THE HOUSING OF POULTRY.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XIII, Issue 2, 21 August 1916, Page 97

THE HOUSING OF POULTRY.

A GOOD STANDARD HOUSE AND RUNS.

A. E. SALISBURY, Poultry Instructor.

In order to obtain the maximum return from poultry it is essential that the birds be provided- with suitable houses. The importance of the housing factor. is not realized as it should be, especially by farmers who keep poultry as a side - line. It is on the farms that the largest profit should be made out of poultry, and yet there is no doubt that a very considerable proportion of the fowls kept by the farmers do not even pay for the food they consume. One of the.chief causes is neglect to provide the birds with suitable and sanitary houses. How many thousands of fowls throughout the country are compelled to roost in buildings which are infested with , red mites which sap their very life-blood, or are crowded into ill-ventilated or draughty quarters ! ' It says a great deal for the inherent vitality of domestic poultry that serious outbreaks of disease are not more common.

It is quite unnecessary to provide expensive or elaborate buildings for poultry. All unnecessary expense should be avoided, as the returns will have to be debited with interest and depreciation on the outlay of the plant before the net profit is arrived at. In the construction of the poultry-house' the first consideration should be the health and comfort of the birds, and the second the minimizing of labour in attending to them. The first object is gained by providing a deep lean-to building with the front partly open. The second advantage is secured by planning the lay-out so as to avoid having to go through the run to enter the house. The birds should be protected against draughts, dampness, and vermin, while being allowed to enjoy the maximum amount of fresh air and sunshine.

In planning a house for a small number of hens the common mistake of making it too shallow from back to front should be avoided. With the front open a good depth is necessary in order to prevent the birds from being too much exposed.

To prevent draughts the back and end walls of the building must have all cracks and crevices closed up. In long houses there should be a partition of some draught - proof material at

least every 20 ft. in order to prevent a current of air passing along the building. The exit to the outside run should be through the end walls near the front corners, and not in 1 the back, as this will create a draught through the house.

To avoid dampness the floor should be well raised above ■ the surrounding ground. A concrete or asphalt floor is .recommended in permanent poultry-houses, as it greatly facilitates thorough cleaning out. Those whose circumstances necessitate a cheaper arrangement are advised to fill in the floor well with soil, which will require renewal once a year. A concrete floor can be made dampproof, and will also be warmer, by giving it a coat of hot tar. In laying down a floor of concrete or asphalt it should always be made with a slight fall to the front, so that if any rain drives in from the front it will not run back and wet the whole interior. Whatever material is used, the floor should be kept well covered with litter, in which the grain food should be fed. The birds should be encouraged to look for their food indoors, and not allowed to stand about in the yards on wet days waiting for their meals.

The prevention of the red-mite pest should not entirely depend on the measures taken later on. It .is possible and certainly very advisable to ensure against this enemy when erecting the house. To this end the use of tar is strongly recommended. Supposing timber is the material to be used in constructing the house, it may be tarred on every side, stacked, and the tar allowed to dry before it is cut up. If when the construction is finished the interior is given a spraying with limewash on the tarred timber, an effective “ insurance policy ” will have been taken out against red mite. The writer has found that houses thus treated with tar and lime can be kept absolutely, free from vermin without any spraying with disinfectants, provided that the droppings are removed regularly —at least once a week. A considerable saving of labour and expense may thus be effected. The tarring is done once for all, and the spraying with limewash need be repeated only once a year.

Those who are not prepared to pay regular attention to cleaning are advised not to have ' dropping-boards. Their best method is to have the perches entirely disconnected with the walls of the house. This can be easily done by getting some pieces of | in. gas-pipe about 3 ft. long, and driving them 1 ft. deep into the floor of the house. A 4 in. nail is driven part way into the under-side of the perch, and when dropped into the pipe holds the perch in position. The ends of the perches being kept some distance away from the walls, there is not much possibility of the dreaded red mite getting a hold in the house. A 12 in. by 1 in.

board on edge just in front of the outside perch will prevent the litter from getting mixed with the droppings. ■ ■

A GOOD STANDARD HOUSE. The accompanying drawings give all necessary measurements and general indications of a style of house recommended for 100 adult birds.

Asbestos slate is found to be the most suitable material for the dropping-board, but being very brittle ,it requires to be well supported. Three ' perches of 3 in. by 2 in. scantling (with the 2 in. side up and the corners planed off) are placed 1 ft. above the dropping-board and about 11 in. apart. The perches are hung on brackets made with stout wire, as shown in the photograph. The wire is bent into the shape of a staple, with both points turned round like hooks. This bracket ' hangs on two staples, and the perch drops into, it; it is a simple and effective arrangement for the purpose. Avoid having the perches fixed so that they cannot be removed, or so that they swing to and - fro to the discomfort of the birds. . - '

The nests project from the front of the house, and the eggs are gathered from the outside by opening flaps. Kerosene-tins placed on their sides, with three-fourths of each end cut out, are used for the actual laying-boxes. They are raised I ft. above the floor to lessen stooping when gathering the eggs. A platform 6 in. wide is placed along the front to enable the hens to enter easily, and a sloping board is fixed just above to make the nest dark and secluded.

The hood over the front of the house prevents , the rain from driving in during stormy weather. In exposed localities it will require to extend lower than is shown in the sketch. A common mistake is to have the open part of the front too high, which causes a current of air to strike the birds when at roost. The front should be closed up from the bottom and down from the top, leaving the central part of the wall open. This open portion is covered with i-in.-mesh wire netting to keep the sparrows out. By locating the house . with the front facing the north-east the rays of the early morning sun (being then almost horizontal) will penetrate right to the back' of the building where the purifying! properties of' sunshine are most required. A

The material to be used in construction must be determined by what is available in the particular locality at the most reasonable price. Boarded walls are shown in the sketch, but corrugated iron has become the most popular material for both walls and roofs, even in climates having great extremes of

heat and cold. Besides being draught-proof and affording no harbour for parasitic life, it is durable and can be readily removed without damage. At the present time,, however, owing to war conditions, the price of iron is prohibitive to the average poultrykeeper. Asbestos slate makes a good material for the sides of a house and presents an attractive appearance.

Considering the widely varying climatic conditions which obtain between the north and south of the Dominion, it is impracticable to lay down any hard-and-fast rule as to the amount of houseroom required by any given number of poultry. Readers must take their own local conditions into consideration. Generally speaking, a minimum of 3 square feet of floor-space per bird should .be allowed for the laying-flock which has access to an outside run. Birds confined to the house entirely should . have 4 square feet per head. ‘ The breeding-stock during the period they are mated up should be allowed 6 square feet each, in addition to an outside run at least proportionately larger than the ordinary layers require. .

THE OUTSIDE RUNS.

On many farms the fowls are allowed full liberty, and consequently become the greatest nuisance on the place. Under these

conditions it is impossible for their owners to guarantee the quality and freshness of the eggs. Runs are necessary if the birds are to be kept under control. ■ -

A convenient lay - out of house and runs for 100 hens is shown in the 'last plan. The importance of having two runs to each house and allowing the birds access to them alternately can scarcely be overestimated. Were this system adopted generally many ailments due to “ sick ” ground would be un-heard-of. The beneficial effects of new ground on the health and productivity of the layer are simply wonderful. How

frequently do we see hens (the most ill-treated class of live-stock) confined continuously in yards devoid of vegetation. Year after year

the same small allotment is stocked with fowls. Just alongside is the kitchen-garden, possibly almost as exhausted with continuous cultivation as the poultry-yard is sick from continuous stocking. The small outlay required to provide double runs would surely prove a sound investment. Some kind of low dense-growing shrubs should be planted in. the runs to provide the shade shelter so essential to the well-being of the birds. ,

In putting up wire-netting fences it is advisable to use two rolls of the 3 ft. width rather than one of the 6 ft. size, as the former method makes a very much stronger fence, and costs no more. If ordinary fencing-wire is threaded through the mesh at top and bottom, the two edges at middle securely fixed to a central wire, the three wires well strained, and the bottom pegged down, a secure fence will be made which will last for years.