Identifying Chicken Equipment

[Mom5farmboys]

We got some chickens about a month ago, and have them penned up while we are restoring an old chicken coop. We live on my husbands family farm (we're only 25 years away from becoming a centinneal farm).

Years ago, I'd say anywhere from the 1930's thru the 1950's they raised chickens, from the records of their egg productions I would have to guess that maybe they had between 200-300 chickens on the farm at one time.

So we decided to poke around in the loft of an old barn and see if we could scrounge any old forgotten chicken equipment (husband remembered there was some chicken stuff around-he just never paid attention to it because they never had any chickens since he was born).

Well we hit the motherload there are galvanized laying boxes, several different kinds of galvanized feeders, waterers, wooden laying boxes (homemade), roosts. But there are some things in with this stuff that looks like it definitly had a purpose, but we are stumped as to what they would of used it for. There was a small galvanized roof with lights in it, about 6 feet long, (possibly a stand alone brooder?), and some metal frames that were the same color as some metal panels on the other side of the pile, looks like they should go together, but for what purpose?

Which leads me to my question..does anyone know of a source that could help me identify what was standard equipment of the time for raising chickens? I tried to do a search online and didn't get very far.

Thanks!!

[AlchemyAcres]

There was a small galvanized roof with lights in it, about 6 feet long, (possibly a stand alone brooder?)

Sure sounds like a brooder.

Can you post pics of the questionable items?

I think that's your best bet in identifying exactly what you have.


~Martin

[WileyCoyote]

AA is right as usual. Pics would help.

A chicken 'operation' could have had elevated nests where the eggs rolled down into a collection bin or tray, or places where they could sex the chickens or isolate them, a "hot wire" where they could flatten the beaks, cauterize the wings and even the spurs. Homemade incubators and brooders can look very different from storeboughten ones, as different people did different things to suit the size of their operations as well as the weather where they lived, even the type and size of chickens they wanted to breed.

Looking through 100 years of "treasure trove" we have found a lot of things we didn't understand - until it was explained to us that it had once been a milking operation. The huge compressor under the garage bench was for the milker, the scars in the cement floor in the basement were where long metal tables had been set up for the preparation of the separation, etc. Asking older folk who may have been family friends and seen it in operation could help!

[Mom5farmboys]

Martin--Wiley--Thanks for the responses.

I am going to try to get the husband to help me drag a few panels out tonight so I can take a picture of them. Would love any input, but I still have to figure out how to get the pictures on here.

As far as asking any older relatives my husbands father was one of 15 children and one of the youngest ones, he was also 50 when my husband was born, so really no one from that era left anymore. Pity....only 1 of the aunts is still alive and she lives in a nursing home with dementia, she doesn't have many lucid moments anymore either, from what I hear. I could really kick myself for not asking more questions about his family and the farm when I had the chance. We also have a big box of old photos that we need help identifying and we procrastinated too long, now I'm afraid its too late. I guess there's a lesson to be learned there.

[NCLee]

When the opportunity presents, talk to some of your older neighbors. Stop by with an apple pie or a jar of homemade jelly. You may be surprised at how much help they can be. Even if they don't know themselves, there's a good chance they know someone who does.

Just a thought....

Lee

[Mom5farmboys]

Lee,

While thats great advice, unfortunately most of the land and farms around here (except us, we seem to be the last holdouts) have sold to younger "city" people, and a lot of the land has been developed. We do know most of our neighbors, especially the "old timers" that are still around.

There is an older gentleman that we buy seed and grain from that we will ask the next time we go there.

I did go over tonight and take some pictures and measurements, I will try to figure out how to post them tonight after the kids are in bed and its quiet.

Thanks for responding.

[Mom5farmboys]

OK I think this should work. Here are the pictures I took of the frames and the panels. Once we pulled the panels out of the loft, we were suprised to see they were hinged and when opened they fit perfectly into the frames. Any ideas as to what they were used for, or if they are for chickens at all?? Thanks everybody.

[NCLee]

Do all of the panels fit together to form a box? One of my guesses is that they are a rodent proof feed bin. The pix with the handle makes me think that's the top, if that's indeed what it is.

Lee

BTW, if you have a local library or are within reasonsible driving distance of a university, there may be newspaper archives. There's the possibility that advertisements from the time frame these were in use will help you identify them. Just a thought....... I've used the newspaper archives (on microfilm, years ago) to do some local history research.

[Mom5farmboys]

Lee,

Actually that handle is on the very bottom and you cant see them in the photos very well but the holes that the 2 ends of those pins go thru are repeated all the way around on the 2 straight sides and the top 2 sides that form the point. There are no holes on the side that was sitting on the ground in the picture.

That handle slides in and out a few inches...we were thinking that maybe thats what locked that panel in place? Also there are a big stack of those frames and panels we were thinking maybe they interconnected somehow and those holes are how they did that?

Grain bin is an interesting thought we had not considered that, but what about that point on top, if you put 4 of those frames together to make a square it would make for an odd shaped roof with the 4 points coming up straight.

We thought maybe 2 of them placed some distance apart facing each other with a few cattle panels connecting them and some boards on top for a roof would make a handy calf hutch??

Good idea about the advertisements..we looked that particular frame over for any kind of markings, from a manufacturer or implement dealer but there was nothing.
Thanks for the thoughts, tomorrow I'm going to grab one of the boys and get up in that loft and seriously start digging into that stuff, maybe I'll either find more parts that help it make sense or ...well who knows what I'll find, lol.
I'll let you know. :)