CHAPTER IX.COMMON FAULTS OF POULTRY HOUSES
If you were to take a trip through the surrounding country, with the intention of inspecting the living quarters of farm poultry, in general, you would discover some of the most wretched houses imaginable. All of our intelligent feeding would be of little use if we penned our chickens up in a coop with little sunlight, poor ventilation, cold, damp floors, drafty sides, and foul, damp air. It doesn’t cost any more to build a poultry house with correct principles involved, than it does to build one that lacks these essential features. The birds care very little about the appearance of the house. They want fresh dry air, freedomfrom drafts, a warm floor, and plenty of sunshine.
One of the most common faults with most poultry houses is the matter of ventilation. When poultry raising was first looked upon as a promising business, many men erected houses containing a large proportion of glass. It was thought that the sunshine was the only necessary feature for the birds under winter conditions, and they made their chicken houses veritable hot houses. But the results were not as had been anticipated. It was found that while the houses were fairly warm in the day time, they cooled off considerable at night, and poor results were obtained from this wide range between the day temperature and the night temperature. Then another step was taken by these pioneers. They decided to heat their houses artificially. But even this system did not bring forth the big yield of eggs that had been hoped for. In all this expensive procedure, a very important element had been overlooked, and that was the matter of fresh air.
About twenty years ago, there was devised a poultry house that was a radical departurefrom this previous type of house. It was called the open front house, and gave surprisingly good results, where all previous types had failed, as regards egg production. This house was constructed briefly as follows: It was of the shed roof type; that is, had just one slant in the roof, the highest pitch being in front, and the lowest pitch in the rear. It had plenty of window light in the front side, about half of the south side, or front, being devoted to windows. The rest of the front was left open, save for a thin muslin curtain to cover the open space during bad weather. These curtains were tacked to wooden frames, and swung on hinges, so that they could be swung in to cover the open space at will. The most remarkable thing about the system was that the hens began to lay eggs, when proper feeding was obtained. Later, this led to the conclusion, now generally accepted, that the birds can stand considerable cold, providing it is not a damp cold, and that the temperature of the house is considerably more uniform between night and day than was the case with the glass house.
As a result many poultrymen who are makingmoney with poultry use some such system as the open front house with various changes. They have found that fresh air is an absolute requirement to get the best results. But this matter brought out a few more interesting facts. It was found that dampness was a big drawback to egg production in cold weather. If the damp foul air, breathed out by the chickens, could not escape from the poultry building, the chickens did not have the health and vigor that they did in well ventilated houses. Consequently, the curtain helped considerably in allowing the fresh air to come in, and for the foul air to go out. The damp air, being heavily laden with moisture, settled to the bottom of the house, where the birds scratch, and unless the curtains extend fairly well down near the bottom of the house, the damp air has not a very good chance to escape, and consequently, there will be more or less moisture even with this type of house, if the damp air has no chance to escape.
Another common fault with a great many poultry buildings is that they are drafty. The walls should all be air tight, except the south wall, or front, as has been mentioned. Ifthere is a draft in the house the birds will contract a cold, and will take a prolonged vacation from their job of laying eggs. It is not uncommon to find a crack in the wall, just behind the perches of the house, and when we consider that in such houses the birds stay all night in a direct draft, it is little wonder that they appear so unhealthy.
There are a few other common faults that we will consider before bringing this chapter to a close. It is often found that there are too many birds cramped into a small house. It is a good plan to allow at least four square feet of floor space for each bird that you winter. For instance, if we were planning on having one hundred birds this winter, we could have a house built twenty-five feet long, and sixteen feet deep. Multiplying these two figures, gives us four hundred square feet. Dividing this product by four, gives us allowance for one hundred birds. Then, lastly, the floor, itself. Too often the floor is cold. If a cement floor, we should cover it with about six or eight inches of good, clean, dry litter. Even if made of wood, a good substantial litter should be maintained. The best litter is probably ofstraw, but peat moss is fast gaining favor at present, where straw is not obtainable. With these few objections to guard against, let us next discuss just how we shall go about constructing a poultry house that will overcome the faults mentioned.