408 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



PREFERABLE CONDITIONS. 



Poultry houses need not be elaborate in their fittings or expensive in 

 construction. There are certain conditions, however, which should be 

 insisted upon in all cases. In the first place, the house should be located 

 upon soil which is well drained and dry. A gravelly knoll is best, but, fail- 

 ing this, the site should be raised by the use of the plow and scraper until 

 there is a gentle slope in all directions sufficient to prevent any standing 

 water even at the wettest times. A few inches of sand or gravel on the sur- 

 face will be very useful in preventing the formation of mud. If the house is 

 sheltered from the north and northwest winds by a group of evergreens, this 

 will be a decided advantage in the colder parts of the country. 



UNUSED BUILDINGS. 



Sometimes there is already a small building on the farm which has been 

 used for implements or animals, and which is no longer required for these 

 purposes. Such a building may be easily fitted for poultry by cutting a 

 small door in one side and placing roosts and nests in the interior. 



INEXPENSIVE STRUCTURES. 



In case there is no building suitable for remodeling into a poultry house, 

 an inexpensive lean-to maybe built, or a new building constructed. A 

 house for this purpose should be planned with a view to simplicity, economy, 

 and convenience, while supplying the conditions proper for successful 

 poultry keeping. 



FITTINGS . 



Roosts. — The important points are a nearly flat or slightly rounded sur- 

 face on the upper side and as few cracks and crevices as possible in which 

 vermin may hide. The roosts may be made of two by three inch scantling 

 and'should be so put in that they can easily be removed at any time for 

 cleaning and disinfection. A platform is often [placed under the roosts to 

 catch the droppings and the nests are placed under this platform. 



Nests. — The simplest form of nest is a box placed upon the floor of the 

 poultry house. With heavy fowls, which are apt to break their eggs in 

 fighting away other hens that try to enter their nests when they are laying 

 and thus acquire the habit of egg-eating, a more concealed or dark nest may 

 be necessary. 



Floor. — One of the most troublesome parts of a poultry house to make 

 satisfactory is the floor. Many use earth floors, but these are often damp, 

 especially in cool weather, and they induce rheumatism, colds, roup, digest- 

 ive disorders, and various other diseases. Some have put in cement floors, 

 but have found these cold and also more or less damp. Probably a good 

 cement floor, laid on broken stone and covered with a few inches of earth, 

 would be satisfactory, if not too expensive. A board floor, six or eight 

 inches above the earth, with good ventilation under it, is dry but too cold, 

 except in the South. A double flooring, laid tightly with building paper 



