POULTRY NOTES

New Zealand Tablet, 31 January 1918, Page 43

POULTRY NOTES

• (By Mb. G. H. Ambler, Christchurch.)

MODEL BACKYARD POULTRY RUNS : ; (Continued V from December ; 27). ;> ; If the poultry has a spare piece of oilcloth this : will be found a r suitable substitute for the : sacking, and can be treated in exactly the same ; way.; Tarred felt is occasionally used as a covering, but this : is a trifle expensive, whereas tarred sacking or oilcloth , whilst answering i the same ; purpose will naturally s save' the pocket. Coarse brown paper can also be used.., Both sides should be tarred and the top sprinkled with sand. No matter what material is used it should be tarred at least once a year; in fact the oftener it is v tarred, the longer it. will last. .~ v . Proper Ventilation. . To return to the. sleeping house. A few words must be said on the "ventilation" question. Unless the house is properly ventilated we can look for nothing but ill results without proper ventilation the occupants of the poultry house cannot remain healthy. "Vitality" we must have in our fowls, and if the ventilation of the « sleeping house is good, then this vitality must follow, all other conditions prevailing. Proper ventilation can be obtained by several methods. Six or seven holes bored at the top of the door will suffice, but the follow- ;; ing method is perhaps the best As a top ventilator a fairly large aperture should be first covered with perforated zinc from the inside, and over this should be made a ,_ sliding door fitted with glass. The aperture can then be left wide open on close nights and partially shut on others, according to weather conditions, as we shall require a thorough current of pure air to drive out the foul air through the above ventilator. This bottom ventilator should be placed as far away as possible from the top ventilator, and the latter should be well above the heads of the fowls as they roost. By the above arrangement we provide a pure current of air throughout the night without draughts, and that ; is what is wanted. An inspection in the morning when the fowls are let out will signify whether the ventilation provided is sufficient or not. If the air is stuffy more I ventilation is needed. We next turn to the "accommodation" question. . It is generally .] calculated that a fair-sized fowl will require ten cubic feet. Thus a house six feet long, four feet wide, and five feet high will equal 6x4x5 cubic feet, and be large enough to comfortably accommodate up to a dozen fowls. The run cannot be too large; the more space allowed the better the result. . , Perch and Dropboards. I will now deal with the perches. These should be 2 or 2 J inches in width, and the corners should be slightly rounded off on both sides. They should be the full length or width of the house and fit loosely- into the slots prepared for them. They are thus easily removed for cleaning purposes—an item that should be . very frequently carried out. Cleanliness should not be neglected; | it is essential. For this reason dropping:,; boards should be used under the perches. J .They may be fixed to the perches or placed directly. under them. These also will require £ : an occasional scrubbing - with ! soap and water. The- majority of small poultry keepers pay far too little attention to ; "cleanliness." For fowls to roost * in a warm : house with i several days' '. accumulation of excreta lying but a few inches ; below them,?| does; not : conduce to good health and egg production, but rather the reverse. A piece of ordinary tarred • roofing felt J or :; sacking, : cut to the exact ; size \ of j the dropping board, and placed over it, will save a lot of time and trouble. A little sand or litter should :: be scattered over this each night; and every morning the felt must be taken up and , the droppings : shaken on i, to the garden, or, better still, stored away. A few

3? strokes with a birch 7 broom is sometimes necessary to complete the ; process, then the layer of felt or |th|f' | material - can ■be replaced. 'lt will be convenient I fijfr this reason to keep a Jittle brush and small pail of sand or other -litter always hanging in an odd corner of the S house. Nest Boxes. :-;; Opinions as to the best nest ;s boxes are many and various. For my own part I like a cheese box with enough of 5 the rim trimmed off * till' it is three four '- inches deep. However, very little fault * can be found with the orange box, | which is divided into partitions ready for use. Fine hay should form the nesting ? mater- | ial, and this 5 should be changed every month, or more frequently if possible, when a little disinfectant powder - should be: sprinkled in the.boxes. Orange boxes are to ' be recommended as nest boxes, as a they can be replaced by ' others when occasion -arises, only costing a few pence j from the t greengrocer Nest boxes should ?al way Z b°e||| placed in the darkest corner Jof the sleeping house,? as/j some fowls u never feel comfortable Unless they are so positioned,* much preferring to drop their eggs in the run, which may very . easily - cause egg-eating amongst I the hens. Young pullets, too, * may 5 be found to take to the nests, much earlier when the latter are placed m in a dark corner. -' /A -'iu~*3Ok-J;»!'// v Kt^T.Jt?':-.!"-'?-^.':.-V ;. Real Moss for Fowl Houses. ■'■■'■'-'-- : I don't know if peat moss is obtainable[ in New'"';;' j Zealand or not; if so there is nothing better for keeping 11 houses free from offensive smells. : -., The floor of the ' house should be covered with it to the thickness of four or five inches. It should be broken up into,': small pieces, and the nest boxes may "; be lined with it as * well. Besides being a deodorizer, •it ; .is an absorbent. - It should be raked over 'every two or three days, else it is apt to get caked together.. If there is a good depth of peat moss to start with, and it is well turned oyer : it -will serve its j purpose for ' months. I am of the opinion that it is far better to allow mother earth to form the flooring of £ _- the , sleeping * house, over r which - i peat moss ior other litter can be , scattered/"' Concrete. floors are not to my liking. Where the soil is always loose the top layer can occasionally be taken off and a ' fresh lot added to the depth of six or seven inches. ' In cases where the poultry-keeper cannot, afford £ peat moss, refuse from chaff-cutting mills, dry leaves, or wheat;*hulls| will make a good substitute. v Location of House. .- q -• -The location of the house and run will depend Ventirely upon the shape of garden site. Where* it is possible the : " covered-in , run j should be facing the north and the sleeping ] place the west, the run meeting the house in the corner.. Then we have a snug little house ; and run. In such cases the ■ roof of * the sleeping compartment should slope away from the run and jiot into m it. In any case it is wise- to remember that a gutter M to carry j off the rain 'is most essential. The ; edge j, the roof should be carried well over the fronts , of ; both house and run. = .;;--•.,«' : : 'l- . .'-;>:'-:.V..>-;..-•.. "',_ I have written at some length on the building- of - : M the poultry house and run r because * success, or /failure depends quite as j much on the proper housing of one's fowls as on the proper feeding of them. T^ The ideal house is one ; with "plenty of room, light and sunshine, : fresh air without draughts, movable ; ; fixtures, r . convenient, and built for comfort." Should \it be necessary sjk to 'prevent draught from coming through any cracks, paste brown paper over the opening ] (inside) and applv ,| : gas tar to the paper. Remember that poultry houses should be built as high as possible, six or seven feet being a convenient height. . The run should be the / j/same height, to allow the ; poultry-keeper to have . easy \ access for cleaning purposes, etc. >..>v•-- ;-■ -' '