SANITARY POULTRY HOUSES

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1678, 27 April 1904, Page 71 (Supplement)

SANITARY POULTRY HOUSES

It is not by any means an inappropriate season at which to offer a .few re--marks on the subject of building poul- |- try ho uses with .a view both to the comfort and health of the inmates. The | old-fashioned method of roosting fowls in large numbers, all in one house — | geese and ducks being crowded on the 1 floor whilst turkeys, poultry and guinea- | fowls are sleeping above them on per- ! ehes, is very much out of date; and it | is now recognised by all practical ! authorities upon poultry-keeping, that one of the meat necessary points to .be considered with regard to profit is that, of tho proper housing .and accommodation of the stock. Poultry do not do well in large numbers; -they ought to be divided up into small colonies, and each colony should have.its own particular field, or corner of a field, on the farm, where its members will have plenty of room to roam about, and, of course., .a separate house to themselves. It is A GREAT MISTAKE to suppose that poultry need warmth in the sense of needing a closed-lip roosting place. It is not lowness of temperature that causes ''poultry to suffer from roup and other lung complaints, but rather sudden cluinges of temperature; and when poultry are boxed up in a close, ill-ventilated roost, they are more liable to colds than if they slept, for instance, in the open air, exposed to. all the roughest coldest 'weather. The writer has had poultry roosting in the trees all through the depth of winter, and none of them have ever suffered from roup or cold®. The modern hygienic type of poultry-ho use is the best, with an open front of ’lattice work or wire netting. Care should be taken to have this so fixed that, the, open front fhoes the west. —then the birds will be free from biting winds, whilst a,t the same time they are practically sleeping in the open air. Rut in spite of what has been written above, poultry must be kept warm in a sense if they are to lay well. Although poultry sleeping in trees in the open air will remain healthy, it does not follow that they will lay. If they are to be made to lay productively they must not be exposed to bitter weather —they must be sheltered artificially. With regard to shelter, the combination of HEALTH AND PRODUCTIVENESS can be ensured by roosting them on this open-fronted house principle. It is quite unnecessary to da what some enterprising poultry-breeders are in the habit of doing—heating their poultry > roosts by a system o'f hot-water pipes—that being to the writer’s idea the acme of absurdity. It is easily carried out, of course, in the case of what is called a “model” poultry farm, where the whole lot of houses are built together in the centre of a field, a run being attached to each section of the house, stertching away to the side of the field, in the manner depicted in several wellknown works on poultry-keeping. But this is not the style of poultry farm that pays—at least it is not the ideal method of cultivating poultry for eggs and table fowls. It may answer very well for a poultry fancier who goes in for exhibition birds —but it certainly is not the right way to set about poultryfarming. And it may be said again, and with emphasis, that poultry-forming can only be made successful on the small-colony principle already referred to. ' So each colony-of poultry _ .ought to have a house, provided for itself, and that house should be built on the openfronted systemri-the front being placed towards the west. It should also be a movable house. It can then be moved from time to time on to fresh ground,

and the floor will always be sweet and; wholesome. Failing an open floor, which is not always an advantages where cats and other vermin have to be taken into consideration, the best type of house is ono built on wheels.; and in that case the flop!* should always be covered with peat mass litter and dust to the depth of several inches. That is a deodorant, and will only need to be cleaned out at rare intervals'. The roof of the house should slope from the front, where, the open netting is, down to the back which, of course, is boarded up; and there need not bo any ventilation holes whatever, so long a.s the netting covers about half of the front —the lower half being of boards. Take A POULTRY -HOUSE, say ten feet long by five feet wide and fivo feet high at the front. The roof should slope about a foot, making the back four feet high. The front can be made- up of a door in the centre, or at one end about three feet wide, and the remainder can be boarded up to half its height, and extra strong wire-netting should cover tho upper half —the door being made an. the same principle. It is important that the perches should be of the right typo—let them be large enough and not square in shape, but with oval tops, and let them be made movable—dropping into a slot at each end, so that they can be taken out. to be cleansed from time to time. In, a house such a® has just, been described, there will- only be room for two perches, and these should be on the same level —• about a foot from the ground. It is a bad principle to have one perch higher than another, because poultry always make for the highest perch, and there is fighting and struggling. Such a house as this will readily accommodate-about two dozen full-grown fowls, which is the most that should under any circumstances be kept together. If considered desirable, a tra.p-door can be made in the bottom o'f the entrance door. The position of the house should, if possible,, j be in the midst of some bushes, or with | some trees in front, so that not only! is it sheltered on three sides from the! northerly and easterly winds but it will) bo shaded from the sun, and the rain j will not beat in from the front either. ! Besides the poultry-roosting house it- , self, there should be a sheltering place to which the poultry can have recourse in rainy weather.' This can be arranged. for by raising the poultry-house proper about two feet from the ground, and having a scratching place underneath. This is often shown in the ■SPECIMEN POULTRY-HOUSES I exhibited at the agricultural show®.! Before a poultry-house is occupied it should be thoroughly tarred outside with several coats, and this should have an opportunity of drying thoroughly. Then soane felt may be nailed outside, particularly on the roof and this felt should have two or three coats of tar soaked into it, and some coarse sand should be sprinkled over the top, as that enables the rain to form little rivulets and run down, instead of collecting on the felt and soaking into it. Light, of course, will be provided through the netting in front, but if the house be placed where it is shaded by tree®, it may perhaps be an advantage to have a little window ait one or both ends. The inside should be well lime-washed, and a coating of this useful disinfectant may with advantage, be given several times during! the year. It is surprising how much! good can be made to result out of two j pennyworth of lime and two pennyworth j of painter's “size” to make it stick. With regard to chickens and young 1 growing stock, the same type of house will suffice, but in their case a plat- ; form should be substituted for the perches; or what answers quite as well, some boards may be placed across the perches temporarily, as it is not desdr- i able to allow chickens to perch, because • if they be permitted to do so at an • early age, their breasts will be liable to j become crooked. ~~ j .