^52 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



at the top or side or made to slide up and down as part of the window, 

 in any convenient manner to suit the individual requirements. A moder- 

 ate sized frame also permits more efificient control of ventilation as one 

 often finds that with large curtains the air is too close, if kept closed, 

 but if kept open the quarters are uncomfortable. In building any poultry 

 house its summer use should also be considered and provision be made 

 for openings in the back so as to afford a free air circulation. 



The Fresh Air House has recently come into prominence. It is built 

 with the low side, which is not over four feet high, to the south, and 

 the high side to the north, the south side being covered with a wire 

 screen. The open front works most advantageously on a house 16x20 

 feet wide although it can be used on a narrower house, providing the 

 amount of open space is reduced. About 1 square foot of open front 

 is used to every 6 to 10 square feet of floor space. 



As the south side is low it is necessary to insert extra windows which 

 are usually placed in the west end. These can be removed during the 

 summer thus affording free movement of air and counteracting some of 

 the objectionable feature of the extra amount of heat resulting from hav- 

 ing the long slope of the roof to the s-outh instead of to the north as 

 is usually the case. The house is self-regulating so far as ventilation is 

 concerned adapting itself to temperature changes without necessitating 

 the constant attention of an attendant. The roosts being located on 

 the back side are out of the drafts and the snow and storms do not 

 drive in to any great extent. For breeding stock it is exceedingly 

 popular and in some localities it is strongly advocated for egg produc- 

 tion. From the standpoint of healthy flocks this type of house is not 

 to be excelled and as a colonv house it is being used to a considerable 

 extent. Up to the present time it has not been used extensively as a 

 continuous house because of the necessity of extra light other than that 

 from the south side, but should the type of roof be slightly modified 

 and a break in the roof made, in which windows can be placed straight 

 up and down as in the semi-monitor house, there is no reason why the 

 open front plan cannot be used with a continuous house. 



WINDOWS. 



Extremes in temperature, in a poultry house, should be avoided as 

 far as possible. This was the objection to the old glass front house 

 which warmed up in day time but radiated a corresponding amount of 

 heat at night. The effect is the same as bringing a chicken in out of 

 the cold, letting its comb become tender due to the warm room, and 

 then taking it back into the cold again. Frozen combs are quite often 

 due to rapid extremes in temperature rather than continued cold; for 

 this reason the old glass front house has given way to the muslin-glass 

 combination and to the open front. When used in combination with 

 muslin or open front, one square foot of glass should be used to every 

 lGx20 square feet of floor space. 



For the most efficient lighting it is more desirable to place the win- 

 dows high than low. In a house 14 feet wide the tops of the windows 

 should be placed G feet high ; 16 feet wide, 7 feet high ; 18 and 20 feet 



