ÆäÀÌÁö À̹ÌÁö
PDF
ePub

study the practical application of many of its own findings on an extensive, intensive business plant. Some of the results thus far obtained are made a part of the present bulletin.

GO-WELL FARM.

Of the hundred acres of land comprising the farm, thirty acres immediately at, and overlooking the village of Orono was fallowed and tilled for a year, then seeded to clover and grasses, in order to bring it into good condition for poultry farming.

The Barn and Incubator Room.

A barn of the Shrever plank frame pattern, 40 feet square, with 22 feet walls, was erected over a dry basement which has a heavy stone wall on 3 sides. The ground slopes away from the building on the east side sufficiently so that the large doors and windows in that side of the basement, open out on to receding ground, and renders the basement easy of access from a nearly level yard outside.

In addition to the 2 windows of 12 lights each, of 10 by 14 glass, in the east wall, the basement is lighted by 2 cellar windows in each of the 3 other sides. This gives a dry, well lighted room, 7 feet high and a little more than 36 feet square. It furnishes ample room for 24 of the largest Cyphers incubators, 5 or 6 barrels of oil, work tables and wide passages among the machines.

The windows on the exposed sides are shaded, when necessary, to protect from the warmth of the direct rays of the sun. During the spring months when the incubators are being used, the temperature of this room varies but little with changes in the weather outside. The first floor above the basement furnishes room for the storage of feed, machinery, appliances, and a general work room, while above it on the second floor, there was stored, last season, 40 tons of hay.

Brooder Houses.

There are 40 brooder houses built on shoes, so that they can be easily drawn about the farm to clean land when necessary. In size and construction, they are like the houses described under the heading, Brooder Houses,—on pages 103 and 104.

[ocr errors]

In addition to the 80 Peep-O'Day brooders in these houses, there are 8 Cyphers out door brooders in use. Six thousand chickens are being raised this season (1906).

The Laying and Breeding House.

During the summer of 1905 a laying house was built to accommodate 2,000 hens. It is 20 feet wide and 400 feet long. It is on the same general plan as houses No. 2 and 3 at the Experiment Station. House No. 2 is 12 feet wide; house No. 3 is 16 feet wide, and this one is 20 feet wide. The widths have been increased in the last 2 houses, as experience has shown the advisability of it. At first it was thought the houses should be narrow so they might dry out readily, but the widest house dries out satisfactorily as the opening in the front is placed high up, so that in the shortest winter days the sun shines in on the floor to the back.

The economy in the cost of the wide house over the narrow ones, when space is considered, is evident. The front and back walls in the narrow house cost about as much per lineal foot as those in the wide house, and the greatly increased floor space is secured by building in a strip of floor and roof, running lengthwise of the building. The carrying capacity of a house 20 feet wide is 66 per cent greater than that of a house 12 feet wide, and it is secured by building additional floor space only. The walls, doors and windows remain the same as in the narrow house, except that the front wall is made a little higher. Three sills which are 6 inches square run lengthwise of the house, the central one supporting the floor timbers in the middle. They rest on a rough stone wall, high enough from the ground so that dogs can go under the building to look after rats and skunks that might incline to make their homes there. The stone wall rests on the surface of the ground. The floor timbers are 2 by 8 inches in size and rest wholly on top of the sills. All wall studs rest on the sills; the front ones are 8 feet long and the back ones 6 feet 6 inches long. The roof is unequal in width, the ridge being in 8 feet from the front wall. The height of the ridge from the sill to the extreme top is 12 feet 6 inches. All studding is 2 by 4 in size and the rafters are 2 by 5. The building is boarded with inch boards and papered and shingled with good cedar shingles on walls and roof. The floor is of two

[graphic]

Figure 12. Laying and breeding house at Go-well farm. See page 110.

thicknesses of hemlock boards, which break joints well in the laying.

The building is divided by tight board partitions into 20 sections, each section being 20 feet long. All of the sections are alike in construction and arrangement. The front side of each section has two windows of 12 lights of 10 by 12 glass, screwed on, upright, 2 feet 8 inches from each end of the room. They are 3 feet above the floor. The space between the windows is 8 feet 10 inches long, and the top part of it down from the plate, 31⁄2 feet, is not boarded, but left open to be covered by the cloth curtain when necessary. This leaves a tight wall, 3 feet 10 inches high, extending from the bottom of the opening down to the floor, which prevents the wind from blowing directly on to the birds when they are on the floor. A door is made in this part of the front wall for the attendant to pass through when the curtain is open. A door 16 inches high and 18 inches wide is arranged under one of the windows for the birds to pass through to the yards in front. It is placed close down to the floor. A similar door is in the center of the back wall to admit them to the rear yard when that is used.

A light frame, made of I by 3 inch pine strips and I by 6 inch cross ties, is covered with 10 ounce white duck, and hinged at the top of the front opening, which it covers when closed down. This curtain is easily turned up into the room where it is caught and held by swinging hooks until it is released.

The roost platform is made tight and extends along the whole length of the room against the back wall. It is 4 feet 10 inches wide and 3 feet above the floor, high enough so that a person can get under it comfortably when necessary to catch or handle the birds. There are three roosts framed together in two 10 feet sections. They are one foot above the platform and hinged to the back wall so they may be turned up out of the way when the platform is being cleaned. The back roost is 12 inches from the wall, and the spaces between the next two are 16 inches. They are made of 2 by 3 inch spruce stuff, placed on edge, with the upper corners rounded off. The roosting closet is shut off from the rest of the room by curtains, similar to the one described above. For convenience in handling, there are two of them, each 10 feet long. They are 3 feet wide and are hinged at the top so as to be turned out and hooked up. The space above this curtain is ceiled up and in it are two openings each 3

« ÀÌÀü°è¼Ó »