u >■■, i^ 'Sfcx..,.?' ^ .,i> Efficient Poultry Housing BY G. J. SIMMONDS Illustrated with Plans, Drawings and Photographs by the Author (Copyrighted 1913 by G. J. Simmonds. All rights reserved. Any infringements will be rigorously prosecuted) -uii^MBnii^^ini^^— u PUBLISHED BY WHITE BIRD FARM cTMANETTE, WASH. This house was built of scrap lumber. In it 500 chicks and hen- mothers are cared for in less than 45 minutes daily S(£> Interior view, showing doors in two sections an'S work table in center. Cards giving information about date of hatch, etc., can be seen on each doot" ©CI.A3 4 6910 Introduction The principle underlying Efficient Poultry Housing may be described as intensive care and extensive range. It demands that the labor of caring for poultry shall be concentrated in as small a space as is consistent with freedom to work properly in order that labor may be reduced to the least possible amount consistent with health and comfort of poultry. Heretofore, the long, narrow house with a hallway in the rear and long, narrow yards running off from each pen, where separate matings are necessary, has been the standard type of intensive poultry culture on a large scale. Standing at one end of this hallway, one sees the lines of the walls gradually converge to a little speck at the farther end as if one were looking at infinity down the Corridors of Time, and one could not help but have pity for the attendant who reached the remote end only to find he had forgotten something at the starting point. Nor could one look at the breeding pens in long narrow yards with freedom to move in only one direction, with- out a feeling of how different this artificial environment was from that of the Callus bankiva in the jungles of India and the Asiatic Islands. And this feeling was sure to result in a better understanding of infertility in hatching eggs and lack of vitality in the few chicks hatched from eggs from such matings. But the unsuitability of such houses for breeding stock was soon recognized and so-called "colony houses" were erected, scattered over many acres and involving so much labor in caring for the birds that frequently financial disaster resulted. Recognizing how large and impor- tant a factor labor is in poultry curture, breeders found that large flocks were prac- tical and that they did away with much unnecessary labor. Elated at their success with large flocks, one farm boasted of the fact that with units of 500 layers, one man could attend to the 2,000 fov/ls in four houses without assistance, but qualified it by saying that he was an unusual man. Another farm, which was the first to demonstrate the practicability of putting 1,500 layers in one flock, had three men constantly em- ployed to care for 2,000 layers and the necessary chicks, incubators, breeders, etc., to produce them. About the only progress that has been made in labor saving m.ethods, excluding appliances, has been in increasing the size of flocks. The old, long house or scattered colony houses are still "sine qua non" of the poultry farm. In either case the labor of caring for poultry is from, three to ten times what it should be. Even with the adoption of the excellent room brooding system, separate houses are installed for each brooder and the labor of caring for the chicks, where room brooders are numerous, is much more than it need be. While chicks in small flocks in outdoor brooders require unremitting care, they are also very likely to be neglected in inclement weather. Fireless brooders, used under any of the present systems of housing, are practical only where one values one's time at not to exceed ten cents an hour. To brood with hens on any scale worth while under any of the systems that have come under the writer's observation, requires constant attention from early morning until late at night and, even then, it is doubtful if the reward is at all com- mensurate with the labor expended in this manner on a commercial plant. In the matter of sunlight, only the houses that are square, or nearly so, provide for admission of much sunlight and even these do not get what is possible. When a long house faces the South, it is late morning in summer before the sunlight enters it and several hours before sunset when the light ceases to be of any benefit to the in- terior. And, of course, houses that face the East or the West do not get necessary sunlight. The problem of "open air fronts," "curtain fronts," "closed fronts," "glass- and muslin fronts" or what-not is one confronting every locality in order to obtain adequate ventilation and none is satisfactory in every respect. When cold winds blow into open front houses, birds are driven from four to ten feet back into the interior and cease to enjoy that comfort essential to best results. Moreover their owner must buy excess food to keep up bodily temperature and the possible winter egg yield is re- duced proportionately. When curtains are used, the interior is dark, frequently damp and never cheerful when it is necessary to lower them. Contrast with any of the methods cursorily mentioned above or with which you may be familiar, the Efficient Poultry Houses described on subsequent pages. The al- most round house with its feed and work room in the center from which all the fowls can be fed in a very few minutes without opening a single door; the diverging yards that grow in width as they do in length; the range that is limited only by the amount of land at the disposal of the builder and that cannot become contaminated; the adap- tibility of these houses to any system of brooding so that it may be followed with far less labor than with any other house used today; the ease with which poultry can be cared for and the comfort they can enjoy during the stormiest weather; the free ad- mission of sunlight at any time from sunup to sundown and its penetration during the day to all parts of the house; the perfect ventilation and freedom from drafts; the great amount of cubic feet of air space; the warmth in winter and the coolness in sum- mer; the absolute freedom from lice and mites; the ease with which nests may be cleaned and replenished and with which the eggs may be gathered ; the twelve-bush- el hoppers, for large laying houses, that can be filled in a moment, that cannot clog and from which fowls cannot waste food; the rat-proof, durable, cheap construction; the possibility of placing from one to twenty room brooders under one roof which means, in one concrete example, that one man can care for 10,000 chicks and market a thousand live broilers every week in a season while, at the same time, he attends the breeders necessary to their production, and he need not work over eight hours a day, — these advantages of Efficient Poultry Housing, not to mention others that will be noticed by the reader, entitle this method to the praise given by many experienced poultrymen when they have said it means a revolution in poultry culture. In giving this book to the public, it does not consist in offering for sale numerous pounds of paper impressed with ink from numerous ems of type. It is the sale of a big idea and several smaller ones. The invention and practical trying out of this method have cost the author considerable time and money and it is expected that pur- chasers of this book will respect the author's rights and their own when they are asked to loan it to others. By the time this book reaches the reader, application will have been made for patents on several appliances herein described and it is only the pur- chaser who is entitled to make or have them made, and then for only his own use. This right the purchaser has now and will still have after patents may be issued, but he may not transfer the right, although, of course, he is not debarred from disposing of any of his appliances with his business, should he desire to sell it. In this connec- tion, attention is called to the certificate on the next to the last page of this book. Page Four PART I Efficient Housing For the person who cannot see the wisdom of doing one hour's work to save a hun- dred, if there be such person, this book is not intended, nor should one become discour- aged when loooking at the seemingly intricate drawings. From a structural stand- point, Efficient Poultry Houses are only a series of simply constructed sections, all ex- actly alike. The necessity of making the drawings complete in detail has burdened them with matter not usually found in such plans and the circles and angles look very forbidding at first. But for all horizontal pieces in the Brooder House, there is only one bevel and it is as easily cut as a square corner. The foundations for these houses may be more easily and accurately laid out than for those with rectangular corners. It is only necessary for one to remember that he is building a series of sec- tions which, if corners are the right distance from the center, must "come out right" in the end. The author is not by any means a carpenter. Yet the first Efficient house he built was made out of scrap lumber, built without any plans whatsoever except a mental conception of what was needed and it proved to be by far the best house the author had built up to that time. At this writing it is not full, but it contains 360 chicks with twelve hen mothers, and they require less than forty minutes of the au- thor's time daily to be cared for properly and to thrive and grow like weeds after a warm rain. Although unusual, the construction is simple. To build the first house, will require a little more time than an ordinary rectangular house, but the material required for a given amount of floor space is much less than for long houses. For instance, the material and labor required to construct the sixty-six foot laying house will cost in Western Washington $800, including all interior equipm.ent, or forty cents a hen for 2,000 layers. When the writer remembers how a thrifty poultryman on the shore of Puget Sound, told in a poultry paper how he had combed the beach for driftwood and had built therefrom poultry houses for layers at a cost of only fifty cents a head, the writer is forced to smile. Efficient Poultry Houses should not be built in damp hollows, on damp ground or on heavy clay soil. Choose, rather, a well drained site slightly elevated to afford rapid and efficient drainage. Each house should be built in the center of the plot allotted to it to afford an opportunity for runs on all sides. Orchards are ideal places for poul- try. They help the poultry and the poultry helps them. Having decided on your site, prepare for watering your fowls. If possible, pipe water into your house so you will never have to carry a drop of it to your fowls. The labor saved will more than pay for the piping and interior founts in a year and will pay for the entire system in a short time. If your runs are very large, pipe water into them as well. Now proceed with your building. What size house you shall build or how you shall fit up the interior will depend upon what branch of poultry culture you wish to follow. With the exception of Plate I, all the drawings show the houses arranged with their fullest capacity for a given purpose. You may use a certain number of sections for breeding pens, others for chicks, others for layers, etc. These are matters for each individual to decide according to his needs. These houses are as elastic as rubber bands ; they will fit any condition or requirement. Should you desire houses of different sizes from those given herein, a little study of the plans will enable you to draw other plans for any size house you may wish. Page Five Attention is called particularly to the advantage gained by having sunlight enter all parts of the house, and to the ease with which the houses are ventilated. In cold weather, the windows in the dome may be' opened only a trifle and the foul air will be sucked out promptly. In the summer when the v/indows and doors in the walls and those in the dome are opened, there is a constant circulation and the houses are cool and com.fortable. On one particularly warm day, the writer went into his brood- er house expecting to find the atmosphere very warm because of the low walls and outer roof, but the house was cool and comfortable. The warm air goes out through the dome windows at once and the cool air enters through the little doors and win- dows in the walls, with the result that the house is not only alwaj's cool in summer, but it is also constantly supplied with fresh air. Novice and professional poultry- men alike have all remarked the excellence of the method of ventilation and its abso- lute freedom from drafts. Not long ago, the writer was in an open front house that faced the South. The southwest winds that prevail in this locality had blown the rain in on the litter and it was a wet, soggy, ill-smelling, disgusting mass. The writer could not help making a mental contrast of this unhealthful condition and the dry, cheerful, sanitary state in which is always found in an Efficient Poultry House. Attention is also called to the feed and work room in the center of the small house and the feeding platform in the center of the large house. From these two van- tage points most of the work is done. Under the feeding platform should be stored tools, egg cases, and the like. With the food hoppers only six inches above and one foot from the platform, it requires only a few moments to fill them. In the winter months, when it is necessary to feed grain by hand, one simply throws the grain to the fowls from the edge of the platform and fifteen minutes is ample time to do this leisurely. Moreover, it is not necessary to carry grain long distances through nu- merous doors and gates. Green food hoppers are placed between the nests and when it is necessary to feed green food indoors, it is wheeled up the incline to the platform and forked into the hoppers in a few minutes. Again there is no carrying food long distances through numerous gates and doors. However, the many good features of this system of construction are so apparent to one who studies the plans a few moments that further mention of them will not be made here, beyond adding that the 66-foot house has, in actual floor space and in the room on roosts, running boards to nests and food hoppers, etc., a little over 5,000 square feet, which is ample for 2,000 layers if no partitions are used. Page Six The above diagram illustrates how the yards may be alternated to provide poul- try with a constant supply of green food and how the Brooder House, described on subsequent pages, may be adapted to a small plant on a city or suburban lot. The large yard between the two breeding pens will be noted. It may be in cultivation while the fowls are occupying the yards on each side. When these become barren, or nearly so, the fence to the left of the lane may be moved to divide the large yard into two smaller ones and the barren ones may then be cultivated. It will be seen that this system of rotation may be followed for all the other yards and thus save fencing and the presence of a dividing fence in the lot that is being cultivated. As will be seen, any system of brooding the chicks may be used that the indi- vidual prefers. When the three sections next to the breeding pens are all occu- pied with chicks and new hatches are coming on, the oldest chicks may be moved into one of the sections to the right of entrance way. If three broods are put in one section, they will have larger yard space at the age when they require it. Assuming thirty chicks are placed in each small run to begin with, and one hundred chicks at three weeks old are placed in one full section, 600 chicks can be raised to broiler age every eight weeks or 200 pullets may be selected from the 600 and raised to maturity. The house is large enough to accommodate 200 layers eas- ily when all partitions between sections are removed, or from 120 to 160 breeders di- vided among the eight sections. Page Seven GROUND PLAN Scale ^e-^ "^^o^] r p7at&^ CLCVATION Page Eight ii'e" -* ihurrih Sketch of- •Shory/rTCf Co ap&n ana /a in 'X)oor- co7ifro//e i%Uu.7:2}i" . Ai /i:Jeyat,o^tU facez center- oj buHclmj. ^ /■• ' ,1 1 1 1^ • Scale ' Sft / — J -» -;? Sec TfON //V DETAIL ' 'a ... i . .. . l, .., . . ,J I f Efficient Brooder House 32 feet in diameter. BILL OF MATERIALS. 10 stakes (optional). 1 piece wire, 16 ft. 6 in. long. WITH CEMENT FLOOR. Cement, 6 bbls. Sand, 5 cu. yds. Asphaltum, 4^ gals. 1. 8 pieces 2x4 in. x 12 ft. WITH BOARD FLOOR. 2. 8 pieces, 2x4 in. x 16 ft, 3. 25 " 2x4 in. x 10 ft. 4. Flooring for 600 sq. ft. WITH EITHER FLOOR. 5. 1 piece, 2x6 in. x 8 ft. 6. 9 pieces, 2x4 in. x. 18 ft. 7. 9 " 2x4 in. x 12 ft. 8. 12 " 2x4 in. x 20 ft. 9. 1 piece, 2x4 in. x. 16 ft. 10. 1 " 2x4 in. x. 14 ft. 11. 8 pieces, 1x3 in. x 12 ft. 12. 11 " 1x2 in. X. 14 ft. 13. 26 " 1x4 in. x 14 ft. 14. 15 " 1x4 in. x 12 ft. 15. 8 " 1x4 in. x 18 ft. 16. 9 " 1x4 in. x. 10 ft. 17. 4 " 1x8 in. x 14 ft. 18. 11 " 1x1 in. X 16 ft. 19. 1 piece, 1x1 in. x. 18 ft. Sheathing, 1,200 ft. Lumber for main doors, 50 ft (op- tional). 10 pieces, 1x12 in. x. 12 ft. 9 " Ix 6 in. X 12 ft. 5 bundles (50) laths. 18 sash, 28x34 in. (glazed). 48 pieces glass, 8x12 in. 12 rolls roofing (to cover 1,200 ft.). 2 rolls 1-in. mesh wire netting, 18 in. wide. 100 lin. ft. 2-in. mesh wire netting, 48 in. wide. 600 ft. cord. Page Ten 2 wire rings. 24 wire hooks. 6 pairs 2-in. butt hinges (optional). 3 pairs strap hinges (optional). Labor, 96 hours. ITEMIZED LIST OF MATERIALS IN THE ORDER OF THEIR USE IN PRO- CEEDING WITH THE WORK. (Numbers refer to Bill ; letters, to Drawings.) 1. 8 sills, 2x4 in. x. 11 ft. 6 in. 5. 16 corner studs, 2x25/^x33/^ in. x 1 ft - a 8. 16 studs, 2x4 in. x 1 ft b 11. 8 pieces, 1x3 in. x 11 ft. 6 in c 12. 8 pieces, 1x2 in. x 11 ft. 6 in c 2. 8 joists, 2x4 in. x. 11 ft. 6 in. 2. 8 joists, 2x4 in. x 4 ft. 4^ in. 3. 9 joists, 2x4 in. x 9 ft. 7 in. 3. 16 joists, 2x4 in. x 9 ft. 2 in. 4. Flooring for 600 sq. ft. 6. 9 studs, 2x4 in. x 8 ft. 10 in d 7. 8 plates, 2x4 in. x 5 ft. 9 in e 7. 8 plates, 2x4 in. x 5 ft. 7 in f 7. 1 plate, 2x4 in. x. 3 ft. 1 in 7. 1 plate, 2x4 in. x 2 ft. 11 in 8. 9 rafters, 2x4 in. x 10 ft g 8. 16 rafters, 2x4 in. x, 9 ft. 6 in h 6. 9 rafters (dome), 2x4 in. x 9 ft. (length optional). 7. 1 rafter (entrance), 2x4 In. x 6 ft. 9. 2 rafters (entrance), 2x4 in. x 8 ft. 13. 25 pieces, 1x4 in. x 6 ft. 13. 25 " 1x4 in. x 7 ft. 10 in. 14. 25 " 1x4 in. x 1 ft. 16. 9 " 1x4 in. x 9 ft. 5 in. 15. 16 " 1x4 in. x 9 ft. 18. 48 " 1x1x8 in. 12. 25 " 1x2x8 in. 17. 48 " 1x8 in. x optional. 14. 12 " 1x4 in. x 3 ft. 3 in. 14. 24 " 1x4 in. x 3 ft. 14. 12 " 1x4 in. x 2 ft. 4 in. 19. 6 " 1x1 in. x 3 ft. 18. 48 cleats, 1x1 in. x 1 ft. 6 in. 12. 25 cleats, 1x2 in. x 1 ft. 10 in. 18. 48 ties, 1x1 in. x 1 ft. 6 in. 13. 2 pieces, 1x4 in. x 3 ft. 14. 2 " 1x4 in. x 6 ft. 13. 1 piece, 1x4 in. x 6 ft. 6 in. Page Eleven cTVlethod ^ Building Drive a large stake firmly in the ground at the point selected for the center of the building. Drive a spike part way into the top of the stake. Make a small loop at the end of a piece of straight wire so it will slip over the head of the spike and mark the wire with a file, 6 ft., 8 ft. and 16 ft. from the center of the nail. Do not have the loop so large it will bend and lengthen the wire when it is drawn taught. Cut off the wire at the 16 ft. mark. Now, having determined on what side of the build- ing you want your entrance, draw the outer end of the wire to the middle of the doorway and drive a stake. Now take your wire to the opposite side of the building and drive another stake 16 ft. from the center and in an exact line with center stake and the one in the doorway. The stake last driven is your starting point. In the top of it, drive a small nail part way and exactly 16 ft. from the center. The sides of the building are, as shown in Plate II, 11 ft. 6 in. long and each corner is 16 ft. from the center. Place one end of a measuring stick, 11 ft. 6 in. long, against nail in the stake at the starting point, draw the wire taught and bring the ends to- gether. Drive a stake here and proceed in the same manner each way from the start- ing point until all eight sides of building are staked out. Water pipes for conveying water to each pen should now be laid. The manner of laying them will depend upon the system used. There are several systems on the market for watering poultry. Decide on what you want and install it. If you build a floor of concrete (and it is the best floor) provision should be made for drainage. Lay a drain pipe to the center of the building and connect, with elbow, to what will be your opening in the center of the floor. Toward this opening the floor should slope gently — sufficiently for surface water to run off. There are strainers and traps and other contrivances that may be put in to prevent stoppage of drain pipes. The details of this arrangement are optional. If you have determined on a concrete floor, place a framework around the outer side of the stakes to the desired height and another three or four inches inside for the molds of the wall. The floor should be a few inches above the ground in districts in which it does not freeze severely in winter and this wall is simply to retain the floor in place, and it need not extend farther above the floor than 1 in., which will give plenty of room to make round corners to facili- tate cleaning. Where the ground freezes deeply in the winter, the building site should be excavated to a depth of 1 ft. or more and filled in with gravel or cinders or both and tamped well. On top of this gravel should be poured cement mortar mixed in the proportion of six parts sand to one part good cement. This mortar should be quite wet and should be put on to a depth of 1 in. When it is thoroughly dry apply a good coat of hot asphaltum. Now cut eight sills 2x4 in. x 11 ft. 6 in., long side, with a bevel of 1% in. to 4 in. Now take eight pieces 2 in. x 6 in. stuff, 1 ft. long, and rip for corner studding (a, Plate II). Spike sills to studding so that a stud is at right angles to each end of sill with the bevel of stud flush with the bevel of sill and the long side of end of studding flush with long side of sill. Cut sixteen pieces 2x4 in. x 1 ft. and spike each sill to two of them so they are 3 ft. 10 in. from center to center and the same distance from each end (b, Plate II). Now cut eight pieces 1x3 in. x 11 ft. 6 in. and place one at each side of the building. Distribute also your sills with studs attached. Lay a piece of 1x3 in. along side sill and mark for studding; then nail it to outside of studs, flush with their ends (c, Plate II). Cut eight pieces 1x2 in. x 11 ft. 6 in. and nail one of them along each sill so that it extends 1 in. above the sill (c, Plate II). The framework for each side being now complete, place in position, spike frames together so that each corner is exactly 16 ft. from center (Ground Plan, Plate II). Page Twelve Now level the sills by blocking up where needed with thin strips of wood. Again test corners to see each one is exactly 16 ft. from center. At points 8 ft. from center and on a line with each corner and center make blocks of concrete level with top of sills; on these blocks will rest the studding, 2x4 in.x8 ft. 10 in. (d, Plates II and III). Now put on another coat of cement mortar (1 to 6, as before) crowding it well under the sills where needed and making concave joints between floor and sills to facilitate cleaning. Make the coat from ^ to 1 in. thick. When it is thoroughly dry, apply a coat of hot asphaltum. From this point on, proceed according to directions, following instructions for board floor and walls. To lay a board floor, cut eight pieces 2x4 in. x 11 ft. 6 in. long side and the same number 2x4 in. x 4 ft. 4f^ in. long side, all beveled % in. to 2 in. (a. Plate II). Lay the longer pieces around the building for sides and spike them together. Each outside cor- ner should be exactly 16 ft. from the center. Now lay the other pieces with inside cor- ners 6 ft. from center and on a line with outer corners and center. Spike together. Cut nine joists 2x4 in. by 9 ft. 7 in. and sixteen joists 2x4 in. x 9 ft. 2 in., the latter with a y^ in. bevel and to be laid to correspond with partitions (Ground Plan, Plate II). The Work Room need not be floored. See that the joists are reasonably level as the work proceeds, and when all are nailed together, level carefully with blocks or posts at each joint. Cover with tight board flooring, remembering you will have to clean out the runs many, many times and, the smoother the floor, the more easily, quickly and thoroughly the cleaning can be done. Now cut your studding as directed in the instructions for making a concrete floor and put in place. Instead of spiking sills to them, however, toe-nail them to the floor first, nailing on the 2-in. and 3-in. boards (c, Plate II). Be sure to have the outside cor- ners exactly 11 ft. 6 in. apart and 16 ft. from the center. Draw 12-ft. and 16-ft. circles on the floor with the 6-ft. and 8-ft. marks on the wire for radii, as indicated by dotted lines on Ground Plan, Plate II. Then draw straight lines from each corner to the center. Where the straight lines intersect the 16-ft. circle, the 2x4 in. X 8 ft. 10 in. studs are to be toe-nailed to the floor (d. Plates II and III). Cut nine studs 2x4 in. x 8 ft. 10 in., eight plates 2x4 in. x 5 ft. 9 in., long side, with bevel 1^ in. to 4 in., and eight plates 2x4 in. x 5 ft. 7 in., long side, with bevel of ^ in. to 2 in. Take two studs (d. Plates II and III) and nail to ends the long plate (e, Plate III). Nail the short plate between studs (f, Plate III) six feet from end. Do this with remaining studs: Set them in place and nail remaining plates in place. Plumb studding and toe- nail to floor. Now fit and nail short plates over doorway. Cut nine corner rafters 2x4 in. x 9 ft. V/^ in., short side, and nail in place (g, Plate III). Cut sixteen rafters 2x4 in. x 8 ft. 8^ in., short side, and nail in place (h, Plate III). The length of rafters over all will depend upon the width of eaves, but should not be long enough to prevent the sun from shining in the little windows in the side walls. Now cut and fit rafters for dome at any desired pitch, leaving opening for chimney if desired. Now build frame work for Entrance Way in any desired manner. The way sug- gested in the drawings (Plate II) is quickly and easily made. Before sheathing the roofs, it will be best to make and fit portable partitions unless they are wanted permanent as shown in Side Elevation, Plate III. However, port- able partitions are to be preferred and may be made of lx4-in. boards covered with 1-in. mesh wire to a height of 18 in. and 2-in. mesh wire for the remainder. The little doors and windows in the walls of the house should be put in next. Cut 48 pieces 1x1x8 in. and the same number of pieces of lath 10. in. long. Nail the lath on the 1-in. square pieces so that ^ in. extends over on each side and 1 in. at each end. These pieces will be the frames for the windows and part of those for doors. 6 in. each way from the middle of the end of each run, nail one of these frames in place at Page Thirteen right angles to the lx2-in. strip along the bottom of the wall, leaving an opening 8x12 in. for lights of this size. Next cut twenty-five pieces 1x2x8 in. and nail these against the studding and flush with the edge of it for frames for the doors. Twenty-five pieces of lath 10 in. long you now nail in place for jams as was done for the windows. Now cut doors of 8-in. stuff to fit, and hinge in place. Drive a staple on the inside of the door toward the bottom. This is for the string to control the door from the feed room. See Plate III. Now make a frame 28x34 in. for the skylight. Using three 1x4 in. boards as shown in dotted lines in ground plan and in the elevation, Plate III (the rafters follow the lines of the partitions as shown in ground plan). The horizontal piece of 1x4 in. is nailed to the two side pieces and the frame is then put in place level with the tops of the rafters. This frame is so to be arranged that, with the addition of a strip to the lower edge of the sash, the sash will extend over the wall fiush with the lower edge of the roof, and thus have the eaves uniform. ■ If the entrance is on the north side, and it should be when convenient, there will be no need of lights over the entrance, the dome or over the sides of the roof next to the entrance. Cut twelve pieces 1x4 in. x 2 ft. 4 in. and place two of them in each of the other six sides of the dome as frames for the 28x34-in. sash. Now sheath the roofs and the walls of the dome with whatever material is best suited to your climate and local conditions. Then put in the skylights in the frames prepared for them with the surface of the sash flush with the surface of the roof. Nail the sash securely in place. Then put on the roofing paper, beginning with the roof of the dome, covering the wall of the dome next and last the lower roof. Get the roofing on tight, well nailed down and cemented, especially over the cracks around the skylight. The windows in the dome may be hinged and arranged to open, as the builder prefers. The writer likes them hinged at the bottom to open inward. A very simple method of doing this is to drive a large nail through the lower end of each of the 1x4 in. casings and into the sash. The sash will turn on these nails. To hold the sash open to any desired degree, take a piece of board about 1 in. sq. and three feet long and drive nails part way into it on one side at intervals of 2^4 in. Into one end drive a large staple securely. Insert an- other staple into this one and drive it into the plate above the window so that the side of the stick containing the nails will be next the window. Then by opening the win- dow and placing upper edge of the sash between two of the nails, the sash will "stay put." The brood boxes are made of 1x12 in. and 1x6 in. boards. The drawings, Plate III, show clearly how they are built. The lath grating is made of two cross pieces the width of the box, inside measurement, two pieces for the ends, 18 in. long, and four for other uprights, 15 in. long. This leaves a 3-in. opening along the bottom and places between uprights for the chicks to go out and in. To fit the lids, lay one piece 6-in. wide and one 12 in. wide on top of each battery of three and bevel the ends so they will reach from the middle of the board at one end to the middle of the board at the other end. Then mark for the two saw cuts to divide into three lids, cut accordingly and nail the pieces together with lath as shown on the raised cover in thumb sketch, Plate III. The cleats should be placed so that the lids cannot be moved from one side to the other and thus fall into the box. Now make doors for the inside end of runs above brood boxes and directly above lath grating. Use laths for frame and diagonal brace and cover with 1-in. mesh wire netting. Make doors 3 ft. high so they can swing in toward the runs. Hinge and make self-closing with small weight on cord running through staple. Now connect a cord with one outside door at end of each run, pass the cord through a staple in roof just above the little door, through another staple above door over brood box and bring it to center of building. Suspend a small pole from the center of the dome to witin 7 ft. of the floor. Make it rigid. Fasten a wire ring near lower end Page Fourteen horizontally with three or four wire spokes. Bring the door cords through this ring and attach each with hooks to a smaller ring. Then all the doors may be opened or closed with one pull on the small ring, and those that one may wish to remain closed may be disconnected. It will take only a few minutes to adjust all the cords to their proper lengths if a nail is driven near the lower end and the ring placed over it. Then pull each door open and bring the cord taught to the ring and attach it to a wire hook. Then to close the doors, simply take the ring off the nail, release it and the doors will fall shut. This simple arrangement will save many hours during a season. In case a chimney is built this devise may be placed right over the inner door of the entrance way. This inner door, by the way, is a wire screen door to be used in summer when it is desired to have the outer doors open for ventilation. If part of the house is wanted for breeders or layers, droppings boards, 3 ft. x 4 ft. and roosts 14 in. from center to center may be put in as shown in Plate I. There should be a horizontal door for cleaning the droppings board from the work room, and nests should be placed under this board so that eggs may be gathered from the work room. How many brood boxes or droppings boards one should build depends entirely on one's peculiar needs. Arrange the interior in a manner best suited to your flock and its purposes. Page Fifteen '"I I I I I I I CNTRANCC ^L4T£ fes ncmiL or TRAP N€STc5^ ■■"i'i"i"' I CLL^^TION SC/=^ 1 Page Sixteen ^mwm^^^^^^m^t^'^^tm^mm^i^ ElLtVATION ' I' 1^ li ^ 1^ .• ,' f •» ^ Ji •" S C AL-E, = 12. T-i: Efficient Laying and Breeding House 66 feet in diameter. 24 bbls. cement. 20 cu. yds. sand. 20 gals, asphaltum. 350 brick. Page Seventeen BILL OF MATERIALS. Board feet 1. 83 pieces, 2x4 in. x 12 ft 664 2. 4 " 2x4 in. x 14 ft 37 3. 18 " 2x4 in. x 16 ft 192 4. 100 " 2x4 in. x 18 ft 1,200 5 39 " 2x4 in. x 20 ft 520 6. 16 " 2x4 in. x. 22 ft 235 7. 14 " 4x4 in. x 12 ft 210 8. 17 " 4x4 in. x 14 ft 317 9 6" 4x4 in. x 20 ft 160 10. 4 " 2x6 in. x 12 ft 48 11. 15 " 2x6 in. x 14 ft 210 12. 17 " 2x12 in. x 12 ft 408 13. 5 " 2x12 in. x 22 ft 220 14. 2,300 lin. ft. 1x4 in 770 15. 42 pieces 1x5 in. x 12 ft 210 16. 9 " 1x5 in. x 14 ft 53 17. 320 lin. ft. 1x2 in 55 18. 8 pieces, 1x6 in. x 20 ft 80 19. 140 " 1x12 in. x 12 ft 1,680 20. 16 " 1x12 in. x 16 ft 256 21. 8 " 1x12 in. x 20 ft 160 22. 51 " sheathing, 1x12 in. x 14 ft 714 22. 334 " sheathing, 1x12 in. x 12 ft 4,008 12,407 66 windows, 28x34 in. (6-light). Roofing or cement mortar to cover 4,750 sq. ft. Wire netting, 1 roll, 2-inch mesh, 8 ft. Hinges, two-way spring, 2 prs. Hinges, 4-in. strap, 4 prs. Nails, 135 lbs. ITEMIZED LIST OF MATERIALS IN THE ORDER OF THEIR USE IN PRO- CEEDING WITH THE WORK. (Numbers refer to Bill; letters, to Drawings.) 1. 16 sills, 2x4 in. x 12 ft. 1. 16 plates, 2x4 in. x 12 ft. 2. 1 sill, 2x4 in x optional. 2. 1 plate, 2x4 in. x optional. 1 & 5. 63 studs, 2x4 in. x 4 ft. 10 in d 2. 2 studs, 2x4 in. x optional. 3. 15 uprights, 2x4 in. x 7 ft. 3 1/3 in f 4. 2 uprights, 2x4 in. x optional. 5. 14 plates, 2x4 in. x 9 ft. 5% in g 5. 2 plates, 2x4 in. x optional. 1. 1 plate, 2x4 in. x optional. 8. 17 uprights, 4x4 in. x 13 ft h 1. 16 plates, 2x4 in. x 6 ft i 7. 16 plates, 4x4 in. x 5 ft. 8 in j 7. 1 plate, 4x4 in. x optional. Page Eighteen 1. 1 plate, 2x4 in. x optional. 7. 9 posts, 4x4 in. x 6 ft k 10. 8 joists, 2x6 in. x 5 ft. 8 in 1 11. 18 joists, 2x6 in. x optional n 12. U joist, 2x6 in. x optional o 12. j Planking to cover 200 sq. ft. 9. 9 uprights, 4x4 in. x 9 ft. 4 in p 1. 8 plates, 2x4 in. x 5 ft. 8 in q 1. 1 plate, 2x4 in. x optional. 4. 65 rafters, 2x4 in. x 18 ft. 4. 33 rafters, 2x4 in. x 18 ft. 11. 6 stringers (incline), 2x6 in. x 12 ft. 6 in v 7. 3 cross pieces (incline), 4x4 in. x 4 ft w 9. 2 posts (incline), 4x4 in. x 5 ft. 9. 2 posts (incline), 4x4 in. x 3 ft. 4 in. 9. 2 posts (incline), 4x4 in. x 1 ft. 8 in. 13. 25 pieces planking, 2x12 in. x 4 ft. 4 in. 2. 1 plate (entrance), 2x4 in. x optional. 4. 2 plates (entrance), 2x4 in. x optional. 3. 1 ridge pole (entrance), 2x4 in. x optional. 22. Sheathing (walls), 576 board feet. 22. Sheathing( lower roof), 2.880 board feet. 22. Sheathing (dome roof), 864 ft. 22. Sheathing (entrance way), 150 ft. 22. Sheathing (doors), 240 ft. 14. Cleats for Doors and Windows, 1x4 in., 360 lin. feet. 17. Cleats for Doors and Windows, 1x2 in., 320 lin. feet. 15. 34 pieces 1x5 in. x 2 ft. II34 in s 15. 34 pieces 1x5 in. x 5 ft. 93^ in s 16. 34 pieces 1x5 in. x 3 ft. 2 in s 15. 34 pieces 1x5 in. x 6 ft s 3. 9 roost supports, 2x4 in. x 7 ft. 2 in t 1. 16 roosts, 2x4 in. x 11 ft. 7 in u 1. 16 roosts, 2x4 in. x 11 ft. 2 in u 6. 16 roosts, 2x4 in. x 10 ft. 9 in u 6. 16 roosts, 2x4 in. x 10 ft. 4 in u 5. 16 roosts, 2x4 in. x 9 ft. 11 in u 21. 16 pieces 1x12 in. x 9 ft. 6 in y 18. 16 pieces 1x6 in. x 9 ft. 6 in y TRAP NESTS. 1. 32 pieces 2x4 in. x 1 ft. 6 in. 5. 16 pieces 2x4 in. x 9 ft. 9 in. 16 pieces 2x4 in. x 4 ft. 48 pieces 1x12 in. x 4 ft. 11 in. !88 nierps 1v12 in v 1 ft lOi/C i 3 20 19. 288 pieces 1x12 in. x 1 ft. lO^/^ in 19. 144 pieces 1x12 in. x 2 ft. 14. 384 pieces 1x4 in. x 1 ft. 2 in. 14. 48 pieces 1x4 in. x 5 ft. 14. 48 pieces 1x4 in. x 5 ft. 1 in. 19. 128 pieces 1x12 in. x 10 ft. 1 in. 14. 144 cleats 1x4 in. x 1 ft. 9 in. 14. 32 pieces 1x4 in. x 3 ft. 14. 32 pieces 1x4 in. x 2 ft. 8 in. 14. 32 pieces 1x4 in. x 2 ft. 4 in. 14. 48 pieces 1x4 in. x 10 ft. 1 in. Page Nineteen cJTVlethod sT Building Drive a large stake firmly in the ground in the center of the building site selected for the Laying and Breeding House, Plates IV and V. Drive a spike in the center of the stake. Make a small loop at one end of a piece of straight wire, place it over the spike and draw it taught. Mark it 8 ft., 16^ ft. and 33 ft. from the center of the spike. Cut off the wire at 33 ft. Draw the wire to the middle of Entrance and drive a stake. One a line with it and the center stake, directly opposite and 33 ft. from center, drive another. Each way from this point, lay off eight 12-ft. sides with corners 33 ft. from center. This building should have a concrete floor surrounded by a 5-in. foundation wall 1 ft. high. Arrange a frame work around the outside of stakes for a mold for the foun- dation so that it will be 1 in. beyond the wooden sills. Erect another frame work 5 in. inside the outer one. The depth of the foundation need not be over 1 ft. and 5 or 6 in. of this should be above the outside ground so that earth may be piled against it and afford rapid and efficient drainage of the water that runs off the roof. Build the wall with one part cement, three parts sand and five parts gravel. Excavate and level inside the foundation, so the ground will be level with the bottom of it. Fill to a depth of 10 in. with rocks, gravel, cinders, etc. Tamp well and even the surface with a gentle fall toward the drain, which should be in or near the center of building. Provision should be made for incasing water and drain pipes in solid concrete. The foundation for the chimney should be deeper than the floor (Plate V). Cut sixteen sills 2x4 in. x 12 ft., long side, with a bevel of % in. to 4 in. (a, Plate V.) Spike these sills together on the foundation around the building with the corners 33 ft. from the center. Level them. Build concrete bases for all uprights and for posts for platform, level with top of sills (Plates IV and V). In the center of the building build a concrete chimney base 2 ft. x 2 ft. 4 in., 6 ft. high on which to rest the studding (b, Plate V). Let the flue, which is 8x12 in., extend down into the base at least 1 ft., with an opening for stove pipe. The chimney is to be built on top of this base and to extend through the center of the roof of the dome. Apply a 1-in. coat of cement mortar made with one part cement to six parts sand. When this is thoroughly dry, apply a coat of hot asphaltum. See that the floor is en- tirely covered, as this coat is to assure a dry floor. When this is dry, apply another coat or cement mortar, made as before, and everywhere that the mortar comes in contact with upright surfaces, see that the joints are all round to facilitate cleaning. By apply- ing some of the mortar to outside edge of sill, after the sheathing is put on, the house will be absolutely rat proof. Apply a second coat of hot asphaltum to prevent the chickens from wearing out the bottom of their feet on the raw cement. In most climates it will be found advantageous to cover the gravel with the two coats of cement mortar and asphaltum after the roof is finished. Cut sixteen plates 2x4 in. x 12 ft., long side, with bevel (a, Plate V) and lay a plate exactly over each sill. Mark plates and sills together for studding 3 ft. from center to center (c, Plate V). Cut sixty-three studs 2x4 in. x 4 ft. 10 in. (d, plate V). Bevel fif- teen of them for corners (e, Plate V) and determine on the height of Entrance Way and cut and bevel two for Entrance, Ys in- to 2 in. Nail plates to studding, raise in position and toe-nail studs to sills. The writer believes the pitch given the roof (1-6) is sufficient for any climate, if good fabric or cement roofing is used. Shingles should never be used on chicken houses. They harbor vermin and make houses damp, cold and drafty. However, local condi- Page Twenty tions govern the strength required of the roof. In this climate, Western Washington, 2x4 in. rafters set 3 ft. apart at the outer plates are sufficient. It will be noted that the longest span, horizontally, is 9 ft. without supports. This arrangement makes it pos- sible to economize on the number and size of rafters. But these matters must be deter- mined by the builder in every locality. In some parts of the United States 2x5 in. or 2x10 in. rafters will be required to support a heavy fall of snow. Greater pitch will mean a colder building. So the best method is to keep the roof pitch low and have the roof strong. Cut fifteen studs 2x4 in. x 7 ft. 3 1-3 in. (f, Plate V) and two the length of other studs for Entrance Way. Cut fourteen plates 2x4 in. x 9 ft. 5^ in. (g, Plate V) and two plates 2x4 in. to connect with sides of longer studs at Entrance Way, all beveled as in a, Plate V. Nail plates to studs, raise in place, secure with temporary braces, and cut the other plate and fit over Entrance Way. Plumb. Cut seventeen studs 4x4 in. x 13 ft. (h, Plate V). Cut sixteen plates 2x4 in. x 6 ft., long side (i, Plate V), and the same number 4x4 in. x 5 ft. 8 in., long side (j, Plate V), all beveled as in a, Plate V. Nail plates to studs, raise in place and secure with temporary braces. Plumb. Fit two plates over Entrance Way. Cut nine posts 4x4 in. 6 ft. (k, Plate V). Cut eight out- side joists for Platform (1, Plate V), 2x6 in. 5 ft. 8 in., with bevel as in m, Plate V. Cut eighteen joists 2x6 in. (n, Plate V) to fit on concrete pier. When frame of platform is all in place and plumb, with each outside corner exactly 8 ft. from center cut and fit joist at end of incline (o. Plate V). Then cover platform with 2 in. planking. Cut nine uprights 4x4 in. x 9 ft. 4 in. (p, Plate V). Cut eight plates 2x4 in. x 5 ft. 8 in. (q, Plate V). Nail plates to uprights, raise in place and cut and fit plate over incline. Now cut rafters as desired, put in place and brace diagonally with strips as you proceed. A frame work of 4x4 in. timber should be placed around the chimney to take the strain of the dome rafters. Sheathe the walls, leaving openings for doors and windows (r, Plate V). The win- dows and doors should be arranged to slide up and down and controlled by cords run- ning to feeding platform. The windows, 28x34 in., are shown in plans. The writer prefers doors the same size, which enable an attendant to pass in and out in case of need, and the studding makes special frame work unnecessary. Sheathe the lower roof, leaving openings for skylights (s, Plate V). This open- ing should be 3x6 ft. and should be boxed with 1x5 in. boards nailed to edge of roof boards and extending 4 in. above them on all sides. This boxing should measure 2 ft. 11^4 in. X 5 ft. 11% in., over all, or % in. less in length and breadth than the sash for the skylight. To the edge of the sash should be nailed boxing of 1x5 in. boards so this lid will cap the boxing in the roof. When the roofing fabric is extended up the sides of this boxing, the cap will fit tight and will not leak, if the cap on the sash is also cov- ered with roofing well cemented and nailed down. Sheathe the roof of dome and complete Entrance Way. Now you are ready for your water proof roofing. If you use fabric, cover the roof carefully, using plenty of nails and cement. Perhaps the easiest way to roof this house, and in windy localities it is undoubtedly the best way ,is to staple barbed wire liberally on the roof as a binder and cover it with a 1-in. coat of good cement mortar made in the proportion of one part cement to four parts sand, taking care to make the surface smooth. Now fit two 28x34-in. sashes in each side of dome and your are ready to complete the interior. Cut nine roost supports 2x4 in. x 7 ft. 2 in. (t, Plate V). Nail in place. Cut roosts (u, Plate V) of 2x4 in. stuff as follows: 16 pieces 11 ft. 7 in. long, 16 pieces 11 ft. 2 in. long, 16 pieces 10 ft. 9 in. long, 16 pieces, 10 ft. 4 in. long and 16 pieces 9 ft. 11 in. long. Notch ends of roosts to fit supports and notch supports to fit roosts. Page Twenty-One Make eight Food Hoppers as shown on Plate VII. Then make eight batteries of sectional trapnests. To build one, proceed as follows: Cut four legs 2x4x18 in. Cut two pieces 2x4 in. x 9 ft. 9 in. and two pieces 2x4 in. x 4 ft. Make a frame 4 ft. x 10 ft. 1 in. and attach the legs, bracing them at each corner with waste. Make a bottom for nests 4 ft. x 10 ft. 1 in. of 1x12 in. boards with cleats so arranged on the underside that the bottom cannot slip off the platform just made. Now build nests without tops or bottoms (Plate IV) in sets of four, two sets, with only one end and no backs and two with ends and backs. One without a back and one end, is placed at one corner and diagonally opposite is placed the other. On the other two corners are placed the ones with back and ends and the result is one tier of sixteen nests complete without tops. A top is now built to serve as a bottom for the next tier and so on until three tiers are made. Provision must be made for the 4x4 in. studding in the middle of each battery, so bottoms to nests must be in two sections. In front of the lower tier is a 4-in. running board, 8 in. from nests ; in front of the next tier is a running board 4 in. from nests, and in front of the top tier is a 4-in. run- ning board against the nests. Thus hens can Hy from one tier to the other and ladders will not be needed. The position of food hopper also assists the hens to go up and down. The Incline up to the Feeding Platform should be made of 2-in. planking on three 2x6-in. stringers (v, Plate V), supported by three 4x4-in. cross pieces (w, Plate V), on 4x4-in. posts. Wire netting should be stretched where indicated so the fowls may have free passage around the building under the Incline without having any other access to the Entrance Way, Page Twenty-Two /^JLAN or lAywg /rouse * co/vi/r/^rhsMro iZft. <■ S'S- ® -z'^- -^ @ M- J£L- LI v <-2^-» g) @ U I FRAMES FOR FARTITIOMS Page Twenty-Three Conversion of Laying House Into Brooder House BILL OF MATERIALS 1. 6 pieces, 1x12 in. X 16 ft. 2. 2 pieces, Ix 2 in. x 16 ft. 3. 2 pieces, Ix 2 in. x 18 ft. 4. 2 pieces, Ix 4 in. x 12 ft. 5. 5 pieces, Ix 4 in. x 14 ft. 6. 3 pieces 1x8 in. x 14 ft. 7. 1 piece, Ix 8 in. x 6 ft. 8. 6 ft. 18 in. wide, 1-in. mesh, wire netting. Stples, 54. Nails, 2 lbs. ITEMIZED LIST OF MATERIALS IN THE ORDER OF THEIR USE IN PROCEED- ING WITH THE WORK (Numbers Refer to Bill, Letters to Drawings) 1. 6 uprights, 1x12 in. x 7 ft. 6 in a 2. 24 cleats, 1x2x8 in b 2. 12 cleats, 1x2x15 in c 4. 12 cleats, 1x4 in. x 1 ft. 10 in d 6. 18 bottoms, 1x8x11x7 in e 1. 6 bottoms, 7 in. base 9 in. high j 1. 6 pieces, 1x12 in. x 2 ft. 2^ in f 1. 6 pieces, 1x12 in. x 1 ft. 11^ in g 1. 6 pieces, 1x12 in. x 2 ft. 1% in h 7. 18 pieces, 1x8x6^/^x11^ in i 6. 18 pieces, 1x8 in. x 1 ft. 6% in k 3. 18 pieces 1x2x1 ft. 6 in 1 5. 6 pieces, 1x4 in. x 4 ft. 6 in. m 5. 6 pieces, 1x4 in. x 2 ft. 2 in n 5. 12 pieces, 1x4 in. x 2 ft. 1 in o 1. 6 equilateral 13-in. triangles P 3. 12 cleats 1x2x8 in s 8. 18 pieces 5x11 in. 1-in. mesh wire netting, stapled to swing - t Waste. Optional braces 1x4 in. x 7 or 8 in v Remove nests and roosts. Build frames for partitions as indicated in Plate VI. Cover the frames with material suitable to your climate. Ordinarily heavy muslin or canvas will do. Otherwise, a well glazed building paper, protected on each side with burlap, will be ample to confine the warm air. The partitions should be light so as to be easily handled. These partitions are to be placed between the uprights that run to the dome and from every alternate one of these uprights to the outside wall. A piece of canvas hung as a curtain will do for a door. Over the 10-in. openings below parti- tions are to be hung cloth curtains to within 3 in. of floor so they can be raised when desired. Now put in wire fence from partition to Feeding Platform, as indicated by dotted lines in plan, Plate VI, putting a gate in each fence. Page Twenty-Four PLAN The Efficient Food Hopper BILL OF MATERIALS L 34 pieces, 1x4 in. x 20 ft 2. 3. 4. 5. 6 9 19 2 37 3 1x4 in. X 18 ft. 1x4 in. X 16 ft. 1x4 in. X 14 ft. 1x4 in. x 12 ft. „. „ 1x10 in. X 18 ft. 200 yards heavy muslin, 36 in. wide. 5 lbs. nails, 9 pairs hinges. Yz roll wire netting. ITEMIZED LIST OF MATERIALS X 10 ft a X 3 ft. 6 in b X 3 ft c X 5 ft. 8 in d X 3 ft. 4 in e X 9 ft. 2 in f X 7 ft. 4 in g X 5 ft h X 6 ft. 2 in i X 7 ft. 4 in j X 7 ft. 5 1-3 in k X 8 ft. 3^ in 1 X 9 ft. \y<& in m X 9 ft. 9 in n X 7 ft. 10 in o 2& 1. 41 pieces, Ix 4 in. 2. 8 Ix 4 in. 5. 8 Ix 4 in. 5. 24 Ix 4 in. 4. 8 Ix 4 in. 1. 9 Ix 4 in. 3. 9 Ix 4 in. 5. 9 Ix 4 in. 6. 9 1x10 in. 3. 9 Ix 4 in. 3. 9 Ix 4 in. 2. 9 Ix 4 in. 1. 9 Ix 4 in. 1. 9 Ix 4 in. 3. 9 Ix 4 in. This Efficient Food Hopper can be built at a cost, including labor, of five dollars. It has compartments for six different kinds of food, and will hold twelve bushels. Although it can be placed in a space 4-ft. square, 72 fowls can eat from it comfortable at one time. Placed within a foot of the Feeding Platform, it may be quickly and easily filled. Food cannot clog it; fowls cannot waste the food. t.LCVATION Page Twenty-Five PART II Efficient Management In this part of EFFICIENT POULTRY HOUSING will be found certain matters that have a direct bearing on the management of poultry in the houses described. No attempt has been made to make this book a treatise on the elementary principles of poultry culture. But whenever efficient management calls for changes in the usual laborious, fussy, puttering methods, these changes are given in detail. However, it is not to be assumed that neglect of poultry is intended. Let it be considered that fussy, puttering methods do not mean efficient care and attention, but rather that quite frequently they mean the reverse. The Callus Bankiva, from which the domestic fowl is descended, thrived very well without man's attention, we may believe from the number of its descendants, and nearly everybody will tell you how they have seen a brood of chicks, with their hen mother, grow into splendid fowls on rich pastures without any care or assistance from their owner. This is certainly not to say that poultry on a large scale on a limited area would do as well, but too much emphasis cannot be placed on the fact that it is a normal chicken's nature to rustle for its feed and to grow into maturity as quickly as its constitutional tendency and its environment will permit. The lesson for us to learn is that a chick's parents must be healthy, vigorous birds and that the chick's en- vironment must be suited to its needs. Suitable environment must be provided for ma- ture fowls also. Given, then, proper environment and ancestry, and chickens, young and old, may be depended upon to exercise "poultry discretion" and to do all that is in their nature to do for the enrichment of their owner. THE FOUNDATION. The foundation of efficient management of poultry, which means its management with the greatest success and profit, is good stock properly housed. Assuming you have prepared to house your stock properly by building Efficient Poultry Houses, and that you are familiar with the elementary requirements of good stock, namely, robust health and an abundance of animal vigor, it may be said that whatever branch of poultry culture you follow, you will obtain the greatest profit by having fowls that will lay heavily in winter. Consequently, the production of winter layers will receive attention first. The only dependable knowledge we have of nature's laws, is the result of scien- tific investigation. Consequently, if we wish to know how to produce hens that will lay heavily in winter, it would seem to be wise to turn, not to the pages of catalogues of breeders who have something to sell, but to the unprejudiced conclusions of inves- tigators whose only object is the discovery of truth. The writer has received from Dr. Raymond Pearl, biologist of the Maine Agri- cultural Station, the results of the experiments in breeding for egg production at that station and a description of the manner in which the productive ability of hens is inherited. The fact that the conclusions made from these experiments are in ac- cord with the unscientific observations of many breeders, including the writer, is ad- ditional reason for accepting them as the best guide to breeding for winter egg pro- duction. Moreover these conclusions are based upon the greatest mass of experi- mental evidence ever at the disposal of any breeder scientific or other. His "investi- gations involved thirteen generations and several thousand individuals and occupied Page Twenty-Six the major portion of his time during the last five years." The truths arrived at are perhaps startHng, but they are certainly supported by a mass of seemingly incontro- vertible evidence. Among these truths, to quote from Dr. Pearl, are the following: "1. The record of fecundity of a hen, taken by and of itself alone, gives no definite, reliable indication from which the probable egg production of her daughters may be predicted. Furthermore mass selection on the basis of the fecundity records of females alone, even though long continued and stringent in character, failed com- pletely to produce any steady change in type in the direction of selection. "2. Fecundity must, however, be inherited since (a) there are widely distinct and permanent (under ordinary breeding) differences in respect of degree of fecun- dity between different standard breeds of fowls commonly kept by poultrymen, and (6) a study of pedigree records of poultry at once discovers pedigree lines (in some measure inbred of course) in each of which a definite, particular degree of fecundity constantly reappears generation after generation, the 'line' thus 'breeding true' in this particular. With all birds (in which such a phenomenon as that noted under b occurs) kept under the same general environmental conditions such a result can only mean that the character is in some manner inherited." To put it briefly, these two truths mean that although a good layer inherits the trait from her ancestors, she does not get it from her mother. And, without quoting further the exact language of Dr. Pearl, a good layer will inherit this trait from her father independent of what her mother's ability may be. But, if her father is not en- dowed with the high fecundity character, she will be a poor layer regardless of what her mother's performance on the nest may have been. Therefore the breeding of win- ter layers depends entirely on the male bird, and his possession of the ability to trans- mit the high fecundity factor depends on both his father and his mother. Before applying these truths to a system of breeding it is necessary to know that there are certain qualities a bird in the breeding pen must have and that trap-nesting in the spring and summer months is not necessary. In the first place the qualities a bird must have to be suitable for breeding are health, vigor, strength and normal anatomical development. The geomatrician ar- rives at his results by straight lines and true circles, so, in breeding, it is folly to ex- pect lawful results from weak, diseased, or otherwise abnormal birds. In the next place, almost any old healthy hen will lay in the spring and summer months. Con- sequently her performance in the natural breeding season is of little or no impor- tance in breeding for winter egg production. To quote again from Dr. Pearl: "5. A study of winter egg production (taken for practical purposes as that from the beginning of the laying year in the early fall to March 1) proves that this is the best available measure of inate capacity in respect to fecundity, primarily be- cause it represents the laying cycle in which the widest difference exists between birds of high fecundity and those of low fecundity. "6. It is found to be the case that birds fall into three well-defined classes in re- spect to winter egg production. These include (a) birds with high winter records, (b) birds with low winter records, and (c) birds that do not lay at all in the winter period (as defined above). The division point between a and b for the Barred Ply- mouth Rock stock used in these experiments falls at a production of about 30 eggs." In selecting your female breeders, you may be as ambitious as you desire with reference to their winter egg production to produce your male line, as on this line must depend your success or failure in the production of winter layers. To enter into a full discussion of the complexities and intricacies of the application of the Law of Mendel to the inheritance of fecundity would be confusing in this place and it does not seem to the writer to be necessary. Suffice it to say that there are three factors Page Twenty-Seven that must be possessed by the male bird whose normal female offspring are all good winter layers regardless of the fecundity of the females with which he is mated. These factors are: The possession of the sex characteristics in normal, healthy condition; the possession of the ability to transmit to female offspring the ability to lay in win- ter; the ability to transmit the high fecundity factor of liberal winter egg production. If a male bird without the last two factors is mated to females that lay well in winter, the resulting male offspring will be of very different value as producers of winter layers. Some of this offspring will have the two fecundity factors, some will have only one, some will have none. The only way to determine the value of these male birds is to try them. Make separate matings of the best of them. Toemark resulting offspring. If all the normal healthy matured daughters of any one of them begin laying in the fall and produce in excess of thirty eggs before March 1, you may rest assured that their sire possesses all three factors essential to his being a first-class breeder, so his sons, whose mothers are good winter layers, may be relied upon to perpetuate his line. Again, if a male bird possesses only one of the factors of winter egg production and is mated to females of high fecundity, the resulting male offspring will still vary as to ability to transmit high fecundity to their offspring, but there will not be so many low fecundity males among the sons of the one fecundity factor sire as there would be if, as in the first case, he did not possess either fecundity factor. So here, as in the first case, the only way to determine the value of the male offspring of the sire that possesses only one fecundity factor, is to test them as indicated above. It will thus be seen that the production of a male line on which to found a "win- ter laying" strain will require two years from breeding stock, three years from eggs. After that, however, it should be an easy matter, under proper management, to ob- tain winter layers. By breeding the male line to the very best winter layers each year, the line will constantly improve. As high record layers must be birds possessing health, vigor, strength, good digestions and activity, only such should be used in the breeding pens. When the male line is once established, females strong in the characteristics just mentioned may be selected for producing the laying flock only, regardless of their he- reditary constitution. From the foregoing, it will be seen that the old system of "like produces like" and "breed from the best to get the best" is far from being an exact method of obtaining uniform high fecundity. It will be seen also that the idea that show birds are good layers simply because they are show birds is far from true, but that there is no rea- son whatever why some show birds should not lay as well as any other birds ; indeed, because of the superior care they receive they should lay better if they have been bred with a due regard for the laws governing hereditary transmission of prolific laying. FERTILITY AND "HATCHABILITY." Male and female birds have likes and dislikes and it has never been shown that a mating against the will of either results in strong healthy chicks or even in any at all. On the contrary, experienced breeders of all kinds of live stock declare in favor of the "love match." If a few females are placed in a pen with only one male, some will be favorites and very often some will be wholly neglected. It is therefore de- sirable to have as large flocks as possible, containing one male to every ten to eighteen females, according to the breed, in order that no hen may be neglected. But numer- our males in a breeding pen may result in very low fertility unless precautions are taken against the interference of males. Some time ago the writer had forty-five hens and three cockerels running in a large yard containing trees and shrubbery in abundance. Only a few hundred of Page T wen t y - E i g h t their eggs were incubated but ninety per cent of all eggs incubated hatched good strong chicks. The shrubbery prevented interference of males, and the diversity of the range provided a wide variety of food and ample opportunity to exercise in a nat- ural manner. If the yard intended for breeders has no shrubbery or other shelter, make frames of scrap lumber, cover with burlap and hinge two of them together with staples so they may be folded when necessary to move them, lay them on their sides in L or V shape, or a wide open L, scattered liberally about the runs. You then need have no fear of fertility, the shelters may be quickly removed when it is necessary to alter- nate yards and the ground may be cultivated readily. However, the fertilization of the egg is not sufficient in itself to insure "hatch- ability." The egg must contain an abundance of food for the growing embryo. Give your breeding stock rich pastures, a variety of all kinds of food, and induce them to exercise by sprouting grains in the runs and you will have "hatchable" eggs that will produce strong, "livable" chicks. Of course, in breeding to keep the male line pure, matings containing only one male bird must be made. In these cases, losses from eggs that do not hatch are inevi- table. If eggs from any hens do not hatch at all, such hens may be removed to other breeding pens unless such removal would upset the plan of breeding. INCUBATION. The writer prefers hens to incubate eggs in the good old fashioned way. As there are any number of incubators manufactured, some good, some bad, some indifferent, and the manufacturers of all of them tell how to get the best results, the only advice the writer has to offer to those who prefer to be annoyed and bothered night and day with artificial incubation, is to follow the directions of the manufacturer. But, as hatching with hens under the Efficient method, requires less of the at- tendant's time and attention and produces stronger, better and more chicks than ar- tificial hatching, this method will be described in detail. Those who are using only the small house may set their hens during the winter in the brood boxes and give them the freedom of the indoor runs and of the outdoor run as well when the weather permits. When the weather gets warm enough, set the hens outdoors on the ground in batteries of nests in separate yards for each battery. Make the nests from 14 to 16 inches square, cover the bottom with one-inch-mesh wire only and give the top a sloping roof covered with roofing fabric. The hens should first be set on nest eggs and let off in the late afternoon until they return promptly to their nests without being placed there. Whole corn and wheat, grit and water should be where they can get it when they come off to feed. As soon as the hens become ac- customed to their new nests, give each one the number of eggs the smallest one in the battery can conveniently cover. When the attendant passes the sitting hens in the morning, he sees that they have food and water and releases them; when he passes them in the late afternoon, he closes the door in front of the nests. When the chicks begin to hatch, he deftly removes the egg shells occasionally to save the chicks from injury from their sharp corners and to prevent a shell from telescoping an egg that is about to hatch. But, if it is desired to hatch enough chicks to supply a 66-foot house with layers, the 32-foot house should be built with walls 6 ft. 6 in. high and with the roof having a less pitch than described. Divide the house into eight sections with wire netting par- titions and with burlap covering the lower part of the partition to a height of two feet. Have corresponding runs outside. Have hoppers in each section so they can be filled from the work room. These hoppers are to have separate compartments for corn, wheat and grit. Along the wall of each section and 14 in. from the floor, build four Page Twenty-Nine tiers of nests 16 in. high over all and each tier consisting of nine nests with two doors covered with one-inch-mesh wire netting in front of them. Have these doors for each tier all around the building connected with a central pull so that one bat- tery of nine nests in every section may be opened with one pull. The boards to confine the nesting material should be six inches high so that when three to four inches of moist earth is placed in the bottom of each nest, the nesting rnaterial will be held in. Under the nests in the wall have doors 14 in. square that are also opened and closed by a central pull. Except during the very coldest weather, these doors and the windows in the dome should always be open. Put in each nest three or four inches of moist earth, nesting material, a table- spoonful of lice powder, to be described later, and some nest eggs. If you have win- ter layers of any of the good American breeds, you will have planty of broody hens when you want them. Have a large crate on a truck or wheelbarrow. Take your "broodies" at night from the laying house to the incubation house and, dusting each one as you do so, put them on nests. Leave them there for thirty-six hours. On the morning visit, close the doors into outside runs, release one tier in each section and go on about your business. When you come back, put on the nest any hen that has not returned, close the doors to the nests and release another battery in each section. Continue in this manner until all the hens you have on nests have been fed and watered. Replace any that do not meet your requirements. As soon as the hens get used to their new nests, give them eggs, as many to each hen in a battery as the smallest hen in it can cover. As soon as you are satisfied with the behavior of the hens open the outside doors and allow them the freedom of the runs. This house will contain 288 sitting hens, which, if given iifteen eggs each, will incubate 4,320 eggs every three weeks, and all the problems of moisture, ventilation, turning the eggs, filling the lamp, trimming the wick, watching the thermometer, regulating the temperature and the manifold other annoyances of artificial incubation will be attended to efficiently by the biddies if you let 'em alone and give 'em credit for knowing more about hatching an egg than you do. In the end, you will have strong, hardy chicks that will be a pleasure to raise — if your breeding stock is what it should be. Moreover the whole time required of you will not exceed one and one-half hours a day, including changing nesting material, feeding and watering, cleaning out, re- moving the chicks and placing the hens in the first place. Any special sitting may be recorded on the nest box and the resulting chicks toemarked. By using a toe punch for a hole and scissors for a slit in the webb and by combining the slit and hole, there are about eighty different idenification marks that may be given chicks, sufficient for all practical purposes. Arrange your hatches to bring off about 1,200 chicks at a time and put them in room brooders. The hens may be set over again or returned to the laying house or breeding pens. BROODING. As has been said. Efficient poultry houses are adaptable to any system of brood- ing. The drawings of the brooder house show preparations for hen brooding. The mother hen is given form twenty to thirty chicks. She should be a medium sized hen and not of a flighty, nervous disposition. She should be constantly confined in the brood box and the chicks allowed the freedom of the indoor and outdoor runs. As soon as the chicks are old enough to get along without being brooded, the hens should be removed. Feed the hens whole corn and wheat, and have drinking water where they can reach it through the lath grating. Fireless brooders may be used in the brood boxes, but a stove should be set up in the center of the house to take off the chill. Chicks in a natural state get warmth from their mother and are not called upon to give warmth to each other. Fireless brooders may be used successfully from the start in a warm room. Page Thirty Lamp brooders of any kind you may prefer, so long as they are good brooders, may also be used. Arrange dividing partitions to suit the size of your flock. Whatever system you use, you will find you can care for your chicks in the Ef- ficient brooder house with from one-third to one-tenth the labor required in any other style of house for the same system. Plate VI illustrates the conversion of a laying house into a brooder house for room brooders. In this 66-foot house, 10,000 chicks can be cared for with room brooders with as little labor as is required for 800 chicks in flocks of 50. The stand- ard room brooder for 1,250 chicks is 14x24 ft. and contains 336 sq. ft. of floor space. These divisions contain 375 sq. ft. of floor space and part of this space is out under the dome, where the chicks can exercise in stormy weather. The ventilation is perfect and freedom from drafts is assured. However, the brooder stove used should be one that affords a constant supply of pure fresh air and not one that is constantly consuming the oxygen in the air, a condition that is certain to result in debilitated chicks. FEEDING Poultry management consists of a chain of details that is no stronger than its weakest link. No one subject can be treated by itself alone in describing manage- ment. To discuss feeding, for example, there are numerous other conditions to be taken into account. We feed one way to produce table eggs, another way to pro- duce hatching eggs. But, whatever our purpose, let us retain our common sense and not insult nature with our assumed superior knowledge. Presuming one has a flock of five hundred layers. Is one to assume that every hen in the five hundred has exactly the same disposition, the same likes and dislikes, the same degree of health, the same activity, the same condition of internal organs, the same pulse and respiration, the same flow of gastric juices and, in short, the same identical characteristics and temperament as every other hen, not only for one day but for every day in the year? If this assumption seems to you to be silly, then justify, if you can, the balanced ration, the mash mixed according to "scien- tific" directions for obtaining the greatest possible egg yield from a given flock. When a hen has no choice in her food, when she must eat the exactly compounded ration prepared for her in accordance with a formula prepared by some near- scientist, whether she wants it or not, is there any wonder that she sometimes gets sick? The fact is that not only the hen, but also the little downy chick knows more about balancing its ration to meet its individual needs than any quasi- scientist or apartment house poultryman who ever contributed his wondrous wis- dom to the "Grit-Box" columns of certain poultry papers. Put before your fowls the food they need, each kind by itself, provide plenty of green stuff, fresh water, grit and the rest of the usual requirements and allow the poultry, young and old, to eat what they want when they want it. You will have less sickness, more eggs, better health and much less work. To have a perfectly balanced ration, one must know the exact analysis of every ingredient. Do you know the protein content of corn varies from 7% to 15.3%, of oats from 8% to 14.4%, of wheat from 8.1% to 17.2%, of bran from 12.1% to 18.9%, beef scraps from 36.69% to 66.81%, and other poultry foods as much? Then what chance have you, Mr. Poultryman, to determine a hen's needs? I repeat, let your poultry, young and old, eat what the want when they want it. I firmly believe the so-called balanced mash has set the poultry industry back several years and has resulted in any number of failures in all branches of the business. Do not be influenced by everything you see "in print." Stand on your own judgment once in a while. Does somebody say the hens will get too fat to lay? O, this too-fat-to-lay myth of poultry lore given to the uninitiated and the old-timers alike with all the solemnity and assurance of inspired wisdom ! The fact is there never was from the beginning Page Thirty-One of time a hen that was endowed with the laying quahty and that was given an op- portunity to eat as she wished to that got too fat to lay, although many hens have grown fat because they did not lay. However, when hens are selected for breeding stock, the provident poultryman does not wish them to lay many eggs except in the breeding season, so these hens must have a restricted diet. No meat scrap, no rich food, a little grain and a good range on which to fill up with plenty of bulky food is all they require until a short time before the breeding season. Young stock, how- ever, should have not only a good range but also an abundance of food accessible at all times. Layers require little range but plenty of green food and an opportunity to exercise. Under this method, any stock intended to be marketed as table fowl, may be fattened sufficiently in seven to fourteen days in a fattening pen. The writer has not used a balanced mash for two years and he would rather quit poultry than to go back to a system so unsatisfactory, laborious and illogical. To be specific, feed your chicks as follows: Put in separate hoppers ground wheat, ground oats, ground corn, ground barley. Let them have access to this food at all times. Feed your grain freshly ground. Grind a fresh supply of good sound sweet grain every week or ten days. If you have milk, give them sweet milk to drink if you care to bother with it. But you will get just as good results by feeding them granlated milk in a hopper. Beware of meat scraps for chicks. Ninety per cent of it is unfit for food for anything. If you can get good fresh sweet wholesome BEEF scraps, you can feed it without harm. Give the chicks plenty of green stuff, sprouted oats, potatoes and the like when the chicks can't get green food outdoors. Supply grit, bone meal, oyster shell and fresh water. Get the chicks on the ground as soon as you can. Have two runs for each flock. Plant one with oats so they will be just above the ground when the chicks are able to get out. When the run begins to get bare, sow wheat, oats and barley thick in the next run and as soon as the grain sprouts, before it shoots above the ground, turn in your chicks, turn up a few spade- fuls of the sprouted grain and the chicks will do the rest. They should have access to both runs until green food begins to grow in the second run, when they may be excluded from the first run and another sowing of grain made in it. The object should be for the chicks to have green food and sprouted grains all the time, in addition to the food in the hoppers. It is the living cells in newly sprouted seeds and grains and in worms and insect life that compose the food of growing chicks in their natural state and with these they must be provided if best results are to be obtained. The living cells of animal life are the most difficult to supply them, because of their cost, but the little raw meat required by young chicks would seem to justify feeding ground fresh meat occasionally when the runs are not large enough for them to ob- tain sufficient worms, bugs, and the like. When the cockerels and unpromising pul- lets are ready to be turned into broilers, they should be removed to a pen with a more restricted yard and fattened for the purpose. Housed in efficient poultry houses, the young pullets may remain in the same quarters in which they were first brooded un- til the completion of their first laying year and their owner is ready to dispose of them or until he may remove them as breeders. There is no need of moving them from one house to another. Considering that young stock are set back every time they are moved, to say nothing of the labor saved, this is no small advantage. Layers should be fed much the sam.e as growing chicks. They should be able to scratch for and obtain sprouted grains and they should have plenty of green food. In addition, whole and ground grains and meat scraps or their equivalent should be hopper fed. Using the large 66-foot laying house, the ground should be divided into two or more runs and they should be cultivated with a horse. There should be a small strip of sod along the outside of each run, and between it and the house, the yard should be devoted to supplying sprouted grains for which the hens will scratch, obtaining needed exercise. In the breeding season, the breeding pens should be fed the same way as layers. Page Thirty-Two In winter months, the floors in the laying and breeding sections should be covered with deep litter, which should always contain some of each kind of grain that is being fed with the possible exception of oats and barley, which may be hopper fed. These are the only whole grains that should be fed in hoppers when fowls are con- fined to their houses. Green food should be fed in V-shaped hoppers made of one- inch mesh wire netting and raised about a foot above the floor. CLEANING. Where one has a small house with the roosts next to the Feed and Work Room, droppings boards may be used. It takes only a moment to clean them and they add materially to a convenient arrangement, as the nests may be placed under- neath them. However, they are unsanitary at the best and should be used only when a better arrangement is impractical. On the other hand, to abolish droppings boards, one must have absorbents such as dry loam, land plaster, peat moss, good, dry meadow muck or the like. When these are used, cleaning under the roosts need not be done oftener than once every three or four months, and the value of the ma- nure will more than pay for its removal. When droppings boards are used, clean- ing should be done every day. The nesting material should be cut straw, so that soiled portions may be quickly removed without waste. The arrangement of the trap- nests is such that, removing them in sections, all the nesting material remains on the top boards of the section below and may be readily swept into a large box on a wheelbarrow or truck and taken outside and burned. LICE AND MITES. Sunlight is an enemy of lice and mites. Efficient poultry houses permit sun- light to enter every part of the house at some time during the day. But this fact alone is not sufficient to insure immunity. Before fowls are put in Efficient poultry houses, the roosts and roost supports the walls for two feet above and one below the roosts and the same distance on the uprights next to the roosts should be thoroughly painted with grease. The under side of the tops of the nests and the under side of the run- ning boards in front of them and around the feed hoppers, should be treated in the same way. Grease must not be where it will come in contact with eggs or with the feet of fowls just before they enter the nests. Any kind of animal fat will do. It should be melted and strained and to it should be added three per cent of U. S. P. Cresol while the grease is still in a liquid state. This Cresol is simply to kill any disease germs that may be in the fat. The grease should be applied in a liquid state with a brush. Brooder floors should also be treated this way. An application once a year is sufficient. After each hatch, the nests should be sprayed with a mixture of ten parts kero- sene and one part Cresol. To make a lice pov/der that is efficient, use the formula of the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station, namely, three parts gasoline mixed with one part Cresol and sufficient plaster of Paris to absorb the mixture. This is an absolutely reliable lice powder. However, it must be made fresh as required or kept in tightly closed receptacles. DISINFECTING. Under the most careful management, sickness will sometimes necessitate disin- fecting a house, and brooders and incubators should always be disinfected after being used, and, if any time elapses, before they are used again. The most reliable disin- fectant employed is Cresol soap. This preparation is easily m.ade and is then much cheaper than when one buys it already manufactured and pays for a trade name. Shave laundry soap and dissolve it in as little water as possible by heating over a fire. Strain it. Add an equal amount of U. S. P. Cresol. Return the mixture to the fire and bring to a boil, stirring the while. Remove it to the outer air and pump the mixture forcibly back upon itself with a spray pump for ten minutes. By this Page Thirty-Three time saponification should be complete. Cresol has three timse the strength of car- bolic acid. This mixture, being half Cresol, has one and one-half times the strength of carbolic acid. It is non-poisonous. But the Cresol is corrosive. Should any of it come in contact with the skin wash it off with clear water at once. Care should be taken to get U. S. P. Cresol. The crude commercial Cresol con- tains coal tar hydrocarbons and it is dangerous to have near a fire. A two per cent solution of this Cresol soap in water will cure an ordinary cold in a fowl quickly and several treatments will cure even roup if it is not too far ad- vanced. Put the warm. solution in a small pail or quart can and grasp the fowl's head with the right hand, inserting your forefinger in its beak. Immerse its head and swish it around in the solution for a moment, taking care not to drown the bird. It will appear somewhat stupid for a few moments after treatments, but will soon re- gain its normal condition. Improvement will be noted from the first. However, un- less germs are introduced from outside sources, it is not likely your fowls will ever be annoyed with colds in Efficient houses under Efficient management. A GOOD ARRANGEMENT. A good arrangement of Efficient Poultry Houses on a five-acre tract, that is, as most of them are, 330 ft. x 660 ft., is to divide the tract into two fields 330 ft. square. Have the dwelling house, barn, store-room, etc., on the dividing line near one side, and, about midway on the dividing line, build a 32-ft. Efficient house. In this house, put a small flock of the best winter layers you can get. Proced to establish a male line prepotent in the transmission of high fecundity to their offspring. When you know your birds and have confidence in their ability erect a 66-ft. Efficient house in the center of one field. Stock it with sufficient baby chicks of your own hatching from your own stock to produce 2,000 pullets. As they develop, cull them down to 1,500. When they begin to lay in the fall, trapnest them. Before the next breed- ing season, erect another 66-ft. house in the center of the other field. Put your breeders in a section or two of the last house. It is the beginning of the hatching season and house No. 1 contains the layers and a portion of house No. 2 the breed- ers. You have trapnested your pullets in No. 1 sufficiently to determine the ones that lay in October, November and December. You have selected from them the best for breeders and they should be put in a section by themselves and deprived of their rich food, so they will not lay so many eggs as to debilitate themselves before the next breeding season. Having finished with your trapnests, they should be removed to house No. 2 and ordinary square nests put in their place. Store the trapnests in an unused section. Prepare No. 2 to receive the chicks that are about to be hatched. When the cock- erels and unpromising pullets of the chicks you place in No. 2 have been marketed, the remainder may be given the run of all unused sections and, at your leisure, you may install the trapnests, leaving the doors closed until about time for the pullets to begin laying, when the nests should be opened and cut straw placed in them. By this time, many of the pullets in house No. 1 are deep in molt and have ceased to lay. You have until the beginning of the next hatching season to dispose of the stock in No. 1 and, in the meantime, pullets are laying in No. 2, and the pullets you se- lected the fall before and put in a section in No. 1 are right where they are to be used as breeders. Thus, you will see, chicks are taken to an Efficient house and re- main there until they are disposed of as broilers, are moved to a separate section in the same house to be used as breeders or are finally sold at the end of the first laying season. By this arrangement there is no moving of chicks and growing stock and layers hither and thither and pullets come into laying naturally and without set backs of any kind. This simplification of management alone will save many hours of labor. How much time will the care of such plant require? If you will keep your stock for your male line separate in a small Efficient house, and if you do not wish to sell breeding stock, you can dispense with trapnests in the large houses and attend to Page Thirty-Four those in the small house as you pass it in your work, provided you visit them once every two hours. If you wish the rewards that are your due as a producer of hen- hatched heavy winter layers, you will need to trapnest all your pullets every winter and will have to employ an assistaht all the year, because of the burden of correspond- ence and other details incident to selling ^rst-class breeding stock. As a commercial plant, however, the actual care of the poultry on it will be somewhat as follows: In the early fall some of the layers will always be confined in a section to be fattened for market. Feeding these hens will require one hour a day until all are disposed of. At the same time, your layers will have to be cared for. But as they will be hopper fed until November 1st and have water piped to them, about the only time they will require of you is to fill hoppers and gather the eggs. To fill the hop- pers leisurely will require two hours every two weeks. To gather the eggs and put them in cases will require an hour each day. You will be getting some eggs from the hens you are fattening and to gather these and attend to incidental work, includ- ing that just mentioned, will keep you busy for about three hours a day. In a little while, however, the hatching season will begin. The house intended for the chicks will have to be cleaned out thoroughly, disinfected and greased as di- rected under the heading "Lice and Mites." The cleaning out, however, may be done one section at a time by putting in a partition and moving it forward as the hens are disposed of and, finally, the floor may be thoroughly washed with a hose, the whole house sprayed with a two per cent solution of Cresol soap and parts of it greased. In the meantime, winter has set in and your layers are confined to the other house. They will have to be fed green food and grain once a day, which will require one hour of your time. When eggs are in incubation and chicks are in the brooders, will be your busiest time. Looking after sitting hens will require one hour and a half, look- ing after layers, two hours, and your chicks can have as much of the rest of your time as you see fit to give them. As they will be confined most of the time during very early spring, they will have to be fed green stuff, and be given chick food in the litter to keep them occupied and contented. When they can get to the green food outside, all they will require of you is to look after the brooder stove, clean out their rooms, and keep their hoppers supplied. You should have a small power mill to grind their food, but this will have to be done only once a week at the most, and will require very little of your time as you will not screen the ground grain, but feed it meal, hulls, large pieces and all, ex- cept when chicks are confined, when the fine particles only should be fed in hoppers and the coarse particles in the litter. You will doubtless plant your five acres in fruit unless it is already planted when you get it. The fowls will keep down the weeds and will fertilize the soil. Sprout- ing grains in their yards will require very little more work than is necessary to cul- tivate the fruit properly in the absence of chickens. But, even charging this to your poultry, you will never have to give them over six hours a day on an average during the very busiest season and during the summer when your early chicks are well ad- vanced three hours for layers and growing stock will be more than ample. There are, of course, many modifications of the arrangement suggested that will occur to many persons. For instance, one large house can be used, for som.e time by devoting some of the sections to layers, some to chicks and growing stock and some to breeders. The above arrangement is proposed to give one tangible ideas of the little time required to manage poultry efficiently in Efficient poultry houses. One may expect a profit of from $1 to $1.50 per hen under methods of manage- ment at present employed by poultrymen in general. Under the system advocated in this book, these profits would be materially increased and the labor required would be reduced to a fraction of what has heretofore been deemed necessary. The poul- tryman who is able to build a strain of heavy winter layers, will find a reward far in excess of $1.50 per hen and he will enjoy, in addition, the independence and ro- bust health that come naturally to prosperous men who live in the open, get the feel of the soil and become acquainted with things that live and grow. Page Thirty-Five m \9\» No. WINTER LAY NG 'J:-5at:M WHITL BIRD FARM Manette, Washington, May 15, 1913. THIS IS TO CERTIFY That the purchaser of this book, whose order, bearing the same number as above, is on tile in the office of White Bird Farm, Manette, Washington, is entitled to build for his own use any or all appliances described in this book, now or after patents may be issued, but that he may not transfer this right without written permission of the undersigned. This book is accepted by the purchaser on these terms. WHITE BIRD FARM, By G. J. Simmonds, Prop. QUESTIONS. Any question pertaining to Efficient poultry houses will be answered by the author provided the question is written so it may be replied to in a few words on the same sheet of paper on which it is written and if it is accompanied by an envelope stamped and addressed. The number of letters coming each day to White Bird Farm, makes these restric- tions necessary, however much the author would prefer to reply at length.