A door sill will not be necessary, and the construction of the doors is shown at g. The material is tongue and groove boards fitted to the opening, so as to close easily, yet to provide for expansion in wet weather, and held together by heavy cleats 3 × 7⁄8 inches on the inside, as shown. The inner door is fastened by a hook and eye, and the outer one with hasp, staple, and padlock.
As the window opening is covered with wire, the only way a thief can get in is by cutting the wire and canvas or by drawing the staple. The latter method can be prevented by the use of special staples, with threads cut on each end, and fastened on the inside by nuts, as shown at h. These staples are sold at all hardware stores.
The construction of the frame for the canvas screen is shown in [Fig. 222]. The lap joint is used throughout, and the outside dimensions are two inches greater than the window opening. Tack the canvas or duck to the side of the frame next the window, and provide two hooks and eyes to fasten it down at night. Strong iron butt hinges should be used on this frame, and heavy T or strap hinges on the doors.
The outside of the house is finished, except for a water-shed over the window, and the cover for the entire outside of strong roofing paper. This is sold usually with a special cement for making tight joints and with tin washers for the nails. The water table is simply a board projecting at an angle and fastened to triangular brackets, as shown at a ([Fig. 222]). The roofing paper brought down over this board, and tacked to the under side or edge, makes a watertight joint.
The inside woodwork consists of roosts, dropping platform, and nests.
The dropping platform is a floor of tongue and groove boards, placed three feet from the ground on posts, and extending the full length of the house.
The roosts are fastened to a strong frame, as shown in drawing, and the frame—in sections—is hinged at the back. Each morning this frame is raised, hooked to the ceiling, and the dropping platform cleaned.
The construction of the nests is a subject on which poultry experts differ widely, but whatever form is adopted, the material may usually be obtained from old boxes or packing cases.
The outdoor runs for summer consist of wire netting fastened to chestnut, cedar, or locust posts. If other woods are used, the lower parts should be coated with creosote. This is also a good disinfectant, to be used for cleaning the roosts occasionally.
Many accessories for the poultry house may be made of wood, but opinions of specialists are so antagonistic that it is hardly safe to advocate any one type. A feed trough is shown at i ([Fig. 223]). It may be made from box material, and consists of two boards nailed together at right angles, supported at the ends by two horizontal pieces nailed on. Brooder houses, feed, and incubator houses, and the many other details of poultry raising are well within the power of any careful boy, and the designs should be selected from the expert whose system he has decided to follow.