Extension Bulletin 442
April 1932
0. S.C. Range House
By
A. G. LUNN and W. J. GILMORE
I.
Figure 1. 0. S. C. Range House.
-
Oregon State Agricultural College
Extension Service
Corvallis, Oregon
Cooperative Extension Work in Agriculture and Home Economics
Paul V. Mans, Director
Oregon State Agricultural College and United States Department of Agriculture, Cooperating
Printed and distributed in furtherance of the Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914
0. S. C. Range House
By
A. G. LUNN and W. J. GILMORE
the brooding period the next step in the successful management
AFTER
of young growing chickens is to provide suitable range and roosting
quarters. The successful poultryman is the one who with proper equipment so manages his flock as to keep it in the best possible condition of
health and vigor. The more nearly natural conditions can be approached,
the less trouble there will be from disease.
Free range with open-air roosting quarters and an absence of crowding tend to promote uniform growth of healthy, vigorous pullets.
Where a stationary brooder house has been used the range house is a
necessity. Portable brooder houses, despite the fact that they may be
moved from place to place, are seldom found to be adaptable to pullet rear-
ing requirements. The average brooder house is tightly constructed; has
windows or openings on but one side; is usually warm in summer, owing
to limited provision for ventilation.
Ground contamination is a source of disease and loss to poultrymen.
An ideal arrangement would be to allow the growing pullets unlimited
free range. Such a provision is seldom possible. The second-best plan is
to divide the available rearing land into three ranges, one range being used
each year. The remaining two ranges are used as pastures or put into a
crop. A range management plan is shown in Figure 3.
The range plan provides a three-year rotation. Following the use by the
Pullets the range is plowed and put into a cultivated crop such as corn or
kale. This is followed by clover or a pasture crop the following year and
is again used for the pullets the third year. A rotation such as this should
insure clean ground and will be of material help in reducing disease problems after the pullets are transferred to the laying houses.
The 0. S. C. range house has been in general use for several years. It
has proved very satisfactory as a means of rearing pullets to maturity
under sanitary and fresh-air conditions.
When the pullets are first put in the range house the back, sides, and
lower half of the front are covered with burlap or building paper. Gunny
sacks may be used for this purpose. The wall covering is gradually removed as the pullets are hardened off and become accustomed to their
new conditions. The back wall covering is removed last. This should not
be done until danger of summer storms is passed.
The house is built on runners to facilitate moving. The construction
is such that a single horse or car can easily move it. Bolting the 4" x 4"
end joists to the runners and nailing the 2" x 4" joists to the runners has
been found to be sufficiently strong. Corner braces are not necessary and
are a detriment as they catch the droppings. The floor is made of one-inch
hexagonal mesh, No. 18 gauge wire netting four feet wide. The wire can
2
0. S. C. RANGE HOUSE
3
be laced together in the center with light trellis wire. If the floor wire is
put on before the side wire the work can be more easily done. The back,
front, and sides are covered with two-inch-mesh poultry netting. The roof
is made with six-inch sheathing and shingles. There are ten roosts, five on
each side of the door, arranged in step fashion as shown in the drawing.
The purpose of this arrangement is to keep the lower perches free for use
by the pullets going to roost last.
Figure 2 (see inner pages) presents working plans for the O.S.C.
range house.
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BILL OF MATERIALS FOR O.S.C. RANGE HOUSE
Runners
Floor joists
Floor joists
Studs (front)
Studs (back)
Studs (end)
Plates
Braces (front)
Braces (back)
Braces (end)
Rafters
Sheathing
Shingles
2-4"x6"-14'-0"
2-4"x4" 8'-0"
4-2"x4" 8'-0"
6-2" x4" 6'O"
6-2"x4" 4'-0"
2-2"x4" 5'-0"
2-2" x4" 12'-0"
2-2"x4" 8'-0"
2-2"x4" 6'O"
4-2"x4" 6'-0"
6-2"x4"-10'-0"
15-1"x6"-14'-0"
1,200
4-1"x4" 6'-0"
10-2"x2" 8'O"
2-1 "x2" 8'-0"
Roosts
Door
Saddle strip
Filler boards
Wire netting
Wire netting
Bolts
1-1"x2"-- 6'-0"
1-1"x4"-14'-0"
-
1
1
2-2"x3"--12'--0"
floor-96 sq. ft. 1" mesh No. 18 gauge
(sides and ends)-200 sq. ft.
NailsStaples HingesLatchPaintetc.
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EXTENSION BULLETIN 442
Figure 3.
PULLET RANGE .SHOWING ROTATION PLAN
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Range 2
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Cultivated crop
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Hay or pasture
Pullets
Cultivated crop
Year
1st
Range 3
Cultivated crop
Hay or pasture
Pullets
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