5i 
 
 Ti^^ 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 • — ^■*' y 
 
 
 
 , 
 
 -.; 
 
 ■ M ! f 1 
 
84 
 
 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 L 
 
 R^ 
 
 ter interior arrange- 
 ment than other 
 houses. 
 ... Building Details. 
 
 Walls — The walls 
 are of car siding, nail- 
 ed up and down. This 
 forms a tight wall and 
 eliminates the use of 
 studding except at the 
 corners. Flooi-ing may 
 be used for walls in- 
 stead of car siding. 
 These t o n g u c-a n d- 
 groove materials make 
 a tighter wall than 
 other foi-ms of siding 
 and are no more ex- 
 pensive. 
 
 Floor — li a movable 
 house a board floor is 
 the only practical type. 
 This floor should con- '""'Kl •'^>"Li 
 
 sist of a single layer of carefully laid matched flooring. A 
 double flooris a needless expense. 
 
 Roof — A shingle i-oof makes less weight on the building 
 than most other types, and is less likely to be damaged in 
 moving the house. 
 
 Foundation — A block under each corner of the house pio- 
 yides a satisfactory foundation. When the house is to be moved 
 it can be set on a pair of skids. 
 
 Ventilation — Ventilation is secured through two openings in 
 the south end of the house. These may be covered with muslin 
 in stoimy weather. Additional ventilation may be secured in 
 warm weather by opening the windows. 
 
 Light — Four small windows supply light for this house. 
 Two of these are placed in the south front and one; in the east 
 and one in the west sides. This arrangement insures good light 
 in all parts of the house. 
 
 Cost of House. 
 
 The material in this house at current prices in Columbia 
 will cost about ;>.")(). The co.-t of labor in building it should 
 not cxci-ed $10. In many sections of the state these figures 
 can be considerably reduced. 
 
 The cost of a house of this type is not prohibitive for poul- 
 try keepers when the many uses which can be made of it are 
 considered. After the brooding season is past the house 
 makes ideal summer quarteivs for giowing pullets. During the 
 fall and winter months it will comfortably house twenty to 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 85 
 
 twenty-five laying hens, or it will make a convenient house for 
 storing feed. Before brooding time in the spring it can be 
 used as a house for the breeding flock. The fact that it is 
 easily moved adds very greatly to its usefulness. 
 
 '<*». 
 
 ;5ill— Four pieces, 2x6 — 8; 32 board feet. 
 
 Sills— Two pieces 2x6—10; 20 board feet. 
 
 Rafters — Eight pieces 2x4 — 5; 27 board feet. 
 
 Plates — Two pieces 2x4 — 10; 13 board feet. 
 
 Studs — Four pieces 2x4 — 5; 13 board feet. 
 
 Door Posts — Two pieces 4x2 — 6; 8 boai'd feet. 
 
 Nailer — Rear Wall — One piece 2x4—8; 5 board feet. 
 
 Short Pieces — Front — Five pieces 2x4 — 2%; 9 board feet. 
 
 Sheeting — Eighteen pieces 1x4 — 11; 66 board feet. 
 
 Finishing — Cornice — Four pieces 1x4 — 5; 7 board feet. 
 
 Finishing — Corner Strips — Foui' pieces 1x4 — 5; 7 board feet. 
 
 Finishing — Short Pieces — Four pieces 1x2 — 2h; 2 board 
 feet. 
 
 Window Sills — Four pieces 1x2 — 2y2; 3 board feet. 
 
 Finishing — Door — Two pieces 1x2 — SVe; 2 board feet. 
 
 Door Sill — One piece 1x3 — 5%; 1 board foot. 
 
 Flooring — Thirty-two pieces 1x4 — 10; 107 board feet. 
 
 Siding — 1x4, 225 board feet. 
 
 Total Lumber — 547 board feet. 
 
 — Shingles One and one-quarter thousand. 
 
 Windows — Four six-light, 8x10 sash. 
 
 Wire Netting — For windows and open front, 15 linear feet 
 of 2-foot wire. 
 
 Muslin — For open front, 1 yard. 
 
 Hinges for Door — One light pair and one heavy pair. 
 
 Hasp for Door — One 6-inch hasp. 
 
86 BUILDING PLANS FOK TOULTRYMEN 
 
 Hatching Chicks and Their Color. 
 
 Because you have paid a good price for a setting of eggs 
 from some breeder is no reason why you should apply the egg 
 standard to the eggs you received and write saucy letters to 
 the breeder because the eggs were not of the same shade or color. 
 If he had known this was what you wanted he would have picked 
 out the eggs at the corner grocery. Varieties laying tinted or 
 brown eggs may lay many different shades of eggs. Some Avhite 
 efrg varieties often have an occasional bii'd laying a tinted egg. 
 Stiange to say, these tinted eggs in the white varieties though 
 if they hatch pullets, the pullets do seldom lay tinted eggs. 
 They occasionally crop out when there is no occasion for it. 
 
 Therefore do not judge the chicks by the eggs. I once saw 
 a setting of eggs from one of the most prominent breeders in 
 the east which c st the buyer more than $1 each and among 
 them was a very ill shaped egg. The egg hatched tho and this 
 very chick turned out to be the very best in the whole lot. 
 
 The point I am making is that it only takes one egg to 
 hatch the coveted lirst prize winner and it is all a matter of 
 chance what color or shaped egg this chick will be hatched from. 
 Leading bi'eeders therelore do not like to take chances in eating 
 a slightly ill shaped egg for they may be eating the golden egg. 
 
 Others get disappointed when after paying a fancy price 
 for a setting of eggs to find that they get only a half dozen or 
 say two or three chicks from the whole lot. Then they com- 
 mence to figure that the chick or two cost them $5 or -$10 or 
 $15 each, as the case may be. But do not complain if you got 
 one chick as far as blaming the breeder is concerned. Take 
 pains and raise the one chicK. It may be worin a whole liock. 
 Nearly every breeder has a fertility guarantee and when eggs 
 do not prove fertile take advantage of the guarantee. Many 
 breeders also guarantee a certain number to hatch or replace at 
 half price or some such arrangement. Therefore, if at first 
 you do not succeed, try, try again. Do not grow- suspicious of 
 the breeder until you have given him a fair chance to live up 
 to his guarantee. 
 
 Then again many keep their hopes and expectations at a 
 high pitch until the eggs really hatch and then let them fall to 
 earth because the chicks do not happen to be a certain shade 
 or color. Remember again that is is just as hard to judge the 
 mature fowl by the chicks, as it is to judge it by the egg. 
 
 All black fowls may be said to be black but all chicks 
 hatched from eggs from black fowls are not black nor are they 
 alike. The same may be said of the white fowls. Not only does 
 the variety have a great deal to do with the color of the chick 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 87 
 
 when hatched but different strains of the same variety often 
 show a difference so pronounced that the experienced eye can 
 note the difference. 
 
 Dispell then your fear for the next few weeks and withhold 
 your judgment, if you have a bunch of chicks on hand from 
 eggs you purchased. Because they do not look like the chicks 
 from your own fowls of the same variety is no sign they will 
 not turn out even better than your own stock] 
 
 Most people are sufficiently informed about chicks to know 
 that Barred Rock chicks are not hatched with bars and yet I 
 have knowTi customers to call the breeder all kinds of names, 
 intimating that he was crooked, because the chicks did not hatch 
 with bars. This spring I heard of a case where a party paid $5 
 for a setting of eggs and then after he received them refused to 
 set them and wired to the breeder at his expense asking for a 
 return of his money because the eggs did not suit him in shape. 
 When the breeder wired back the charges were reversed on him 
 costing him 91 cents more and yet the buyer refused to set 
 the eggs. 
 
 These ai'e cases where "ignorance is bliss and to be wise is 
 folly" is certainly not tine. 
 
 The parti-colored or black red varieties, Brown Leghorns 
 and Cornish chicks are very beautiful when hatched. There is 
 a band or stripe of brown from the head to the tail and with 
 lighter and narrower stripes on either side on the back. Over 
 the rest of the body they are light brown or fawn. Brown 
 Leghorns which are double mated can usually be told at hatching 
 in that the light or female line chicks are very much lighter 
 than the dark or exhibition male chicks. The male line are 
 often so dark that the stripes blend on the back. 
 
 A black chick should not be hatched entirely black, if it is 
 to be a green metallic black when grown. Some white shows 
 good breeding. White about the head and breast in black chicks 
 are the most satisfactory markings. 
 
 White fowls with yellow shanks should produce various 
 degrees of creaminess or faint lemon yellow. A blue grey tinge 
 to the fluff in white chicks will produce a white quilled chick in- 
 variably. But if a white chick from a white-plumaged and 
 legged fowl has bluish shanks that thing, never clears. In fact, 
 blue shanks on chicks, no matter what variety of yellow or white 
 legged fowls, never clear. 
 
 The chicks from buff fowls come either with a yellow or 
 buff cast, and have reddish-yellow legs, which gradually turn to 
 white. The red is the blood showing thru the skin while after 
 the scales on the leg form they do not permit the red blood 
 to show thru. 
 
 Red varieties are very near like the buff, but they generally 
 have sho\\'n more white and have a patch of browTi on the back. 
 
 Black chicks always grow some white feathers in flights of 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR TOULTRYMEN 
 
 wings. Parti-colored varieties often do. This should not alarm 
 you in the least. Parti-colored varieties should not necessarily 
 grow white feathers at first, but it all depends upon the strain 
 and care of the chicks. Chicks hatched in incubators and raised 
 in brooders generally grow white feathers at first and time and 
 again. I have seen chicks hatched from the same eggs and at 
 the same time under h tis and cared for in the natural way 
 never develop the white in wings. Then again chicks confined 
 while growing will often develop white no matter how they are 
 fed or cared fo)". 
 
 The white chick developing and getting a black feather or 
 two here and there will quite likely be your whitest adult so do 
 not berate the breeder for selling you mongrel eggs. 
 
 Again chicks are often condemned because the legs are not 
 yellow and should bo so. Do not get excited. The chicks that 
 have yellow legs at hatching time will fade while the chicks with 
 darker legs, but with good yellow under foot, will produce the 
 best yellow shanks. 
 
 To gain an advantage in mating up your pens for better re- 
 sults watch your chicks develop very carefully and you will 
 soon find certain marks are marks of quality, while others are 
 sure signs of being a cuil. PLxperienced breeders can commence 
 culling just as soon as the chicks are old enough for friers, but 
 the beginner should not take this risk until he is thoroly familiar 
 with the life history of the chicks of his A'ariety else he may 
 chop the head off his best bird unknowingly. 
 
 The Half- Way Coop. 
 
 After the hen has left her brood it is alwaj's a vexing 
 question to know what to do with the youngsters. The coop 
 that held them, and the hen beside, very comfortable a few 
 weeks ago, is now much too ;=mall. The chicks are too small 
 yet to attempt to teach them to take to the poultry house with 
 the older fowls, and if the attempt were made the adult fowls 
 
 would make life un- 
 bearable for them. The 
 desire to go on the 
 perch should be culti- 
 vated as soon, though, 
 as the desire is shown. 
 A large dry goods box 
 roofed, as illustrated, 
 makes an ideal half- 
 way coop. The slats 
 are placed close enough 
 together so that the 
 older fowl s cannot 
 bother the youngsters 
 as they go to roost. The 
 
 The dry goods box coop suitable for the prow- 
 inj: chicks. 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 89 
 
 small coop that they have been reared in thus far should be 
 removed and this coop placed in its place. No matter how 
 hard the stonn, the rain cannot beat in with the wide ex- 
 tension roof, and yet the fowls are made accustomed to an open 
 front house and plenty of pure fresh air. Take care that the 
 young half grown fowls do not crowd together in a corner at 
 night. This instinct is still in them to huddle up to some- 
 thing, although they really do not need the heat. If many are 
 together in a flock they will crowd together very close and 
 sweat. Along in the morning as it gets cooler they cool off 
 too lapidly and fowls with a cold and roup is the result. It 
 is far better to have them take to the roost, as they are sure 
 not to crowd there. A one by three- or four-inch board laid 
 flat makes an ideal roost for youngsters and will not produce 
 crooked breast bones. 
 
 The Sun and Rain Shed. 
 
 Because of sudden showers, many little chicks become dren- 
 ched and drowned during the early spring and summer because 
 they could not get to a place of shelter soon enough or because 
 they ran to the w)-ong coop in their excitement and the strange 
 old hen kept them out until it was too late. Often the door to 
 the coop blows shut or the opening is not lai-ge enough for 
 ail the little fellows to get in at once. For this reason there 
 should always be pro- 
 vided handy an open 
 place where the hen 
 and chicks can get un- 
 der easily in case of a 
 sudden shower. A shod 
 roof protection rrnay be 
 easily made out of a 
 few old boards like the 
 
 illustration, and it will A p.^ctical, easib made sun shade and lain 
 , , shed. 
 
 come m handy many 
 
 times during the summer and save much worrying and annoy- 
 ance about whether the chicks are all in out of the rain, when 
 you happen to be away from home when the sudden shower 
 comes up. You can make this frame most any size, according to 
 your needs, but the more commodious the better. When several 
 hundred chicks are raised several should be provided a conven- 
 ient places and where the chicks range most. The stakes to 
 which they are attached should be driven well into the ground 
 and the shelter securely nailed to it so there is no danger of 
 the wind collapsing it and killing the chicks. 
 
 It will be surprising to you to note how the fowls enjoy 
 
90 
 
 BUILDINC, PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 the shade under tlic platform. Make the shelter quite near 
 the ground and just so the fowls can barely stand undei- it, 
 in preference to any other shade, during the very hot portion 
 of the day. Burlap curtains hung from the sides make it more 
 inviting and cooler. 
 
 An Ideal Colony House for Chicks. 
 
 To raise chicks in largo numbers and yet have them strong 
 and vigorous the colony house is almost indispensable. The 
 largest and most successful poultry farms in the United States 
 almost to a unit use the colony house in some form or other. 
 The chicks can be housed in large brooders when young with 
 good success, but when they are old enough to run about much 
 
 
 9&'-3i^0^i^Bt^M^'^^' 
 
 Colony ho>ise dcsciibed in accompanying article. 
 
 they must have the advantage of more range than is afforded 
 around a large brooder house where there are hundreds of other 
 chicks the same size and age after the same bug and worm. 
 Raising chicks to maturity in large flocks is like raising chil- 
 dren in the heart of a large city. There is too much jostling 
 about and too much excitement and too many after the same 
 mouthful of food. Chicks must be raised like nature would 
 have them, to be robust, strong and vigorous. Nature did not 
 intend that two broods of chicks be cared for together, let alone 
 several incubators full. Fifty little chicks are enough to have 
 in one bunch after they get old enough to scramble about much. 
 The illustration of the colony house shown here is the one 
 
BUILING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 91 
 
 that has been found most successful on the Fishel White Rock 
 Farm. A batch of young chicks is placed in the house, which is 
 provided with a brooder stove or hover attachment. The upper 
 trap window is left closed during cold weather and the lamp 
 under the hovers keeps the house amply warm. No matter 
 how stormy or blustery the weather may be, the little fellows 
 have plenty of dry floor space covered with chaff in which to 
 exercise. Just the moment the sun comes out the two low win- 
 dows in front give them the full benefit of it just whei^e it is 
 needed — on the floor in front. 
 
 The colony houses are generally kept up pretty close about 
 the other buildings while the chicks are young, but just as 
 soon as the clover fields commence to green out and fairly good 
 weather is assured, they are moved out a little distance. As 
 they grow older the houses are moved farther and farther until 
 all the clover fields on the farm are occupied. The houses are 
 moved as far apart as possible and rarely are they closer than 
 three hundred feet in the row, and the rows are much fai'ther 
 apart. The houses are placed in rows and closer one way 
 than another, so the attendant and wagon with water may reach 
 them with as little driving over the field as possible. 
 
 After the chicks are weaned from the hover, roosts are put 
 in the places provided for them, and the chicks take to them 
 like old hens. Altho the chicks from the different houses wander 
 together during the day they are never bunched together, and 
 the fowls belonging to each house always gather about their 
 own coop when feeding time comes. The houses are cleaned 
 each morning with as much regularity as feeding is done. The 
 roosts are painted with lice killer two or three times a week and 
 thus lice and mites never get a start, and it is hardly ever neces- 
 sary to pick up an individual bird and administer louse killer. 
 Birds grown thus, as nature would have them, gi'ow like weeds 
 and they are a pleasure and delight to care for and attend to. 
 Money in poultry! Of course there is when cared for like this. 
 
 The houses, as a rule, are about six by eight feet and six 
 feet high in front and four or five in the rear. They are 
 built on good stout skids so they may be dragged about over 
 the place at will. A single good horse can handle them. 
 
 Planning the Spring Work — What to Do and When 
 
 to Do It. 
 
 After the severe weather during the greater part of Febru- 
 ary, when many of our hens refused to lay, in spite of coaxing, 
 we find it an' easy matter to obtain eggs in March, which 
 usually brings us comparatively mild weather. Unless you 
 spend a great deal of time ^^ith the fowls you can hardly realize 
 
92 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 to what a great extent the tender blades of growing grass and 
 minute forms of animal life enter into the hen's diet at this 
 time of the year. This is really the secret of the increase in 
 egg production — a fact readily proved when a few days of cold 
 weather checks growth again. Of course we must be' prepared 
 for this, and supply the food the fowl can not obtain under 
 such conditions. Even at this time possibly some are finding it 
 difficult to get eggs in any great number, but it is because the 
 fowls are confined in small, bare runs and improperly cared 
 for. 
 
 It is interesting to note how we unconsciously catch the 
 spirit of spring and before we are aware of the fact have our 
 plans laid out to set so many hens during the next few days, 
 or to start the incubator. But we must not forget that to have 
 too may March chicks would cause more expense to raise them 
 than later and necessitates much more care and fondling. This 
 is not true of the poultry man who makes the raising of broil- 
 ers and early fries a business, and is prepared for the early bus- 
 iness, and is prepared for the early chick, but, to the average 
 person who I'aises poultry only as a side line on a few feet of 
 yard on the back lot, it is hardly expedient to set hens before 
 the first of April. The earth then will have had time to warm a 
 little before the chicks arc hatched, and they will mature so 
 much easier and faster under the later favorable conditions. 
 
 It is well, though, to plan ahead and decide how many 
 young chicks we intend to raise and to bo thoroughly prepared. 
 To have fertile, strong eggs we must have vigorous parent stock 
 and to have chicks full of vitality we must have strong, fertile 
 eggs. Much depends, too, on the care of the egg after it is 
 laid and before it is placed under the hen. 
 
 Eggs for hatching can not be removed from the nest too 
 carefully. They should not be placed in a large basket A\ith 
 many other eggs. This often causes a very small crack so 
 minute that it can hardly be seen until the eggs have been 
 under the hen several days and become a little soiled. The 
 hands that gather the eggs should be clean and especially fi-ee 
 from oily or greasy substances of any kind as the oil will 
 surely enter the pores of the egg shell and seal them up so 
 the chick will be deprived of air and die in the early stages of 
 its development. In going about from one nest to another and 
 opening and closing doors we are most likely to jar the basket 
 or bucket in v.-hich we are carrying the eggs more than Ave 
 realize, and enough to jar several germs fiom the web-like 
 mooring between the yolk and white of the egg. During the 
 severe cold weather the egg should not remain in the nest until 
 it becomes chilled or be removed from a warm nest out into an 
 open basket and carried about in the cold breezes of the evening 
 for half an hour or more while gathering eggs. It is more 
 advisable to gather the eggs three or four times a day during 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 93 
 
 cold weather if they are to be used for incubation. If two oi 
 miore pens are mated and if it is from these that you intend to 
 save eggs for hatching, a lead pencil should be carried along 
 while gathering eggs and the egg marked with the date and the 
 pen number as it is removed from the nest. Experts find this 
 the only safe way to mark eggs, as many eggs are handled day 
 after day and a mistake is sure to be made some time during 
 the breeding season in marking if we wait until we arrive at 
 the house. The shell of the egg should be observed from time 
 to time and care taken that the fowls are supplied ^\'ith oyster 
 shell at all times if the egg shells are inclined in the least 
 to be thin and fragile. Eggs not well proportioned or with a 
 rough surface should not be saved and you should note whether 
 your exceptionally good hen is laying nice smooth eggs. 
 
 Low, flat wooden trays or boxes make ideal receptacles in 
 which to keep the eggs before setting them. The box should be 
 lined with three or four thicknesses of newspaper, as paper is 
 a nonconductor of heat and the eggs will not be affected by 
 rapid changes in the temperature so readily. It is much better 
 to place only one layer of egg^ over the bottom of the tray, as 
 they have to be turned each day. To turn the eggs, lay a row 
 of them to one side and gently roll the rest over in their places 
 and in this way the eggs \\ill have been turned just half over, 
 so that the part that was at the bottom the day before is now at 
 the top. Paper makes a very good covering for the eggs, too. 
 If they are left in the open air for ten days in a dwelling they 
 will dry out more than they would were they left in the nest 
 built upon the moist earth. The temperature at which they are 
 kept should be near 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Eggs of ordmary 
 fertility may be kept two weeks safely. 
 
 How to Fight Lice, Mites, Etc. 
 
 You will And that the poultryman who has much diflfi- 
 culty in raising his flock of young birds is generally so con- 
 ceited about his own ability as a poultryman and his ability to 
 analyze the causes of his trouble. No doubt this first state- 
 ment is pretty harsh and will evoke criticism, but I mean just 
 what I say, and the only qualification I wish to put on it is where 
 a new beginner has let his enthusiasm lead him to undertake too 
 much before he is thoroly familiar with the poultry business, and 
 I am sure after you think back for several years of the failures 
 and troubles among poultry raisers you will agree with me. 
 
 I am almost tempted to say that 90 per cent of the poultry- 
 men would not know a head louse if they should see it. Again, 
 25 per cent do not know where to find the little red mites which 
 make such ravages upon the fowls each year. I should say the 
 
94 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 same thing about the ordinary body louse, the least harmful, 
 altho the largest of all. Time and again I have been astonished 
 upon visiting breeders of thorobrcd poultry — the fellows who 
 claim to know all the "ing" and "outs" and tricks of the trade 
 and all about the business, to hear them try to argue with me, 
 when investigating the probable cause of the little chicks' weak- 
 ness, that "that isn't a head louse, those are feathers." And 
 then to look among the chicks' feathers for the little red mites, 
 when, as a matter of fact, they have to be millions strong be- 
 fore they will be found during the day, and that is about the 
 last place you will find them. Another fallacy is that the place 
 to look for body lice is under the wing, when, again, as a matter 
 of fact, the chick or adult fowl has to be literally alive with 
 lice before you will find more than an occasional one under 
 the wing. 
 
 Aside from faulty brooding, the two pests of the young 
 chicks are lice and white diarrhea, and neither need cause the 
 poultryman any concern whatever if he will first learn the seat 
 of the trouble and then use preventitive methods instead of com- 
 bative remedies after his flock is well in the grasp of one of 
 these pests. 
 
 You might as well make up your mind that every species 
 of louse and mite will appear some time or other during the 
 season just as sure as you set a hen or operate an incuator, and 
 don't be so conceited about your flock of thorobreds as to argue 
 that as 1 hatch them in an incubator and raise them in a brooder 
 away from all other poultry, therefore my chicks will not be 
 infested with lice. Look out, you will be hit good and hard with 
 ten thousand times ten thousand of those pesky mites before you 
 know it. Like Topsy, they don't seem to have any starting 
 point, but just grow. 
 
 White diarrhea will probably appear some time during the 
 season, altho not such a certain and known quantity as lice. 
 There are enough preventitive remedies on the market that 
 are thoroly reliable, that every person attempting to raise 
 little chicks should purchase a bottle or package before the 
 chicks hatch and administer it as directed as soon as the chicks 
 hatch and regularly every week or two until the chicks are good, 
 big fellows, well feathered out, and then about once a month. 
 Last year one of the severest cases of white diarrhea I ever saw 
 and the only one of the season developed in a fully-feathered, 
 healthy young cockerel nine weeks old and had it not been that 
 1 had a supply of the preventitive medicine on hand I would 
 have certainly lost him before I could have ordered thru the mail 
 and in turn received it. 
 
 For several seasons several years ago, I, too, went under 
 the delu.-;ion that my chicks were being raised under perfect 
 conditions, perfect feed, etc., and thei-efore I need not worry 
 about lice or anything else and need not take any precaution 
 
BUILDING PANS FOR POULTRYMEN 95 
 
 about prevention, but experience is a good teacher and cures 
 are hard to effect, so I retraced my steps, and I have been going 
 on the assumption for several seasons now, like I did when I 
 first commenced raising poultry that my chicks probably have 
 few lice or white diarrhea, and I give them a dose "just to 
 make sure, anjnvay," as my grandmother used to do to me when 
 1 would come in with wet feet, which would mean a bad cold 
 if not taken in time. 
 
 Grease the little chicks' heads and throats with sweet oil 
 when you take them olf the nest or out of the machine. It is 
 is easier to do then and does not take half the time, and it will 
 last them for a couple of weeks, at least. Then, even if there 
 are not signs of head lice at the end of that time, take an eve- 
 ning off and repeat the operation, and again in another two 
 weeks. I found that a systematic treatment like this every two 
 weeks is very much less nerve-racking than to worry for days 
 after they commence to die, and fret and stew as to what to 
 do, and whether you will ever raise one or not. 
 
 Scald out the brooder or brood coop every week or ten days 
 with the hot soap-water left from the washing, and it will be 
 better to add some strong lye. Get this water in every crack 
 and crevice, underneath the floor as well as the walls and lid, 
 and your worries about mites will be short-lived indeed. Scald- 
 ing water kills the nits or eggs of these mites better than any- 
 thing else, aside from fire, that I have ever tried. There are 
 many good liquid disinfectants and louse-killers that may be 
 added to water that are very fine also. Coal oil poured around 
 in the cracks is also good. Remember the mites stay in the 
 coop and only come out at night and suck the blood from the 
 fowls. You will find them away down deep in the cracks or 
 under the floor or at the ends of the roosts. 
 
 If a few body lice appear a little sweet oil under the vent 
 of the little chicks, as well as about the throat and head, will 
 soon put them out of commission. 
 
 Head lice ai-e a species of tick. Body lice ai'e scavengers 
 and live on the ofl"al of the skin. They cannot suck blood. The 
 little red mites are mites, as the word implies, and live on the 
 blood alone. 
 
 Prepare Early For Green Food and Shade. 
 
 During the early part of May plans should be made to pro- 
 vide the poultry yards with liberal supplies of green food and 
 plenty of shade for the coming summer. If quantities of fresh 
 lawn clippings can be had during hot months it probably will not 
 be necessary to plan much further for the green food, but poul- 
 try enjoy so much to pick the greens fresh from the stem, and 
 if only a small plot ten by ten feet can be fenced ofi" in which 
 
9G BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 to grow a little green food, it will serve to improve the general 
 tone of the flock. It is the domestic fowl's habit to roam about 
 in quest of food — not to tramp about on a bare plot of ground 
 — during the whole season and, in keeping with nature's plans, 
 the yard should be so arranged that half of it at least is under 
 cultivation at one time growing a crop of some kind that 
 fowls enjoy and into which they may be be released once a day 
 at least for an hour or so. A plot of fresh earth under culti- 
 vation to which the fowls have access is a remedy for most ills 
 of the poultry yard. If the poultry yard can not conveniently be 
 divided into two parts for each pen of fowls and the flock turned 
 into one or the other at will, then a corner or one end of the 
 yard may be fenced off and spaded up for cultivation. 
 
 There are many different varieties of vegetation that poul- 
 try enjoy as green food. Indeed, the fowls are not at all par- 
 ticular, and, for this fact, it is all the easier for the poultry 
 raiser to select some crop that is adapted to the location and soil 
 as well as the season and length of time in which he has to 
 grow it. Fovds are especially fond of short, tender blades of 
 grass of almost any variety, of young oats and rye, of lettuce 
 the many different kinds of clover, alfalfa, rape and even of 
 young dandelion plants. 
 
 A crop of oats is desirable in the early spring and sum- 
 mer, when plenty of moisture is a certainty, but, when sown 
 later in the summer, the crop is likely to be a failure unless 
 it can be watered. Oats is the most satisfactory green food 
 where the board inclosure, with wire netting top is used. Rye 
 is sown only in the fall for early winter use. 
 
 All the surplus lettuce from the family garden and kitchen 
 should be fed to the fowls, and when the patch in the garden 
 becomes too tough for family use it should be fed to the flock as 
 quickly as possible before it goes to seed and becomes useless. 
 
 Clover and alfalfa, like the grasses, require too long a time 
 and too much work to be used by the small poultry raiser as an 
 exclusive crop for the fowls, but where these succulent plants 
 can be obtained and fed with little trouble they are most ex- 
 cellent green food. 
 
 Rape is one of the nutritious greens where moisture is a 
 certainty, and it can be sown any time from April to August. It 
 cannot be recommended too highly as green food, as it grows 
 rapidly and will stand much more drought than anything else 
 that can be planted. Rape is ready to use in three or four 
 weeks, depending upon the time of year. The fowls may be al- 
 lowed the run of the patch for a half hour or so every other 
 day at first. After the growth is well established the time 
 may be prolonged until the fowls can be kept in it all the time, 
 and the other half of the yard spaded up and sown in the 
 same manner. The winter or biennial varieties should be sown. 
 The dwarf Essex or English is the most widely cultivated. 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 97 
 
 A very good plan in sowing a plot for green food for poul- 
 try is to mix several different kinds of seeds. In this way the 
 fowls get what they crave most and the conditions under which 
 they live are made much more natural. A mixture of oats, 
 lettuce, millet and rape furnishes an excellent food and a quick 
 growing crop. A few cowpea seeds may be added, as the 
 fowls like the leaves from this plant. 
 
 Feed a variety of foods, not because "Variety is the spice 
 of life," but because the hens will then be sure to get some of 
 the things they need. 
 
 There is little excuse for the bare sun beaten poultry yard 
 so often seen when natural shade can be so easily provided 
 with a little forethought in the spring. The poultry yard can be 
 made as attractive as the front lawn with a few landscape gar- 
 dening rules applied. The soil about the yard is generally very 
 rich and very little care need be given the shade producing 
 plants protected from the fowls. Of course, the orchard is the 
 ideal place for fowls, but, lacking this, shade from shrubs, 
 small fruit trees, vines and different tall annual plants will 
 serve. Quince and lilac bushes may be grown in the poultry 
 yard if they are inclosed with a small fence the first two 
 years. A row of blackberry and raspberry bushes may be 
 planted along the south fence. Morning glory and wild cucum- 
 ber vines will make profuse shade on the wire netting fence in 
 a few weeks. The tall varieties of sunflowers hide unattractive 
 places and the seed is the best poultry conditioner and fattener 
 that can be had. When used in combination with vines, the 
 sunflower makes a very pleasing background. 
 
 Mineral Matter in the Food is Absolutely Necessary. 
 
 When the breeding stock is deprived of the proper amount 
 of mineral food the egg content will soon be imperfect and the 
 supply diminish. As a result chicks die in the shell or the eggs 
 produce weak chicks. There may be a good egg yield and still 
 an imperfect egg content from lack of mineral matter other than 
 lime. Lack of suitable mineral food may also be a factor in 
 causing poor fertility or even sterility. 
 
 Fowls will live and apparently thrive on soils where there 
 is practically no natural grit, but under such conditions where 
 grit is not supplied they will eat large quantities of the soft 
 earth. Young stock raised on such soil may be coop fed or crate 
 fed for from two to three weeks and keep in good condition with 
 no grit or earth supplied and no other mineral food except that 
 contained in the grain and green stuff fed. Continue the ex- 
 periment one to three weeks longer, feedmg, as far as pos.sible, 
 food containing little or no mineral food and the confmed birds 
 
98 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 will get out of condition and die. A fowl positively deprived 
 of all mineral food aWII usually die in from one month to six 
 weeks. Mineral food supplied in fine powder form will permit 
 continuing the experiment for an indefinite period, but hard, 
 sharp grit has not been found necessary to life. 
 
 Between 5 and 6 per cent of the fowl's body, including 
 feathers, is mineral matter and should the carcass of a six- 
 pound fowl be burned and all the ash saved it will weigh ap- 
 proximately five to five and one-half ounces. 
 
 Eggs contain between 11 and 12 per cent mineral matter. 
 Of this amount about 11 per cent is the shell and about 1 per 
 cent is contained in the egg contents and contains all the 
 mineral elements needed to perfect a living, hatchable 
 chick. The shell of the egg is mostly calcium carbonate (lime). 
 
 The average shell will weigh about two ounces. A good 
 six-pound hen ought to yield at least twelve dozen eggs in 
 twelve months — eighteen pounds of egg in one year. The twelve 
 dozen eggs would contain about two pounds of mineral matter. 
 
 The more important minerals found in the fowl's body 
 and in eggs are: Calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium, phos- 
 phorus, sulphur, silicon and iron. They are not found in a 
 free state, but in chemical combinations as carbonates, phos- 
 phates, suli)hatcs, chlorides, etc. Salt (sodium chloride) is an 
 important consistent of the blood. Potassium chloride is found 
 in the icd blood cells and in the mxiscles. Potasium phosphate 
 in the brain and nerve tissue. Calcium, magnesium and silicon 
 in cartilages, bones and feathei's; iion in the blood. 
 
 ]Mineral food not only supplies the fowl's body with mineral 
 nourishment necessary to maintenance, I'epair and upbuilding 
 of the various pai'ts, but it also assists very materially in the 
 active process of nutrition by promoting cell metabolism — the 
 actual act or process by which living cells take up and properly 
 use food material brought to them and reject or throw off the 
 waste material and is aided by the pi-esence of essential mineral 
 foods. 
 
 It is difficult to make an accurate estimate of the amount 
 of mineral food needed daily by a normal fowl. Not less than 
 two pounds is needed for eggs alone in a year. A large amount 
 of that wJiich is eaten is not usable and must be passed out. 
 The droppings of a healthy hen for a year will yield from eight 
 to ten pounds of mineral matter. The fowl's digestive organs 
 select what can be used and is requiretl and reject the balance. 
 
 The avei'age minimum daily intake of mineral food for an 
 adult fowl is about half an ounce, or in one yeai', approximately 
 not less than eleven or twelve pounds. 
 
 A failure to supply plenty of oyster shells and cracked 
 bone to laying hens will result in soft shelled eggii and a ten- 
 dency to vgg eating. When a fowl eagerly eats stones, glass 
 and other gritty substances it is striving to satisfy a craving 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 99 
 
 for some needed mineral food ^vith which it is not supplied. 
 A very small amount of the hard grits is assimilated by the 
 digestive organs of the fowl and serve for little purpose. The 
 fowls should be supplied with plenty of cracked oyster shells, 
 fine gravel or coarse sand, ground bone and mica crystal grit. 
 Growing chicks need plenty of mineral food to supply the 
 needs of their rapidly growing bodies. They particularly need 
 shells and raw dry bone to supply material for bone making and 
 other tissues. They need sand to supply silicon for the feathers. 
 If the chick is deprived of these, weak legs, slow feathering, 
 crooked breast bones and other deformities is the result. 
 
 Cutting the Cost of Feed Stuffs. 
 
 Few poultrymen keep an account of just how much their 
 feed costs them in a year. Did you ever stop to get even a 
 rough estimate of just what your feed bills will amount to in 
 a year's time ? If you have not, it will pay you. It is hardly 
 worth while for me to argue with you about the value of buy- 
 ing feeds in large quantities but it may be worth wiiile to dwell 
 upon the advisability of buying feeds at the proper time. , 
 
 There is hardly a place in the United States where corn 
 and wiieat are not practical feeds for fowis and w^hen I use the 
 term practical I mean economical in the broadest sense. The 
 American fanner feeds little else beside corn the greater part of 
 the year and if he raises w'heat he may manage to save the 
 screenings from the threshing for the fowls. This is not practi- 
 cal because, altho corn, for example, is one of the best propor- 
 tioned grains yet it is not well balanced enough to feed it and 
 nothing else and expect profit from the investment. 
 
 The poultryman on the other hand know's that it pays to 
 feed a variety and as nearly a balanced ration as possible. Too 
 many poultrymen, however, feed expensive feeds when it is not 
 necessary. "It is not wiiat a man makes but what he saves" is 
 a favorite axiom. So with good judgment used in the mere 
 matter of feeding and buying feeds quite a saving can be made 
 during the year. 
 
 August is the great wheat threshing month. Threshing be- 
 gins many places early in July but by August wheat is on the 
 market. I do not know how many poultrymen watch the market 
 page of the daily papers but it will pay you if you feed any con- 
 siderable number of fowis. I have found it a pretty safe rule to 
 follow to lay in a supply of wheat during August. Year in and 
 year out you will find it about as cheap then as any time during 
 the whole year. 
 
 The poultryman should have large bins provided and keep 
 an eye open for bargains in poultry wheat. You do not need 
 
100 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 to buy fii'st class wheat but often can get bargains in wheat 
 that may have wild onions in it or some other slight defect that 
 makes it hard to dispose of. Wheat of this kind can generally 
 be gotten at a very low figure, considering the real market 
 price of first class wheat at the time, and if the poultryman is 
 wise enough to have bin capacity he can cut a big hole in his 
 feed bill of the year by buying a large quantity of such wheat. 
 
 Sometimes it can be bought of the farmer and again a 
 miller or grain dealer gets such a quantity of just such wheat 
 on his hands that he is only too glad to make a price on it for 
 ([uick sale. Every poultryman knows how to make a good 
 scratch grain and there is nothing better for the body of the 
 scratch grain than wheat. Occasionally, those living in close 
 proximity to extensive farming districts and who can get in 
 touch with the farmers at threshing time can get large quan- 
 tities of wheat screenings for almost nothing. 
 
 Later in the fall a supply of whole corn can be laid in at 
 a profit. Remember ground grains are liable to heat and espe- 
 cially ground corn. But it is always safe to lay in a good supply 
 of whole corn and nothing makes a better last feed of the day 
 during the cold winter months than whole corn. Several bush- 
 els can be fed this way and if the corn is bought right quite 
 a saving can be made. 
 
 It is hardly ever pi-ofitable or wise to buy oats in any 
 quantity because it is not a very good feed by itself, altho there 
 is no better growing feed than oats. The hull on the oats is 
 the great drawback to more extensive feeding by poltrymen. 
 Pin head or hulled oats make a splendid feed. 
 
 Then again the wholesale grocer may have a bargain in 
 scratch grains of some well known brand which he is closing out 
 and has a few sacks left. Wholesale feed men in all the large 
 cities send out prices of feed stuft's each month and it is well 
 to have your name on their list. You will find many dollars can 
 be saved, even with a flock of HO fowls during the year, if feeds 
 are bought for cash at the right time in quantities. 
 
 For Winter Results and Poultry Success. 
 
 The problem of where to start to make a success of the 
 poultry business is as much a question as the old one, "Which 
 Was First, The Hen or The Egg." So in advising beginners or 
 trying to help these with many years' experience out of dif- 
 ficult problems always reverts into the advice so often quoted, 
 "Get Good Strong Healthy Stock or Strong Genned Eggs Full 
 of Vitality," yet this advice seems preplexing, for when are we 
 sure we "have the stock described as filling the bill and if 
 we have the stock tloscribed how are we sure they will lay the 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 101 
 
 kind of coveted eggs desired ? Between the hen and the chick 
 there is always plenty of room for failure and also between the 
 chick and the adult there is plenty of room for failure or if 
 not utter failure weakening the vitality. 
 
 So, in attempting to give the reader an idea of the con- 
 dition his young stock should be in to make a success of the 
 winter work, I am compelled to go back to the parent stock of 
 the chicks you aie working with and even back two or three 
 generations and state that the chicks should be hatched from 
 eggs laid by good healthy vigorous stock and the eggs from this 
 flock should be picked and cared for with care and the chicks 
 should never have a "set back" of a single day during their 
 summer existence. What I mean by a "set back" is that they 
 should not be annoyed a single day with lice, with the bacteria 
 or white diarrhea. No matter if they only have a slight attack 
 it will always weaken them to a certain extent, with confine- 
 ment in small bare runs with no shade, with crowding, with a 
 lack of proper brooding when young, and so on through the 
 whole catagory of evils that are the hard luck agents of so 
 many poultrmen. 
 
 I may be a crank on the subject of raising chicks under 
 ideal natural surroundings, but I have good reasons to believe 
 and believe the experience of poultrjonen much older than I as 
 well as science will bear me out in the statement that even 
 keeping small chicks confined after sunup causing them to fret 
 and worry will take several hours a day growth from them. 
 The change in the quality of milk given by cows when annoyed 
 or woi-ried is a fair example of what I am trying to impress 
 upon the grower of young fowls. Therefore, it is my aim to 
 so raise my fowls that they never give a cheep of the note of 
 dissatisfaction, annoyance or unnatural hunger. With life sail- 
 ing on for them under this even tenor from the day they are 
 hatched until they are five months of age when most of the 
 pullets are laying, I believe I am justified in claiming with due 
 conversation that I have gained a month in size and 50 per cent 
 or more in vigor and stamina over the chicks that have had a 
 slight attack of white diarrhea, six to three dozen head lice for 
 a week or two before the owner noticed them waning in spirits, 
 two to three months' annoyance of mites at night and long con- 
 finement in foul coops after sunup, as well as confinement in 
 small bare runs during the day, no matter how well fed. These 
 are the little things that go to make the winter's work suc- 
 cessful and profitable or unsuccessful and unprofitable as the 
 individual case may be. 
 
 Many poultry men gage their success for the season by 
 the number of chicks they had to die, but taking the sensible 
 view of it when a chick is so sick it dies with a reasonable de- 
 gree of surety should we not find several more in the samie 
 flock that are so sick they have lost several week's growth. We 
 
102 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 should, therefore, not watch out for the deaths in our flocks 
 before we become alarmed, but rather live with them so that we 
 will notice the change in their spirits when a chick suffers its 
 first annoyance no matter from what source. 
 
 With such a flock you can go into the winter with great 
 assurance if the same care and attention to details is followed 
 as in babyhood. The cockerels should have been removed at the 
 first sign of annoyance. The pullets should never be frightened 
 or chased any more than a modern dairyman would permit 
 such a thing with his cows. Young fowls should be taught 
 to follow like sheep with the use of a little grain and I find it 
 much easier to take them where I want them by this method 
 rather than bunching them up and frightening a week's growth 
 out of them. For this loason I like to move the brood coops they 
 are in gradually up to the winter house so that late in the fall 
 or whenever, according to their age largely, I want to change 
 them from their colony coop to the house for the winter they are 
 so accustomed to roosting near the house that the first night 
 I remove the colony coop away entirely they hardly know the 
 change and go right in the house. The change has been so 
 gradual that they never are annoyed and worried a single hour. 
 These attentions to trifles and details might be called nonsense 
 and theory by some, but by actual cxpeiience the more I live 
 with fowls the more I find this attention to small details pays. 
 It brings the pullets up to their very best and yet does not 
 bring on c^f}; production too soon when they are far undeveloped 
 nor does it pay less well with the cockerels whether for broilers 
 or breeders. Kindness and attention to details with any kind of 
 domestic fowls or animals will pay handsomely coupled with ex- 
 perience. We cannot really he kind to our wards until we have 
 experience and know how. The bee keeper even preaches kind- 
 ness and attention to details and it is common knowledge that 
 the bees disturbed and annoyed for a few minutes will lose the 
 better part of a day's work. 
 
 The pullets then, when in the laying house, should be taught 
 to use the house as soon as cold weather begins. Do not 
 wait until the ground is frozen before the house is gone over 
 for the winter, and plenty of litter added to the house. To carry 
 the pullets from the late fall into the winter, laying all the time, 
 is a trick, so to speak, and the trick is none other than watch- 
 ing carefully the wants of the young fowls and supplying every 
 need as winter closes in about them. Early in the fall on cold 
 mornings or rainy weather, accustom the pullets to use the 
 litter by giving their scratch grain in it. The dry mash hoppers 
 of course, are in the winter house and kept full of mash all the 
 time. This makes the poultry house the most thriving place the 
 young fowls can find and they will take to it like ducks to 
 water. When real cold weather sets in the fowls hardly notice 
 the doors are closed and they are confined all day. Thus, their 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 10? 
 
 nervous sytsem does not have a single shock, they never fret 
 and worry at being confined causing the egg yield to stop right 
 at the time cold weather commences and eggs are high, but they 
 go right on laying and will lay through the winter if the house 
 is built substantially and well ventilated and lighted and the 
 proper care and feed is given the young pullets. Compare this 
 method with that in vogue with many where the young stock 
 is all over the place roosting in the barn and on fences and 
 shifting for themselves and left thus until the snow overtakes 
 them and they have to be lifted from their roosts and taken to 
 a laying house. Of course they will worry at being confined 
 and it will take two months to get them accustomed and to lay- 
 ing again right while eggs are highest. Do not understand me to 
 be against fowls shifting for themselves as much as possible. 
 This is all right, but at the same time while they are out lead- 
 ing a natural life in the open I want to keep them so under 
 my control and feed them so regularly at their proper place 
 that I can handle them at any time and they will roost at night 
 where I invite them. Sounds a little unreasonable, but it can be 
 done and done easily by observing the fowl's instinct, following 
 the laws of nature and attention to the little things that make 
 life worth living, even for the lowly fowl. 
 
 As a final warning, do not crowd the young fowls and 
 when they want to roost give them a flat board to roost on. 
 
 How to Get Plenty of Eggs in Winter. 
 
 The natural time of the year for the hen to lay is in the 
 spring and summer, but any variety or breed of fowls so popu- 
 lar today can be made to produce eggs during the dead of win- 
 ter with proper care and feeding. Certain natural desirable 
 characteristics have been fostered and intensified tho by selec- 
 tion and mating until there are now breeds that excel in some 
 particulars over others. 
 
 When the demand for eggs exceeds the supply the price 
 of eggs advances as a natural consequence. The egg farmer 
 has solved the problem and has made the getting of eggs a 
 scientific certainty when the prices are high, much to his profit. 
 The family keeping just a few hens may do the same thing and 
 make the average egg yield per hen even greater, because fowls 
 do better in smaller numbers and better attention can be af- 
 forded the small flock. 
 
 The egg farmer places his fowls under conditions as nearly 
 like spring as possible with the exception of the temperature, as 
 it has been found that hens do not require warm quarters. They 
 thrive in dry, windproof quarters without drafts and with as 
 much sunshine and fresh air as possible. He feeds them a well 
 
104 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 balanced ration, which is as near like the hens would get were 
 they roaming about over broad fields in the summer time. The 
 bugs and worms the fowls get during the summer play quite 
 an important part in influencing the egg yield. 
 
 To take the place of the bugs and worms some form of 
 meat must be fed. Some one of the by-products of beef is the 
 cheapest and most satisfactory. In isolated country districts 
 milk can be fed to advantage, but milk is almost as hard to 
 obtain and as high priced as eggs for the average city or town 
 dweller. The packing houses are near tho, and beef scraps or 
 dried beef blood prepared especially for chickens can be obtained 
 at any of the seed or feed stores at very reasonable rates when 
 purchased in 100 pound bags and fed as easily as grain. 
 
 Beef scraps are superior to dried blood. If of good quali- 
 ty it will keep indefinitely if kept dry. Its appearance is hard- 
 ly what the name might suggest, as the scraps after being 
 cooked thoroly tender are ground into coarse bits so it can be 
 fed in the mash. Mix the mash in the following proportions by 
 emptying the meal on a clean floor or have the feed man do 
 it before delivery and shoveling it about, dry, until thoroly 
 mixed. Keep the feed in barrels away from rats and feed as 
 needed by scalding a sufficient quantity for the flock. A good 
 mixture is as follows: Chop feed, 40 lbs.; middlings, 22 lbs.; 
 beef scraps. 15 lbs. 
 
 Chop feed is composed of half and half oats and corn ground 
 together. Middlings is a by-product of wheat flour— the heart 
 or middle of the wheat and the richest part, but which modem 
 milling methods has decreed shall not go into the flour, sacri- 
 ficing nutritive properties for whiteness. Bran is the hull or 
 outer covering of wheat. 
 
 Chickens must have some kind of green food along with 
 their grain during the winter if many eggs are expected. Beef 
 scraps, green cut bone, blood meal or chopped raw beef will 
 take the place of the bugs and worms they pick up during the 
 summer, but something must also be provided to take the place 
 of the tender blades of grass picked here and there. Grains 
 are too concentrated in themselves to form the whole diet for 
 fowls. With a crop filled with nothing but grains the starch 
 in them becomes pasty and sticky after becoming moist and 
 will not move along easily thru the fowl's peculiarly formed 
 alimentary canal unless there is some bulky substance mixed 
 with the food. In fact, it requires very much less food if bulky 
 green foods of some kind are fed regularly, and, of course, they 
 are much cheaper. 
 
 At first thot it would seem almost impossible to have a 
 supply of green food during the winter in our northern and 
 central states without considerable cost. There are several dif- 
 ferent ways of supplying this part of the ration, tho. Apple 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 105 
 
 parings and cabbage leaves which would otherwise be M-asted 
 in the kitchen can be chopped up with a vegetable cutter in 
 pieces small enough for the fowls to swallow, and they form 
 an excellent substitute for the grasses of summer. Heads of 
 cabbage may be hung up in the scratching shed so the fowls 
 will be required to jump for them. This also provides exercise. 
 Care should be taken, tho, not to feed too much cabbage, as it 
 will give the eggs a peculiar flavor. If turnips are plentiful 
 they also may be fed in this manner. In the last few years 
 alfalfa has been placed upon the market in the form of a dry 
 bulky meal for poultry. A quantity of the meal is scalded with 
 hot water the night before it is intended for use. It turns as 
 green as grass as soon as it is scalded, but it should be left 
 covered tightly for several hours. It should then be mixed with 
 mash food to form about one-fourth of the quantity of the bulk. 
 Pure, clean clover hay is equally good chopped up and 
 scalded and fed in this manner or a bale of clover hay may be 
 left in some out of tho way place for the fowls when it will soon 
 be found the leaves will all be picked from the stems. Then the 
 bale may be torn apart. It will surprise some to think of fowls 
 eating hay, but they will actually eat all the leaves of the clo- 
 ver stems, so much do they relish bulky food. The cow beet or 
 mangel wurzel form a very cheap and efficient green food for 
 poultry, but they can scarcely ever be purchased on the market. 
 If you want a supply of green food for your fowls for next 
 year sow a small quantity of the seed along in July or engage 
 some farmer to grow some for you. If you live in the suburbs 
 possibly thei'e is a hothouse near which grows lettuce during 
 the winter. The waste leaves may be obtained at small cost. 
 Sprouted oats or wheat makes another good form of green food 
 foi- winter use. The grain is soaked in lukewarm water over 
 night and then placed in a shallow box or pan in a two-inch layer 
 and the box kept in a moderately warm temperature for ten 
 days or two weeks or until the young plants reach a height of 
 two or three inches. 
 
 The Louse Question a Live Issue in the Dead of 
 Winter. 
 
 Those who should really read this article, no doubt will 
 feel on reading the headlines that it is another of those theories 
 of inexperienced poultry writers and leave it at that. 
 
 All the articles on the lice problem that I have found raise 
 a loud warning about the pest during the spring and summer 
 and fall and seem to take it for granted that with cold weather 
 lice will be a minus factor. But such is not the case. I had 
 poultry for several years before I became alive to the impor- 
 tance of the lice problem in the dead of the winter and its rela- 
 tion to the general health and efficiency of the flock. It is then 
 
106 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 the large body lice get in their deadly work. The awkward and 
 ungainly young cockerels and old cocks are the first to fall an 
 easy pi'ey to these big body lice. Old hens and the light laying 
 class of young pullets are last to contract body lice because of 
 their neat and thrifty habits about their personal cleanliness. 
 
 The poulterer must have as keen and educated an eye and 
 as quick to note symptoms and what they indicate as the skilled 
 physician. 
 
 Dfd you ever see head lice ? This is an insult to the ave- 
 rage poultryman for he knows head lice from feathers. Many 
 farmers and back-lotters do not know a head louse when they 
 see it. You have probably seen this class of people. Let me 
 ask another (jucstion. Did you ever see a young cockerel or 
 cock that had all the line particles of feathers of his entire body 
 eaten off by body lice? If you have not, you have not been a 
 very careful observer. To the experienced eye it does not take 
 very strong light to know when you have such a bird in hand. 
 It is generally known that body lice do not penetrate the 
 skin or suck the blood, that head lice are a species of tick and 
 live as such with their heads burrowed in the flesh, that the 
 little red mites also are equipped with skin penetrating mouths 
 and live upon blood. But what do the body lice live upon you 
 ask? They are scavengers, if you please, and live on the offals 
 of the fowl. They depend upon moisture from the eyes and vent 
 and for food upon the growing feathers and the constantly 
 shedding epidenriis or skin. 
 
 Fowls bury their heads under the wings when they sleep 
 or rather just above it in the feathei-s. In the early fall and 
 winter fowls and especially young fowls are susceptible to 
 colds. Their nostrils run just as in humans. During the night 
 this excreta is deposited on the feathers on either side just above 
 the wing secondaries. This makes a sticky, filthy mass of feath- 
 ers in a short time and for the time being a veritable paradise 
 for those big body lice. If you have never seen these symptoms 
 in your flock be a little more careful in your examination of 
 your backward cockerels. 
 
 I have made it a practice for several years to paint a circle 
 of blue ointment, using a portion about the size of a pea on 
 each fowl twice a year. This is about all that is necessary for 
 the body lice as a general rule. The fowls will soon be entirely 
 free of this pest if this treatment is followed for the fowls will 
 keep lice from getting moisture from the eye by industi-iously 
 sci'atching when one runs up his neck. The louse dies of thirst 
 as a result, provided your fowls do not have a slight cold and 
 the lice get their supply of moisture from the feathers above 
 and back of the wings. 
 
 Colds are responsible for the lice and the lice are responsible 
 for colds. This is why youngsters contracting colds in the fall 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRMEN 107 
 
 do not seem to yield to the best of treatment. It is because 
 m a short time after getting a cold they become alive with lice, 
 and lice so weaken their systems that no amount of cold and roup 
 treatment will cure them. You are lucky if you do not have a 
 few of this class in your flock from which you can gather practi- 
 cal information at once upon the winter louse question. On these 
 fowls you will find the feather in a different condition than on 
 a healthy fowl and it is because the feathers have been constant- 
 ly preyed upon since early in the fall by lice and the tender 
 particles of feather eaten as they protrude from the skin just 
 as your hens eat the tender blades of grass in the spring as 
 they first come thru the ground. The skin will be rough and 
 scaly, too, on a fowl in this condition. Yet I find many cannot 
 detect these symptoms in their fowls as a result birds "are said 
 to go light, have rheumatism, cholera and numerous other dis- 
 eases. 
 
 This fall I went to inspect a flock of a friend and customer 
 while on a trip, and this friend complained of a cock two years 
 old that I had sold him as a cockerel. Stated he was sick and 
 stiff as if he had rheumatism. Did not know what was the 
 matter with him. This party, naturally a very careful and 
 clean man about his premises had utterly failed to note the lice 
 on his cock. He was deeply chagrined over the affair and wrote 
 me in a couple of weeks the bird was nearly back in normal con- 
 dition. I was in a show a few days ago and in looking over a 
 nice string of birds of a certain experienced breeder, heard 
 him remark that a certain cock, pointing him out, was not mak- 
 ing the show bird he expected and seemed to be off condition 
 continually. I examined the bird and found him a mass of lice 
 and his feathers eaten as above described until there was no 
 nice downy fluff beneath any more at all in any portion of 
 his body. 
 
 A fitting climax to the louse question in winter came a 
 few days ago when a $25.00 Rhode Island cock was returned 
 to a friend fx'om a customer in the west. Tho cock had been 
 shipped early in September in fine condition and well worth 
 the money. The customer was more than pleased as evidenced 
 by lettei's which my friend proudly displayed. Later the cus- 
 tomer wrote that the cock was off his feet and seemed to be 
 stiff and unable to stand and in bad condition. My friend 
 asked me what to suggest. I stated I was afraid it was rheu- 
 matism caused by overfeeding of a high priced bird and subse- 
 quent liver trouble which brought on the iheuuiatism, I sug- 
 gested Dr. King's New Life Pills which I have found better for 
 slight attacks of this kind than anything else. Nothing seemed 
 to help the bird so the customer wrote and he finally became so 
 disgusted that he wrote my friend that he could have the bird 
 back by paying the express and added, "Keen the $25.00. I am 
 stung." I was so familiar with the whole transaction and the 
 
108 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 bird in particular that I urged my friend to take the customer 
 up on his proposition to ferret out what was wrong if the bird 
 came back or to shut up the customer if he was attempting to 
 defraud the seller by his constant kicking. 
 
 The bird came back. He could not ".tand up in the coop. 
 Not in a long time have I seen such a sight. My friend at first 
 was so dumbfounded at the haggard condition of the fowl that 
 he did not attempt to analyze the difficulty. lie called my at- 
 tention to the bird being back, and in line with my recent ex- 
 periences with others with lousy fowls, I suggested that he look 
 for body lice. The next day I heard from him and he de- 
 clared he could not have stretched his imagination enough to 
 believe so many lice could be on one fowl. Louse powder re- 
 moved the lice, and Liccne was applied about ihe vent. The 
 cock ate all the corn from two fair sized ears of corn the next 
 day. I warned my friend not to overfeed the gluttcn. He is 
 on his feet and will make a winner yet at tnc late shows. Think 
 of a poultryman with a big letter head buying a $25.00 bird and 
 letting him slip thru his hands in three short months like that 
 for the lack of ordinary attention. 
 
 Use plenty of powder on backward birds that muss vp their 
 feathers about their wings with the excreta from their nostrils 
 and "use Licene on all your birds twice or three times a year 
 as directed. I use Averneous Carbolineum on the roosts once 
 a year or once in two years for mites. Put it on hot. One ap- 
 plication will keep mites out of your houses three years but 
 it is well to use it once a year. The old fashioned way of spray- 
 ing with dips and disinfecting with sulphur fumes and what 
 not is a waste of time. Licene ami Aveineous Carbolineum, ad- 
 vertised in all journals are all anyone needs and you only have 
 to use the one twice a year and the other once in two years to 
 be absolutely free of lice and mites the year round. 
 
 Building Exhibition and Shipping Coops. 
 
 When I planned to make my first exhibit at a poultry show 
 I was quite at a loss to know what kind of a coop I would need 
 to show my birds in, how big they should be, what they should 
 be made of, etc. It took quite a lot of searching before I could 
 even find the dimensions of a standard coop. Today there are 
 any number of firms who sell exhibition coops knocked down, 
 but all finished except putting the nails and screws in them. A 
 great many poultry fanciers like to build their own poultry 
 houses and coops for hens and chicks, and likewise would have 
 the spare time and much enjoy building their own exhibition 
 coops. 
 
 It does not take many tools to make an exhibition coop, 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 109 
 
 P=^ 
 
 but to make nice, neat looking coops that will show off the fine 
 birds they are to contain well, pains must be taken in their con- 
 struction and time taken 
 for accuracy in dimen- 
 sions. 
 
 The first thing to find 
 out after you have de- 
 cided to show at a certain 
 show is whether they fur- 
 nish exhibition coops or 
 require the exhibitor to 
 furnish them. If the ex- 
 hibitor is required to fur- 
 nish them figure out how 
 many single specimens 
 you intend to show as well 
 as pens. From the ink 
 sketch of coop and the 
 sketch showing frame and 
 floor construction the 
 mode of constructing an 
 exhibition coop can be 
 easily seen. The wooden 
 rods from which to make 
 the front of the coop are 
 ordered at a nearby planing mill, and should be a little less 
 than a half inch thick. Or if preferred iron wire may be used 
 and painted as the wooden rods are. 
 
 The dimensions for a standard exhibition coop which will 
 accommodate either single birds or pairs, is 24x24x.S() inches 
 high and the pen size is the same in height and width, but 40 
 inches long. 
 
 You will note the little drop door at the bottom of the coop. 
 The floor may be made to slide in as a drawer in this door to 
 facilitate rapid cleaning, or the floor may be built to the 
 coop and cleaned thru this little door with a miniature hoe 
 being made by tacking a piece of galvanized iron to a broom 
 handle. I have built several coops together making a string 
 as long as ten feet, but I find five or six foot sections more sat- 
 isfactory. The beauty in making coops of several in a section 
 is that they can be made stronger, and they are not tossed 
 about with as much ease by the strong arm expressman as 
 the single pen size coops. The coops are thus insured better 
 treatment while in transit as well as the birds. 
 
 When shipping a string of birds in exhibition coops it is 
 advisable to tack lath quite freely over the canvas part to 
 make it as unhandy as possible for the drayman to shove a 
 foot thru the side of the coop and release a fine bird or two. 
 
110 
 
 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 The top of the coop may be covered either with canvas or 
 slats, but I prefer the slats as they admit more light and make 
 the coop more substantial. The front of the coop should be 
 covered with drop curtain of muslin securely fastened while the 
 birds are in transit. Inquisitive loafers at the depots cannot tor- 
 ment the birds, and if the weather is at all chilly or cold, as it 
 generally is during the show season, the birds should be thus 
 protected to keep them from being exposed to drafts and taking 
 cold and roup. 
 
 In building exhibition coops the thot should be constantly 
 in mind to make them as light as possible, and yet have them 
 strong and durable. Light, soft pine is the best for frame work 
 
 and hard pine for the rods. If the coop seems weak after it is 
 put together it may be strengthened by twisting wires across 
 as is done in strengthening old chairs. 
 
 When shipping securely fasten the drinking and other cups 
 on the inside of the coops and tie down the doors. Never 
 use anything but nice, clean rye or wheat straw; oats will do, 
 in bedding down the coops, I never will forget my first ex- 
 perience in this line. I had not been to a single good poul- 
 try show before my fii-st attempt at exhibiting. I built my 
 own coops, and they were the best in the show, as I learned 
 when I got to attend the last day, and I had conditioned my 
 own birds according to information i-eceived in the poultry 
 journals, and my birds proved to be in better condition than 
 any in the class, but the boys had one laugh on me in that 
 I put shavings and sawdust in my coop for bedding instead of 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 111 
 
 straw. The birds got a lot of the sawdust in their plumage in 
 shipping, but that did not keep me from winning four out of a 
 possible five firsts. The sawdust gave me away, tho, as an 
 amateur exhibitor. 
 
 Where coops are furnished for show by the association the 
 birds should be shipped in shipping coops built like the illustra- 
 tion. They, too, should be made as light as possible in order to 
 keep dowTi express charges. I like to use as many lath in their 
 construction as possible, and use good, stiff cardboard or cor- 
 rugated paper from post toastios or other cereal shipping boxes 
 to line the inside with. The cardboad is light and much better 
 than gunny sacking or canvas. A shipping coop should be pro- 
 vided every single bird for it is very unsafe to ship two or 
 three together on account of possible crowding and suffocation. 
 If you ship a pen in exhibition coop the cock and a hen or two 
 should be shipped separately in shipping coops. 
 
 The shipping coops, as well as exhibition coops, should be 
 painted with some odd paint with a distinguishing mark on 
 every side. You won't have to look for shipping tags on evei-y 
 coop in a dark hall piled high with coops on the last evening of 
 the show then to find your shipping coops. You can tell your? 
 by the yellow or white initials at a glance ten feet away. The 
 address in full should also be painted in small letters on the 
 coop so if the tags are lost they will not go astray. I learned 
 this valuable lesson one time at a Chicago show when I found 
 the assistants had traded similar coops and likewise a cockerel 
 with me to a party in another state. It took another week to 
 get my bird and he his. 
 
 Home Preservation of Eggs. 
 
 The high prices of fresh e^gi^ in the late fall and winter 
 make it desirable to have some simple, clean, cheap and reliable 
 method of preserving the low priced spring and summer eggs 
 for home consumption during the \\inter. Such a process would 
 allow the poultryman farmei- to preserve cheap eggs for his 
 own consumption while he could sell his fresh eggs in the winter 
 time at high prices. It would allow the consumer to buy eggs 
 when low in pi-ice and save buying many when the prices are 
 high. On a commercial scale this is done by means of cold 
 storage, but this method is not practicable in the homo. The 
 price of cold storage eggs furthermore is determined by the 
 price of fresh eggs and is, as a ride, much higher than the 
 cost of storage. 
 
 Ihe spoiling of eggs is due to the entrance of air, carrying 
 germs of decomposition through the shell. Normally the shell 
 has a surface coating of mucilaginous matter, which prevents 
 the entrance of these harmful organisms into the egg for a con- 
 siderable time. But if this coating is removed or softened by 
 
112 P.UILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 washing or otherwise the keeping quality of the egg is much 
 reduced. These facts explain why the common methods of pre- 
 servation have not been entirely successful, and suggest that 
 the methods employed should be based upon the idea of pro- 
 tecting and rende)ing more effective the natural coating of the 
 shell, so that air bearing germs of decomposition may be com- 
 pletely excluded. 
 
 The age of eggs may be approximately judged by taking 
 advantage of the fact as they grow older their density de- 
 creases through evaporation of moisture. A new laid ogg placed 
 in a vessel of brine made of the proportion of one ounce of 
 salt to one pint of water will at once sink to the bottom. An 
 egg one day old ^\ill sink below the surface, but not to the bot- 
 tom, while "one three days old will swim just immersed in the 
 liquid. If more than three days old, the egg will float on the 
 surface, the amount of shell exposed increasing with age; and 
 if two weeks old, only a little of the shell will dip in the liquid. 
 
 Many methods of preservation have been tried by many 
 people and various experiment stations. Some of these have 
 been packing the eggs in salt, oats, bran, peat dust, or wood 
 ashes; covering them with parafine, vaseline, butter, lard or a 
 solution of Salicylic acid and glycerine; varnishing \\ith col- 
 lodion or shellac; stoiing on shelves and in racks in cool places; 
 wrapping in paper; steiilized by being immersed in boiling 
 water a few seconds; treated with a solution of permanganate 
 of potash or alum and packing in rait biine, lime water and 
 water glass solutions. 
 
 Recently in Germany, twenty methods of preserving eggs 
 were tested. Three methods which were found to be reliable 
 were varnishing with vaseline, placing the eggs in lime water 
 or water glass solutions. Of the three methods, pieservation 
 in a solution of water glass is especially recommended by the 
 North Dakota expcrinrent station, since varnishing the eggs 
 uith vaseline is time consuming and treatment with lime water 
 sometimes communicates to the egg a disagreeable odor and 
 taste. In most packed eggs, after a little time, the yolk settles 
 to one side, and the egg is then inferior in quality. In eggs 
 preserved four or five months in water glass the yolk retained 
 its normal position in the egg, and in taste they were not dis- 
 tinguished from fresh, unpacked store eggs. 
 
 Water glass (soluble silicate of .sodium) is a pale yellow, 
 odorless, syrupy liquid. It may be obtained from most drug- 
 gists at from 60 cents to 90 cents a gallon. Use only boiled 
 water, to which after cooled, add 1 pint of water glass to fifteen 
 parts of watei-. This should be sufficient to cover about fifteen 
 dozen eggs in a four gallon crock. , -. , • i 
 
 The lime water mixture. Shake three pounds of good quick 
 lime in a small amount of water, then add the milklime thu.s 
 formed to three gallons of water. Keep the mixture well stirred 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POLUTRYMEN 113 
 
 for a day, then allow the excess lime to settle and use only the 
 clear fluid. 
 
 Only absolutely fresh, clear, unwashed, sound eggs with 
 smooth, firm shells are suitable for preserving by these 
 methods. Infertile eggs are preferred as they keep better than 
 fertile eggs. Any dirty, stale, cracked, or thin shelled eggs 
 should be discarded as they are liable to spoil and affect the 
 good eggs around them. Any eggs that float in the liquid 
 should be removed as floating indicates that the contents of 
 the egg are shrunken, leaving a large air cell. Such eggs are 
 usually stale, cracked or thin shelled. 
 
 Any earthenware, glass or wooden jar, tub or barrel may be 
 used as a container, depending upon the number of eggs to be 
 preserved, metal containers must not be used as the solution 
 will attack and corrode them. Wooden kegs or barrels should 
 not have nails protruding through as even this small amount 
 of metal will spoil the surrounding eggs. All vessels used must 
 be absolutely clean and sweet because eggs are very susceptible 
 to odors and taints of any nature. Scald the vessels with boiling 
 water just before using, taking special care with those m^ade of 
 wood. 
 
 The eggs may be placed carefully in the vessels small 
 ends down and the solution of water glass or lime water poured 
 over them, or the vessel may be filled about one-half full with 
 the liquid and the eggs carefully placed in as gathered. The 
 latter method is preferable as it allows of packing the eggs just 
 as soon as they are laid; also any eggs that would naturally 
 float may be removed as they will not be held dowTi by the 
 heavy eggs above them. The liquid rises as the eggs are put in, 
 but at least two inches of the preservative should be above the 
 eggs at all times. In the lime water method a very little of the 
 sediment should be added to insure a constantly saturated solu- 
 tion. A thin, white crust appearing on a lime water solution 
 is due to the formation of calcium cai'bonate coming in contact 
 with the air. This will do no hai'm if there is lime sediment 
 present and should be left untouched as it will prevent further 
 ci'ust formation. Vessels containing eggs in presei-\'atives should 
 be kept in a cool, well ventilated place such as a good cellar and 
 be covered to prevent evapoiation of the preservative. A new 
 mixture should be prepared for each lot of eggs. 
 
 One gallon of water glass as purchased will make enough 
 preservative to preserve from 7-5 to 100 dozen eggs. The cost 
 of preservation by the water glass method is less than 1 cent 
 a dozen eggs, not taking into consideration the cost of the con- 
 tainer, and by the lime w'ater method still cheaper. The w^ater 
 glass mixture should be used, however, wiienever the water glass 
 may be secured at less than $1 a gallon. 
 
 Eggs preserved by either of these methods may be used 
 to replace strictly fresh eggs, for nearly all cooking purposes. 
 
114 
 
 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 In boiling it may be necessary to pierce the shell at the large 
 end to prevent ci'acking of the shell as preservative seals the 
 pores of the shell and prevents the escape of the gases, which is 
 possible in the strictly fresh egg. In frying and poaching, 
 some trouble may be found because of the yolk breaking. In 
 some instances the whites may not whip up as firmly as fresh 
 eggs, but this quality as well as the fiimness of the yolk de- 
 pends largely upon the condition of the egg when packed. Eggs 
 which have firm yolks and whites when packed usually give no 
 trouble when cooked. For those puiposcs where no objection is 
 raised to a broken yolk, as in cakes, custards, and omelettes, the 
 preserved egg is fully the equal of the strictly fresh egg and 
 may be used at a great saving in cost. 
 
 If a white deposit is found upon the eggs when removed 
 from either the water glass or lime water solutions, it may be 
 readily removed by holding the egg under a faucet or pouring 
 water over them. 
 
 Linebreeding. 
 Several years ago the veteian poultry 
 States, 1. k. Felch of Massachusetts, w 
 bleeding by which a pair of fowls are 
 ideal as we can find and by breeding as 
 
 MAlc Line rem<i\e Line { \ 
 ^^. 'f^- — Oie Tve ration * ^ / i •»• 
 
 €>: '=«. -c^ & €. 
 
 Dr-„.vB>,HV.TormcjhUn At ( c r I K Pe. U h 
 
 breeder of the United 
 liked out a system of 
 taken that are as near 
 indicated by the chart 
 shown herewith, three 
 distinct strains are 
 established. These 
 strains are so remotely 
 related that for all 
 practical purposes they 
 mav be called unre- 
 lated. 
 
 So many get line- 
 breeding confused with 
 inbreeding that it might 
 be well to distinguish 
 between the two. Line- 
 bi-eeding is the syste- 
 matic and careful 
 breeding and mating of 
 the offspring of an 
 ideal pair of fowls after 
 a manner indicated by 
 the chart. Inbreeding 
 is the breeding of the 
 brothers and sisters one 
 or more generations, 
 promiscuously, or of 
 sire on daughter and 
 granddaughter, and 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 115 
 
 om 
 
 then possibly the crossing of the brother on sister again fiuux 
 this mating. Inbreeding might be anything where the same 
 blood IS intei-mingled generation after generation without going 
 about it in the systematic way used in line breeding. 
 
 In the chart lot 1 represents the original male and lot 2 the 
 original female. Then by crossing 1 and 2 the result is group 
 6, which possesses equal parts of the blood of the original pair 
 Selecting the best pullet from 3 and mating to her sire 1, group 
 4 IS produced, which contains three-fourths of the blood of 
 the original sire and one-fourth of the blood of the original dam. 
 In a like manner the best cockerel from 3 mated to his dam (2) 
 produces group 5, which is made up of throe-fourths of the blood 
 of the original dam and one-fourth of the original sire. 
 
 Proceeding in a similar manner by mating the original 
 parents to their offspring in the third generation we obtain 
 group 6 and 7 offspring which contains either seven-eights of 
 the blood of the original sire and one-eighth the blood of the 
 original dam; or seven-eighths blood of the original dam and 
 one-eighth the blood of the sire, as the case may be. 
 
 Thus the blood of the original sire has been practically 
 eliminated from the female line, and the blood of the original 
 dam from the male line. If the original parents were still in 
 breeding condition the blood of each could be intensified to 
 fifteen-sixteenths in fifth generation. To obtain the original 
 cross, however, it is only necessary to select parents from the 
 corresponding groups on each side of the line. For instance, 
 a cockerel from group 6 mated to pullets from group 7 will 
 produce in the fifth generation group 9, which contains math- 
 ematically one-half the blood of the original pair. Similar re- 
 sults can be obtained by selecting parents from 4 and 5. 
 
 The fifth and sixth generations, as shown in the chart, in- 
 dicate only a few of the possible groups that may be obtained 
 from various matings.. Thus if the original sire and dam cannot 
 be used for breeding purposes beyond the fourth generation, 
 their blood may be maintained in flfteen-sixteenths of its inten- 
 sity by choosing parents from groups 4 and 6, or 5 and 7, to 
 produce groups 8 and 10 respectfully. Then parents chosen 
 from groups 8 and 10 will produce group 13, which is again 
 mathematically one-half the blood of the original pair, and the 
 original offspring again reproduces as far as the blood lines 
 are concerned. 
 
 By choosing parents from groups 7 and 10, twenty-seven 
 thirty-seconds of the blood of the original dam, and five thirty- 
 seconds of the original sire is produced in group 14. By choos- 
 ing parents from 6 and 8 the male line contains in group 12, 
 twenty-seven thirty seconds of the blood of the original sire 
 and five thirty-seconds of the blood of the original dam. If it 
 is deemed advisable to vary the proportions of the blood of 
 
116 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 either side in any mating, groups 11 and 15 show that by select- 
 ing parents from 8 and 9, or 10 and 9, twenty-one thirty- 
 seconds of the blood of either line and eleven thirty-seconds of 
 the blood of the other may be obtained. Many other propor- 
 tions may be worked out by combining different groups. 
 
 How, When and Where to Advertise. 
 
 The whole structure of the thorobred poultry business Is 
 built around advertising. If you have a good strain or variety 
 of fowls it is your duty to let the world know about it. A sign 
 painted on your poultry house or an ad placed in your local 
 paper is not sufficient. Poultrymen would f]uickly starve to 
 death if they depended upon this means of advertising. 
 
 Nor is it wise to win some prizes at the shows and ex- 
 pect to get a lot of free advertising because the poultry papers 
 print the winnings. To expect to profit thus is to be of the 
 consistency of a leach. 
 
 The poultry business is a billion dollar world wide business 
 and you ni-Jt-t get the vision and adverliso to the whole world 
 for you can ^h'p stock or eggs most anywheie. 
 
 V\here ohall I ad,verti:-.e ? The locat'on of the publication 
 has little to do with it. The character and size of its subscrip- 
 tion list a f;i'*<tt dea'. You generally ger just whai you j)ay for 
 and the j uhli.-ners v ho charge more ^-eneraily nave larger 
 circulations, not alwavs. The make-up, style and general busi- 
 ness |-olicy o one paper mav •'■still n;oie coniidcncc in its read- 
 ers for its advertisers than another and thus two papers with 
 equal circulation, one will pull far better than another. A safe 
 rule to follow is to fish where the other fellows find fishing 
 good. It may take you a long time to appreciate this and you 
 may waste money on advertising in papers just because no 
 other breed of your variety advertises there. You may win — 
 once in awhile. 
 
 When shall I advertise? It is throwing money away to ad- 
 vertise a month or two, but after the second or third month 
 you should be able to tell whether you have the right kind of 
 bait in your ads. The successful advertiser changes his copy 
 every month in the year and advertises every month in the 
 year. Follow this rule and write your ads like you were writh- 
 ing a telegram — boil it down and re-write it a dozen times until 
 you say just what you want to say. Then talk about the other 
 fellow's needs and not your wants. 
 
 A good ad carefully worded and placed in the right publica- 
 tion is one of the best investments in the world. Advertising 
 should be considered a privilege, not an evil necessity. The 
 American poulterer can never repay the debt he owes to the 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 117 
 
 progressive poultry publications in this country that have made 
 the industry what it is. Read a few foreign poultry publications 
 and you will appreciate what I mean. 
 
 fl^ ^ -^f ,r^I^ ^^^^^ ,the poultry papers because they do not see 
 fit to tell their readers about your fine birds or winnings when 
 you do not advertise with them. If you show for the sport and 
 have nothing to sell them you do not want publicity which will 
 pester you with inquiries. If you have something to sell, then 
 be honest and advertise and quit knocking the papers for not 
 giving you a few dollar's worth of space gratis. 
 
 Brown Leghorn breeders as a class have been poor adver- 
 tisers. Get in the game, the fishing is fine! The demand far 
 exceeds the supply but the demand is in yonder states and 
 provinces and you must advertise accordingly. A good rule 
 to follow: Spend a half of what your feed costs each month 
 in advertising. That rule will work wonders. 
 
 Keeping Fowls in Summer on City or Town Lot. 
 
 Fowls stand the close confinement of their houses and runs 
 well in the winter time, but after a few weeks confinement in 
 their small run in the spring time they cease to be active and 
 alert. Their combs do not present the bright red appearance 
 and they seem to pine and lose flesh, as a bird in a cage not 
 accustomed to confinement. 
 
 There is more in keeping fowls in an intelligent manner 
 and getting the highest efficiency out of them than merely 
 ke-^pmg them in sanitary coops and runs and feeding them twice 
 or three times a day. It is just as easy to keep the fowls the 
 right way as it is the wrong way, no matter how few fowls 
 you keep or how small the runs. The great mistake the towtn 
 dweller with a small back lot makes is that he tries to keep 
 too many on the lot he has. Numbers for the given space 
 being equal, the experienced poultry raiser will make more off 
 of his hens than the farmer who pays little attention to his 
 fowls. It is because he gives them what they need and care and 
 attention. 
 
 Fowls kept on the average city or town lot are an expense 
 to the owner rather than making him anything when they are 
 kept as the majority of fowls are kept in "town. To make "them 
 pay for their feed and a little more they must be cared' for 
 properly. They must be kept in a sunny and dry house facing 
 the south, with several windows of muslin or canvas to admit 
 the fresh air. Their coops and runs must be kept clean and 
 sweet. Dust must be provided for them to help free themselves 
 of lice and mites. Hoppers should be provided in which are 
 kept a constant supply of grit, charcoal, and oyster shells. An- 
 
118 
 
 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 other hopper should be supplied with a good dry mash ration 
 composed of two parts ground corn, one part bran, one part 
 middlings, one part glutten feed, and one part beef scraps. 
 With sprouting oats fed twice a week and sci'atch feed fed in 
 six-inch litter of sti'aw once oi' twice a day, the fowls will lay 
 well during the winter and most of the summer. But to furnish 
 them some diversion for their many days of confinement dur- 
 ing the long summer when it is the hardest on them they 
 should be provided with a run of fresh growing green food that 
 will, as it were, take them back to the simple life. 
 
 It is an easy matter to do this if the sun shines on your 
 back yard and you should not be guilty of keeping fowls where 
 the sun will not shine. Poor, indeed, is the soil that will not 
 grow an abundant crop of green foiage food after being used 
 
 as a poultry run for some time. It is rich in the elements that 
 make an abundance of plant life. It is a good policy to thin 
 the flock in the early summer befoi*e they go to molting, as 
 then they will not lay for several weeks anj-^vay. After thin- 
 ning out the flock somewhat you can easily divide the runs or 
 parks into two parts. The accompanying photographs show 
 how a small i-un fifteen by thirty feet was divided by stretching 
 a piece of wire netting directly across, connecting two posts on 
 either side. The run was then spaded up carefully and raked 
 and sprinkled and reraked until the soil was pulverized thor- 
 oughly so the seed would have a good opportunity to grow. 
 Much" depends upon getting the soil in fine condition before 
 planting. A mixture of lettuce, rape and millet seed was sown 
 in this small patch, only a very small portion being rape and 
 the majority being millet, as the rape takes up so much room 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 119 
 
 and the millet less. Rape seed is black, while millet seed is 
 yellow, so I would suggest the proportion of one to ten. In 
 three weeks' time the patch had made the growth sho\\Ti in the 
 photograph and the fowls were permitted to have a half hour 
 each evening in it, care being taken that they did not trample 
 it down, and when they were satisfied they were hustled back 
 into the bare run. 
 
 In six weeks' time the patch had made the growth sho\\Ti 
 in the second picture, which looks more like a jungle picture 
 
120 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 than a plot in a back yaid. When it got this high the fowls 
 could not trample it down and they were given their freedom 
 so they would not disturb the root growth. Their enjoyment of 
 this small run continued all summer until thrashing time came 
 for the millet, when the fowls did this also, and how they did 
 enjoy it. 
 
 In the first photo a grape vine may be seen growing in the 
 wire netting which furnished some much needed shade. Also 
 a few sun floweis are growing with the millet and rape to make 
 more shade. They were planted earlier in the season in the 
 runs and old buckets with the bottoms out placed over them to 
 protect them from the fowls. 
 
 The question might be asked why I used the combination 
 suggested? It is because millet makes the quickest and best 
 growth and stands the late planting bettei- than anything I know 
 of except rape, and rape is such a succulent nutritious green food 
 while lettuce grows quick and is tender and will be eaten first, 
 giving the other plants a better chance when the fowls are first 
 turned in. 
 
 The thiid photo shows another run and the piovision made 
 for shade on the south side with a low of sunflowers and a 
 patch of sweet corn. Both poultry runs are situated on the same 
 back lot, which is foity-ninc loot wide and there is a plot of 
 grass and flowers nineteen feet wide between the two i)arks 
 so that there is no suggestion of the filthy and obnoxious poultry 
 runs so often seen in the city or town. These parks remain 
 sweet and fresh year after year and the fowls thrive under such 
 intelligent treatment. 
 
 Poultry Appliances and Methods. 
 By KOY II. W.AIT?:. 
 
 Economy Nests. 
 
 In October, 1017, the "Economy Nests," showTi in figs. 1, 2, 
 3, and 4, were designed and six of our pens were equipped with 
 them. These nests have been in use continuously since that time 
 and have proven satisfactory in every way. They are equally 
 serviceable for small or large breeds. 
 
 The principal advantage of these nests over most other de- 
 signs is the economy of labor recjuired to clean and keep them 
 in a sanitary condition. In addition their constiniction requires 
 a minimum of labor and materials, therefore they are also eco- 
 nomical in this regard. 
 
 The wall of the poultry house serves as the back of the 
 nest and as the whole section is hinged at the top, it can be 
 swung out and propped up for cleaning, as shown in fig. 4, or 
 the pin may be withdrawn from the hinges and the nests taken 
 outside, if a thorough overhauling is thought necessary. The 
 alighting boards are hinged to the front and may be raised 
 
p=a__[ 
 
 —i 
 
 EE: 
 
 J'-/' 
 
 P/enei. 
 
 -2 "4'- 
 
 -5 7/ 
 
 / A\ 
 
 -J' //"- 
 
 f Pn 
 
 i'/o"- 
 
 2. f^/eces 
 
 2 Pittei>. 
 
 -3' S 
 
 Z Pieceb. 
 
 4^ 
 
 IS" 
 
 /'/"- 
 
 2. F/ecei J 
 
 / Pieces 
 
 u2.pf\^ 
 
 fccnorny 
 
 mi ^y'l Ci/> i^A lilS 
 
 Fig. 2. 
 
122 
 
 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 up and fastened to close 
 the nests, as shown in fig. 
 3, or they may be left 
 down so that the hens can 
 enter (fig. 1). It is so 
 often convenient to close 
 nests at night, especially 
 during moulting time, to 
 keop the hens from roost- 
 ing in them. Hens that 
 do not moult till late fall, 
 when the weather is cool, 
 sometimes make consider- 
 able trouble for the poul- 
 trykeepcr by persistently 
 roosting in the nests. Pul- 
 lets not accustomed to 
 new quarters, often give 
 trouble in this same man- 
 ner. Piu. I Economy Nest section oinn. ready for 
 
 Each nest will serve fowls to enter. 
 
 from five to ten hens, 
 
 therefore a section of six will accommodate a flock of from 
 thirty to sixty birds. For smaller flocks sections of two or 
 four nests each can be made. For larger flocks additional sec- 
 tions may be made if not thought too clumsy to handle. 
 
 The material required to construct a six-nest section is as 
 follows: 
 
 Fig. 3~ -Economy Nest section closed. 
 
 Fig. 4 — Economy Nest ready to clean. 
 Fig. 12 — Simple Brood coop. 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 123 
 
 T hinges 
 finishing 
 
 Fig 
 
 5 — Broody Coop made of electric 
 lawn fencing. 
 
 veld 
 
 Fig. 6- 
 Openin 
 Catch. 
 
 stay 
 
 2 boards— 12 ft.xYs in.x 
 12 in. 
 
 2 board— 12 ft.x% in.x 
 
 in. 
 
 1 board — 10 ft.x% in. x 
 
 in. 
 
 1 pair loose butt hinges 
 with screws. 
 
 2 pair strap 
 with screws. 
 
 1 lb. No. 8 
 nails. 
 
 12 fence staples. 
 
 6 ft. number 9 wire. 
 "Broody Coop." 
 
 A slatted bottom 
 "broody coop" has come 
 to be recognized as almost 
 an essential fixture for the 
 poultry house. It is use- 
 ful as a place where 
 broody hens can be con- 
 fined when it is desired to 
 break them of setting and 
 often comes in handy as a 
 place for keeping surplus 
 males during the breeding 
 season or as a place in 
 which to confine fowls for 
 other purposes. 
 
 The broody coop shown 
 in fig. 5 can be very easily 
 a n d economically c o n- 
 structed. The sides and 
 ■ nd are built of two-foot 
 ' loctric weld lawn fenc- 
 ing. A hole is cut into 
 the front (1 fig. 6) made 
 of the same fencing ma- 
 terial is fastened in place 
 by bending two of the line 
 wires (fig. 6) of the door 
 around the stay wire at 
 the edge of the opening. 
 The door swings on the 
 wire, the two bent ^\^res acting as hinges. The catch is 
 
 
 -Close up view of broody coop. (1) 
 
 :. (2) Door. (3) Line wires. (4) 
 
 (5) Line wire where catch hooks. 
 
 made by bending one of the line wires as shown in 4, fig. 6, and 
 hooks over the line wire at 5, fig. 6. 
 
124 
 
 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 1 
 
 -■--.--,- -l----.--i--r-T -T-T-J-r- T -,- -TJ 
 
 
 >i 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 , .'ill; 
 
 j Side Vi 
 
 e w 
 
 6'M' 
 
 ^ // 
 
 V^i 
 
 ;;; ^nd 
 
 View ^ 
 
 ill 
 
 A 
 
 Outdoor Ma^h Feeder 
 
 for (j ro w iti n C /n C k S 
 
 mJ 1,.'lf,f Jr../J/S 
 
 FiK. 7. 
 
 -■K- 
 
 i— .^. 
 
 
 I Piece 
 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 
 
 s. 
 
 > 
 
 
 *» 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 Piece 
 
 
 
 
 » 
 
 2'"':^%ui 
 
 I 
 
 N 
 
 
 t^ 
 
 H 
 
 
 < 
 
 H 
 
 
 V 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 
 I'^^Kr 
 
 
 Oyster \)hell Hipper 
 
 A' J <,./ f,,, U.. '»<» 
 
 Fig. 8. 
 
BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 125 
 
 10--Throo compart- 
 ment hopi C1-. 
 
 Out-door Feeder 
 
 Th e out-door feeder 
 shown in fig. 7, has been 
 used at this station during 
 three seasons. This feed- 
 er differs from the usual 
 slatted type in that the 
 slats are replaced with 
 short pieces of wire, mak- 
 ing a neater construction, 
 allowing more chickens to 
 eat at the same time and 
 letting more light enter so 
 that the chickens can see 
 the feed. The feeder 
 shown in the drawing will 
 sei've from thirty to forty 
 growing pullets up to the 
 time they go into winter 
 quarters. The feeder can, 
 however, be made in shorter lengths if the flocks are small. 
 
 There is practically no wasting of feed from feeders of 
 this type, which is probably due to the fact that the light con- 
 ditions make it unnecessary for the chickens to withdraw the 
 head while eating 
 
 Shell and Grit Hopper. 
 
 The shell hopper shown in figs. 8 and 9 is of very simple 
 construction and can be made by anyone who is at all handy 
 with tools for all the pieces that go to make up this hopper are 
 sawed with straight cuts. A decided advantage of this style 
 over the ordinary shell hoppers is the greater capacity. Fig. 10 
 illustrates how the hopper can be constructed with three com- 
 partments. 
 
 Treatment for Scaly Legs. 
 Scaly legs are, as a 
 rule, very troublesome, 
 especially in flocks in 
 which the brooding has 
 been done with hens. The 
 disease is not immediate- 
 ly dangerous, but fowls 
 with scaly logs never do 
 as well as those without. 
 When it comes time to 
 ship them to mai'ket fowls 
 will not command as high 
 a price per pound as clean 
 legged specimens. 
 
126 
 
 BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 
 
 Kerosene oil has been found to be a cure for scaly legs but 
 the method of applying it is apt to be somewhat tedious. A con- 
 venient method to cure scaly legs is to dip the legs in a tin can 
 filled with kerosene oil. The can is filled and fastened to the wall 
 of the house or other convenient place by driving a small nail 
 through the end that is partly cut when the can is opened. Nail- 
 ing prevents the can from being knocked over by the struggles 
 of the bird and allows one person to do the work unassisted. It 
 should be kept in the can as long as the disease is prevalent, 
 so as to be convenient whenever there is an oppoi'tunity to dip 
 
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BUILDING PLANS FOR POULTRYMEN 127 
 
 the legs of the affected fowls, for more than one application 
 will be required to effect a cure, especially if the disease is 
 severe. 
 
 Simple Brood Coop. 
 
 This brood coop shown in figs. 11 and 12 is a very simple 
 one to construct and makes an efficient "headquarters" for a 
 hen and her brood of chicks. This cOop can be used with or with- 
 out a floor. When rats are troublesome or heavy rains preva- 
 lent tha floor is a desirable feature. The door with its quarter- 
 inch mesh wire cloth, covering fits closely to make the coop 
 rat proof at night. During the day the door may be left slight- 
 ly open, just enough to allow the chicks to run out and still 
 confine the hen, or it can be opened wide when it is desired to 
 let the hen have free range. 
 
 The material required to build one of these coops is as 
 follows : 
 
 2 pieces 14 ft.xYs in. x 12 in. 
 
 2 pieces 12 ft. x % in. x 2 in. 
 
 1 piece roofing 30 in. x 4 feet. 
 
 1 piece wire cloth 2 ft. x 18 in. 
 
Table of Contents 
 
 starting Right in the Poultry Business 3 
 
 Raising Poultry as a Side Line 5 
 
 How to Malve a Piano Box House 8 
 
 Some Pitfalls in the Way of Beginners 10 
 
 Essential Requirements of a Poultry House 14 
 
 The Right Soil for Poultry Yards 16 
 
 Why Some Succeed and Others Fail 18 
 
 A Model Poultry House at Reasonable Cost 20 
 
 A Poultry House That is Different 24 
 
 A Practical Small House for Fowls 27 
 
 Back Yard Poultry House 28 
 
 "A" Shape Colony House 31 
 
 Iowa Model of Half Monitor Roof Type House 33 
 
 A Cheap Scratching Shed 36 
 
 A California Poultry House 37 
 
 Making the Poultry House Burglar Proof 39 
 
 Automatic Release Door 48 
 
 A Good Home Made Trapnest 49 
 
 A Simjilc Homo Matle Trapnest 51 
 
 The False Floor Trapnest 52 
 
 Nesting Boxes 52 
 
 Trouglis for Fowls 53 
 
 Cement Nests for Hens 53 
 
 A Common Sense Window for Fresh Air Poultry Houses 55 
 
 Drinking Vessels for Fowls 57 
 
 The Sprouting Frame 59 
 
 Breaking Up Broody Hens 69 
 
 The Richmond p-eed Hopper 61 
 
 Caring for Eggs for Incubation 62 
 
 A Home Made Feed Hoiiper 63 
 
 Successfully Shipping Eggs for Incubation 64 
 
 Coops for Hens and Chicks 66 
 
 The Setting of the Hen 68 
 
 Drinking Fountain for Chicks r 70 
 
 Moisture and Ventilation in Incubators 71 
 
 Hatching Eggs in Incubators 73 
 
 Caring for Incubator Chicks 75 
 
 Toe Marking Chicks 78 
 
 A Fireless Brooder 79 
 
 Feeding for Quick Growth 81 
 
 Home Made Feed Trough That Does Not Waste the Food 81 
 
 Hatching Chicks and Their Color 86 
 
 Missouii Colony Brooder House 83 
 
 The Half-Way Coop 88 
 
 The Sun and Rain Shed 89 
 
 An Ideal Colony House for Chicks 90 
 
 Planning the Si)ring Work -What to Do and When to Do It 91 
 
 How to Fight Lice, Mites, etc 93 
 
 Prepare Early for Green Feed and Shade 95 
 
 Mineial Matter in tlie Food 97 
 
 Cutting the Cost of Feed Stuffs 99 
 
 pVir Winter Results and Poultry Success 100 
 
 The Louse Question a Live Issue in the Dead of Winter 105 
 
 How to Get Plenty of Eggs in Winter 103 
 
 Building Exhibition and Shipping Coops 108 
 
 Home Preservation of Eggs Ill 
 
 Linebreeding 114 
 
 How, When and Where to Advertise 116 
 
 Keeping Fowls in Summer on City Lot 117 
 
 Economy Nests 120 
 
 Broody Coop 123 
 
 Oul Door Feeder 125 
 
 Shell and Grit Hopper 125 
 
 Treatment for Scaly Legs 125 
 
 Simple Brood Coop 127 
 
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