Fig. 123. A moveable coop.
POULTRY HOUSES
Until recently comparatively few persons have been financially successful in the poultry business when large numbers of fowls were kept in close quarters, as the many abandoned dilapidated yard fences and buildings testify. The reason for such failures was due, usually, to allowing too many fowls to run in one flock. It takes a genius to see and note the conditions of each individual animal once daily in a flock of several hundred birds. Break the flock up into several small ones, each of uniform size and character, and the individual fowl may then be more easily noted. A single diseased bird, if not removed, may serve to inoculate a whole flock with some contagious disease. If the flock contains but twenty to thirty individuals, the chance of discovering a drooping bird is greatly increased. This indicates that the poultry house or houses should be easily divided into rather small compartments. Poultry houses usually are about 12 feet wide and not more than 30 to 40 feet long. If more room is wanted than one house furnishes, another structure should be erected some little distance from any other one. This will give better opportunity to arrange for large runs or yards than does one long, continuous building. I have yet to see a large poultry establishment furnished with yards as large as they should be, and I have seen but few yards which were properly or fully shaded. The runs should be large and relatively narrow, and set to fruit trees. The plum is best, and may be set the usual distance apart. The trees should be sprayed and cared for as in well kept orchards, since the fruit may chance to be more profitable than the poultry. For the health of the fowls and the welfare of the trees, clean culture of the runs should be adopted. In the case of poultry buildings, the distributive method of construction should be adopted rather than the concentrated one. If the undertaking is begun with a well matured plan, these several small structures may not be unsightly when viewed as a whole. An illustration is given of a modest poultry plant large enough for 150 hens and 500 chicks, provided, however, that most of the chicks are sold when from three to six months old ([Fig. 122]). These structures are built on grout foundation walls to exclude vermin and moisture. The floors are of wood, the sills and plates 2 × 4 inches. The boarding is vertical and double, with paper between the two boardings. The outside boards are planed and battened; the roof boards, which are laid close together, are covered with paper and then shingled. The windows provide for light and, in part, for ventilation. These structures are dry on the inside, and the temperature, though not always above the freezing point in cold weather, is comfortable. The buildings might be reduced in number or in size, except the brooder house, and yet provide for the same number of birds, if movable coops for the smaller chickens were provided. The illustration ([Fig. 123]) shows a durable, light, movable coop large enough for twenty half pound chicks. The coop was designed for use on the lawn. It is inexpensive, and protects the chicks from all their ordinary enemies, both day and night. It weighs but 75 pounds, and can be moved easily by a child by means of a strap attached to one end. When used on the lawn, the coop should be moved and cleaned at least once daily, as fresh pasture for the chicks is thereby provided, injury to the grass prevented, the lawn being benefited by the excrements. The coop shown is 4 × 8 feet and 20 inches high, unfloored except the covered section, which has a tight floor, and roosts and suitable wooden and screen doors. A brood of chicks in such a coop would form superior facilities for nature-study work.
Fig. 124. A large portable coop.
Fig. 125. Bracing the corners of the frame.
When poultry-raising is carried on on a large scale, the movable coops might be built 12 × 6 or 16 × 8 feet ([Fig. 124]), the latter the largest size which is easily movable without the aid of a horse. The corners of the sills should be mitered and held together by triangular pieces ([Fig. 125]). These coops will be found to be entirely satisfactory when used in a pasture or grass paddock near the chicken house. While experimenting with them, it was found that the birds did better when as many as thirty or more chicks were assigned to each large coop than when kept in the large, grassless runs.
The following bill of particulars may be of assistance in the construction of a lawn chicken-coop: