Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 181, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 August 1918 — Essentials In Poultry. [ARTICLE]

Essentials In Poultry.

Prime essentials in poultry houses are fresh air, dryness, sunlight, and apace enough to keep the birds comfortable. No particular style of house is, peculiarly adapted (o any section of this country. A house which gives satisfaction in Maine will alsp give good results in Texas or California, but 'it-is preferable to build more open and consequently less expensive houses in the South than in the North. The bfet site depends principally on local conditions. The location should have good water and air drainage, so that the floor and yhrds will be dry, while the house should not occupy a low pocket or hollow in which cold air settles. Wherever possible a southern or southeastern exposure should be selected, although this is not essential if there is any good reason for facing the house in a different direction. Poultry can be raised successfully on any well-drained soil. A light loam, which will grow good grass, is well adapted tor this purpose; while a very light, sandy soil, through which the water leaches freely, will stand more Intensive poultry conditions, but most of the green feed for the f6wls kept on

such a soil will have to be purchased. A heavy clay or adobe soil Is not as well adapted to poultry raising,, as such land does not drain readily and it is much more difficult to keep the stock healthy. Long stationary houses, or the intensive system, saves steps, but It is easier to keep the birds healthy and to reproduce the stock under the colony system where the birds are allowed free range. Breeding stock, and especially growing chickens, have an abundance of range, while hens used solely for the production of market eggs may be kept on a’ very small area with good results. The colony house system necessitates placing the houses, holding about 100 hens, from 200 to 250 feet apart, so that the stock will not kill the grass. The colony system may be adapted to severe winter conditions by drawing the colony houses together in a convenient place at the beginning of the winter, thus reducing the labor, during these months.