198 PROGRESSIVE POULTRY CULTURE 



to te placed they may stand in two rows extending away 

 from the feed house. The attendant passing out one 

 row and back the other loses no time returning on his 

 tracks. 



PARTICULAR POINTS AS TO HOUSES. 



There are certain points applicable to all hen-houses. 



1. DRAINAGE. Never place a poultry building in a 

 hollow or where the floor will be lower than the level 

 of the land outside. 



The sills should be sufficiently elevated above the 

 well drained site to allow of the floor being placed six 

 inches, at least, above the level of the ground about the 

 house. If by any means water gets into the house it will 

 then tend to drain away and not settle beneath the 

 floor. 



2 VENTILATION. The fowls which inhabit a poultry 

 house have lungs made for the breathing of pure, fresh 

 air, which should be supplied in abundance, without 

 exposing them to strong, direct drafts. 



If the climate is not too severely cold in winter the 

 front of the hen-house may (be simply covered with wire 

 netting (of one inch or three-quarters inch mesh to 

 exclude English sparrows.) If storms are liable to beat 

 in at the front of the house, the wire netting may be 

 covered, when necessary, by frames of curtains of bur- 

 lap, canvas or cotton cloth. Should further protection 

 be required in severe winter weather, board shutters 

 may be used. Some of the shutters should have windows 

 so that, when in use, the interior of the house will not 

 be too much darkened. 



Another plan for the house-front is to use frames 

 covered with cotton cloth in place of glass sashes icr 

 the windows. 



A third plan is the straw-loft. When a house is 

 tightly built and has glass windows this is an economical 

 means of very effective ventilation. The ceiling of the 

 hen-house is constructed of laths, strips of board, scant- 

 ling or poles, placed two or three inches apart. Upon 



