POULTRY KEEPING.

Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20266, 7 August 1937, Page 26 (Supplement)

POULTRY KEEPING.

GOOD HOUSING ESSENTIAL. MATERIAL FOR FLOORING. If either kept for a hobby or to supply the household with eggs, good j housing is essential for poultry. In j many cases fowl houses and yards are among the most delapidated parts of the producer’s property. Nevertheless the poultry keeper Is annoyed If there are no eggs for breakfast and some have to be purchased. As with every living oreaturo, If It Is to thrive, an orderly and well-kept house Is essential to the fowl. The chief aim In erecting a fowl-house Is to provide a healthy habitation for the oooupants. The house must be weather proof, for the birds must be kept dry all the year around. Fresh air, without draughts Is also essential and a necessity of equal Importance is good lighting. An endeavour should be made to build the house with a northerly or north-easterly aspect. This allows the fowls to get the maximum amount of the very necessary sunlight. Fowls do not appreciate dark houses and, of course, the sunlight is a health-giver. Wire-netting fronts are ideal, although It may be advisable to board up the front for about two feet from the ground In the front of the house. Eoonomlcai Houses. If economy Is desired then the leanto style Is the cheapest type of house to erect. The highest portion should be at the front with the roof sloping to the rear. A wooden floor is not reooommended. It tends to attract vermin and enables rats to live under the boards and rats are a menace to every poultry keeper. A well-rammed earth floor Is probably the best provided that it is high enough to prevent rain soakage. The floor must always be kept dean and dry. Dampness promotes diseases. To eliminate this a coating of sand or chaff, or best of all, good clean straw, Is valuable. The straw encourages the birds to scratch and they need to do this to exercise themselves. Hay is not as good as straw for it compacts too solidly on the floor. Pine needles are excellent for flooring. Some poultry keepers consider that dropping-boards should be-fitted under the perches, but there is a disadvantage in this practice for the boards are apt to become a breeding ground for red mite. A better scheme is to hang the roosts on -wire towards the back of the house. On the floor beneath a wide plank nine or 12 inches in width, should be placed so as to prevent the litter from being scratched under the perches. The nests should be in the house, but if this is impossible do not make them permanent fixtures. In fact all fowl furnishings should be movable so as to facilitate oleaning. About three square feet for each bird 13 quite sufficient for permanent occupation in a house, but plenty of exercise is the main essential. Let them scratch in the litter for the grain, Jump for green feed by hanging some from the roof, or even force them to climb to reach water and' grit.