418 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



would be benefited. The house should be dry. Dampness is 

 worse than cold. "Better a cold dry house than a warm damp 

 one." Too much glass in a poultry house means added expense, 

 and more — it causes too great changes in temperature, the sun 

 shining through the glass heating the house in the day and causing 

 it to cool off rapidly at night. The amount of floor space needed 

 for each hen depends somewhat upon the extent of the outside 

 range, as well as upon the size of the building itself, less space 

 per hen being necessary in a large building than in a small one, 

 but five square feet is generally regarded as a fair figure. Eight 

 or ten cubic feet of air space should be allowed each bird. The 

 house should be so constructed as to allow the sun to shine in and 

 back across the entire floor, so that there will be no dark, damp 

 corners. All perches should be placed on a level, and the proper 

 height from the floor will depend considerably upon the kind of 

 birds to be accommodated, the heavier breeds needing lower 

 perches than the lighter ones. From seven to ten inches of perch 

 room is recommended for each bird. The perches should be built 

 so as to be easily removed and cleaned. The entire arrangement 

 of the house should be such as to lessen the labor and to add to 

 thoroughness in cleaning. Lengthy dropping boards are labor 

 savers. Every house should have a scratching shed — "the hen's 

 gymnasium." There should also be, in the sunniest spot in the 

 house, a dust box — "the hen's bath." The location of the nests 

 should be where the hen will have quiet and not too much light. 



Of all the plans of housing, that known as the curtain-front 

 system is proving most popular. This is, as the name implies, 

 an open front, or in part open front, house in which curtains take 

 the place of glass in the openings, the curtains being used only 

 when needed. At some of the poultry stations, these houses have 

 proved very satisfactory and are coming into general use through- 

 out the country. The health of birds kept in such houses is gen- 

 erally good, they are less sensitive to cold, and the egg output is 

 increased. 



PLANS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR YARDS AND BUILDINGS. 



From letters received from Missouri poultry raisers, we take 

 the following: 



"I here give particulars of breeding houses, as follows : Ma- 

 terial, 2x6 sills spiked onto short post set in ground ; 2x4 nail ties. 

 Boxed with yellow pine ship-lap. The cornice I get by boxing 



