CHAPTER V
POULTRY DEVICES
POULTRY HOUSE
A portable house placed on runners is shown in the following cut. It can be easily moved by four men carrying it, or be drawn by hitching a horse to the ends of the runners. A house of this type has many advantages over the stationary house because it can be moved into the field after the grain is cut, into the orchard, and into the different fields where the chickens can get plenty of fresh green food.
Materials:
Use. Size No. of Length Board
pieces measure
Sills (runners) 4" × 6" 2 12' 48'
Joists 2" × 4" 3 14' 28'
Studs and braces 2" × 3" 13 12' 78'
Rafters 2" × 4" 3 16' 32'
Total 186'
7/8" Matched flooring (floor and sides) 340'
7/8" Sheathing, surfaced one side 100'
Roofing paper, 1 roll.
Windows, hardware, etc.
Directions:
A good location is the first consideration in the building of a poultry house. Select a well drained spot, facing the southeast and large enough to make comfortable quarters for the chickens.
The house is built of any kind of durable and well-seasoned lumber. The kind of material used in making the floor will depend largely on the soil and the money to be spent in the construction of the house. Board floors are often used but they are more susceptible to rats. Cement floors are more easily cleaned and more sanitary, and not so expensive in a locality where plenty of gravel is available. A board floor must be raised several inches from the ground as a protection from rats and to allow for runners to be placed underneath the house.
Roosts are placed on the same level with each other next to the end or back walls and from 6" to 10" above the dropping boards, which are 2-1/2" from the floor. Roosts may be stationary as in the cut, or they may be
