Making a Poultry House

by Mary Roberts Conover

As far as materials are concerned, wood, brick, cement blocks, or stone, are equally satisfactory if their requirements are understood, and they are used to suit conditions. Some poultrymen object to brick or stone, claiming that they are damp, yet we know that stone does not create moisture. Of course, masonry being a better conductor of heat than wood, moisture already in the air will condense upon stone, concrete, etc., when it will not be evident on wood. The moisture-laden air, which is cold and unhealthy for the fowls, must be due to a damp floor, poor ventilation, or some such reason. The fact that a certain concrete or stone wall is dry would prove that conditions were right, while the wooden wall would show warning signs only in extreme dampness.

In localities where stone abounds, the entire building may be constructed of stone, giving ample window room.

All buildings which are plastered or cemented in any part of their construction should be allowed to dry thoroughly before the flock moves in.

As an important aid to uniformity of temperature in winter, the wall space filled with confined air is important. The cement blocks and hollow building tile provide for this to a certain extent. A double board wall may give this result if carefully constructed. By placing sheathing paper under the weather boards, and also under the ceiling boards, a very satisfactory wall is possible.

A warm wall is made by combining brick and boards—using weather boards outside, brick within, and plaster, or ceiling boards, on the inner side.

A single board wall can be made comfortable as winter quarters by covering the outside with roofing paper and having it painted black. These black-painted hen houses and coops are too warm in summer, however.

The inside walls of the hen house should be smooth enough to be kept clean. A good wood-filler in the crevices prevents lice and mites from lodging there, but if, when whitewashing the walls, care is taken to work the lime into the crevices with the brush, and this work is done often enough, say four times a year, such pests would be kept down.

Make it a rule to have the windows on the light, sunny side of the building, facing south or southeast, but have none on the other three sides.

Windows really ought to be of such a size and position that the sunlight can reach every part of the floor space during some part of the day. Though we all believe in the benefit of sunlight, we do not always realize how important a part it plays in the care of poultry. When we consider that vermin and disease thrive in its absence, and that remedial measures are more or less troublesome and expensive, we will work into our building schemes every possible inlet for sunlight.

The windows should occupy a large part of the front wall area—one-third of it, at least, and be evenly distributed over the upper part of the surface. Movable window sash or curtain frames are imperative.