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, freedom from 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 departure from 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 making money 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. If there 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 of straw,
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.