CONSTRUCTION 



iently located a house may be, if the drainage of the site is 

 poor, so that the health of the fowls suffers, the only result 

 will be failure. Since it will undoubtedly be true that the 

 women of the household will have considerable to do with 

 the management of the poultry, it is logical to place the poul- 

 try house nearer to the residence than to the livestock barns. 



Drainage and Ventilation. No condition is more pro- 

 ductive of disease than dampness, and it is quickly fatal to 

 fertility and production. If the ground has a gentle slope, 

 preferably to the south, and if the soil is loose and porous, 

 no fears need be felt in this regard. If the site is not dry it 

 should be made so, either by filling or by putting in drains. 



Fowls are peculiarly susceptible to the ill effects of bad 

 air, consequently, it has been found necessary to include in 

 every poultry house some means of providing a ventilating 

 system which will furnish an adequate supply of fresh air. 

 This air must be supplied in such a way that no drafts will 

 be produced. It has been estimated that 200 five-pound hens, 

 while weighing the same as a horse or cow, will breathe 

 from 2j4 to 3 times as much air in the same length of time. 

 One reason for this is the high body temperature of poultry, 

 which will average 106 degrees Fahr. Another reason why 

 ventilation is necessary is due to the well known fact that 

 any poisonous principle is more poisonous to another indi- 

 vidual who is compelled to breathe it than to the individual 

 who expired it. It is easily seen how serious this is where 

 a hundred or two hundred individuals are crowded together 

 in a comparatively small space. The open front, or curtain 

 front, is the means which is usually adopted to obtain venti- 

 lation. Sometimes a further supply of fresh air is provided 

 by making openings in the gable ends of the house. A layer 

 of straw inserted near the ceiling will admit the passage of 

 air through it, but will break drafts up so that they do not 

 come directly upon the fowls. 



Sunlight and Sanitation. Sanitation, the keynote of 

 modern building construction, applies with remark- 

 able pertinence to poultry houses. One of the great- 

 est germicides known is sunlight, and, since fowls are 

 crowded into the house in the winter time, it is abso- 



Seven 



