Wire floors may be used, as described, in the alleyways of roosting
shelters to provide a place for inside feeding and watering and may also
be used in the outside yards when close-confinement rearing is practiced.
A practical method of construction is to make the floor in removable
sections, each about 5 feet square. The framework should be made of
2 by 4's placed on edge, with the top edge beveled to present about
three-fourths inch of surface; the center supports may be of 1 by 4's,
also placed on edge, spaced 12 to 16 inches apart, and laid lengthwise
of the alleyway (fig. 19). This frame should be covered with 1-inch
hexagonal, 16-gage wire mesh or chain-link fabric wire. Hardware cloth
in a 1-inch mesh made of 14-gage wire is perhaps more satisfactory and
will last longer, but the first cost would be greater. The wire may be
fastened with eight-penny nails and 1-inch staples alternated, one for
each strand of wire, but fastened only to the top or sides of the 2- by
4-inch framework, not to the center supports. The sections should be set
loosely in the alleyway and held 1 inch apart by nails driven into the
sides of the framework. Supports made of either 2 by 4 or 2 by 6 inch
material should be placed on both sides of the alleyway, directly under
the outer framework of the floor panels, and blocked up so as to hold the
floor frames 1 foot above the ground.
Since hen turkeys fly well, it is sometimes difficult to keep them in
their runways. Clipping the large outer feathers (called primaries) of
one wing will do much to prevent the turkeys from flying, but it is
usually necessary to put a 3- or 4-foot guard made of 1 by 4 or 2 by 2
inch material and lightweight poultry wire around the edge of the roof of
the roosting shelters, on gates, and on the fences themselves for 2 or
3 rods out from the buildings. Whenever practicable, these "antiflies"
should be slanted in toward the yard (figs. 16 and 20). Clipping the
wings of the toms is undesirable and is usually unnecessary when
antiflies are properly constructed.
A 5-foot fence is usually high enough to confine turkeys, except near
buildings and over gates, where the fence should be 8 or 9 feet high.
Even a 4-foot fence has been reported as satisfactory by some growers.
Steel posts and square-mesh poultry fencing of full standard weight make
good turkey fences.
PROTECTION AGAINST DOGS
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