Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 January 1911 — Winter Months on the Farm [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Winter Months on the Farm

How to Improve Them

Poultry Management Care of Fowl* for Profitable Returns Wkh Hints on Buildings and Appliances

By PROF. J. G. HALPIN

H'uccru/n College of Agriculture

Pbuitry can be made to par a much larger return on most farms with good Winter management since the fowls consume much feed that would otherwise be wasted. During the summer farm poultry keeping is comparatively easy, and the fowls earn a good living and give profitable returns In growth and eggs, but during the winter periods the farm flock is often jxoorly cared for and returns are far, less than they should be under slightly improved methods. A small flock, rightly managed, will lay more eggs than several hundred hens allowed to roam free, hunting for their living with the exception of an occasional feed of whole corn or table scraps. When laying hens crowd into draughty stables or under the corn crib for shelter, the egg crop is bound to be short. Colony House System. The best poultry house for the average farmer is a small movable colony house, which will accommodate 25 to 30 hens as a laying flock. • The advantages of the movable house are that It is more sanitary, particularly In summer, when it can be dragged about fields and cleaning is made unnecessary. Fowls are given an increased range over new territory each time the house Is moved. Less poultry feed, is needed to keep the fowls In active condition and the benefits of the birds as Insect destroyers may be secured by bringing the movable house Into the orchard. During winter the movable house is less advantageous, but by locating it on a warm Bouth slope and providing ample space, it serves this purpose fully as well as a fixed house. A good colony house, shown in the Illustration, is used at the Wisconsin College of Agriculture poultry department for summer chick raising, and with slight modifications may be made to serve for winter use. This bouse is Bxl2 feet on the floor, which is of matched hard pine laid upon two 4x4 inch runners. It is sided on studs with plain mill lumber and where used only for Summer colonies no lining is required. Where such a house is used In the winter, It should be Well lined, so that it Is perfectly air tight on all sides, except the front, where the 2 open windows are placed. The house is feet high on front and slopes

down to 4*4 feet on the back. A roosting closet, in front of which is hung a muslin curtain, must be provided in one end for winter use. This curtain should be hung upon a rod supported by cleats so that it may be removed in summer when the curtain is not needed. A fixed or permanent laying house for farm flock may be constructed about as follows: The building should be 14 feet wide and as long as is necessary to provide 12 feet compartments which will hold 4fl to 50 hens each. The partitions between these compartments may be made of netting. This building should have a long and short slope roof about 7 feet high on the front and 4% feet on the rear. In the front a window, covered with one inch betting, open the year around, will furnish ACbple ventilation and light. Perches should be put in at the rear over a dropping board, in front of which is hung the muslin curtain to be dropped in severely cold weather to confine the heat from the bodies of the fowls into a small space. Suffl- , cient ventilation will be secured in the roosting compartment through the i muslin. Mixed gravel furnishes the best material for the floor of a house for j laying bens, and if changed each year la quite sanitary. This gravel should be at least six inches deep upon a firm foundation. If rats are troublesome the foundation under the walls of the j house should be made of concrete and a tight bottom of Concrete over which four inches of gravel may be spread. This gravel is covered with six Inches of litter, which must be changed as rapidly as it becomes damp or dirty. ' Clover Good Litter. While straw Is quite universally used as a scratching litter in poultry houses, clover hay will prove more efficient and hut little more expensive bn most farms. A forkful added each

day will give the hens some fresh feed to pick over since they a large number of the greed clover leaves. A good method is to place some straw In the poultry house and add a little clover hay regularly. Clover chaff and second grade hay may be used to good advantage. It is unnecessary to chop straw or other litter for hens, if It is in mod; erate lengths, since they will soon break it up If the building is kept dry. Bedding down hens with clover or alfalfa hay avoids the necessity of soaking chaff for feeding, and fits Into the system of- the average farm much better It is Important to provide sufficient litter at least 8 to. 12 inches deep, in order to make the hens work tb get their grains. A small amount of Utter will soon be scratched over and the hens will need more exercise. Pur* Water Essential. Plenty of clean water above the freezing temperature in winter is quite important A large part of the composition of the egg is water and the hens need a regular and ample supply to do their best work. If water is placed In the poultry house while slightly warm, the necessity of making arrangements to prevent freezing will bo avoided. The prime essential is to keep drinking vessels clean. Scald them frequently and rljttse out every day. The drinking vessels should be placed on a platform 12 to 18 Inches above the general level of the floor, so that litter will not be scratched into the vessel. An ordinary No. 12 galvanized iron pail is most practical for the ordinary poultry house. It is easy •to handle and clean and can be carried without difficulty better than a shallow' -pan—or patented drinking fountains. __________ Best Form of Fend Troughs. For feeding a wet mash a flat trough 4 feet 5 inches wide, with sides 4 inches high 8 feet long, is ample for a flock of 40 hens. This flat trough Is better than the V-shaped, so commonly used, as it is much easier to clean and is not upset so readily. For feeding a dry mash, the main hopper Is about the best arrangement ever devised. It consists of a square flat box 4 Inches wide slatted on the side w T ith perpendicular slats 2 inches apart and has a sloping top,

which will not permit the fowls to roost upon it. When used in a house this hopper has openings only on one ! side, and is hung against the wall. The narrow openings permit the hens to eat the dry mash, but not to serateh it out into the litter. Dark Nests Preferable. The darkened nest has several advantages Iq that hens are less liable to break and eat their eggs or to disturb each other. The nest should be at least 12x14 Inches in size and enough nests should be provided so that there is at least one nest for each six hens. Make the top and sides separate from the bottom, so that it may be removed and easily cleansed. Such nests should be taken out at least once a month and thoroughly 1 cleaned. The sloping top is necessary to prevent the hens roosting | upon the nest. In providing perches many farmers make the common mistake of not placing them on the same level. Hens naturally like the highest roost, and will crowd each other off often, with serious Injury. Six Inches of roost--1 ing space for a hen Is ample. Under the perches a tight, removable dropping board should be provided, which may be regularly cleaned In winter and may be removed entirely In summer. while the fowls are not using the house so constantly. The prirpe essential in handling poultry for success is to keep them clean. Most farm poultry bouses are not tight enough to keep the fowls sufficiently warm; are stuffy and poorly ventilated, and soon become filled with fumes from the droppings until Qiey are decidedly unhealthy. Two extremes are commonly observed, either a large number of fowls are crowded into a small, poorly constructed henhouse or they are left to seek their roosting places as best they can on either a piece of farm machinery or a stable partition.

A good type of colony house set in a young orchard. This may be built of plain milled lumber at moderate cost. The fowls enter through small openings In the rear.