245 



THE FARM POULTRY HOUSE. 



The house to be described next is a style of house quite 

 widely used and is one well adapted to general farm conditions. 

 It is a permanent structure built upon a substantial foundation 

 and is provided with a cement floor. Attention is called at 

 this point to the general discussion of floors previously given. 



The house as per accompanying drawings, will accommodate 

 in the neighborhood of 50 grown birds, and will permit this 

 size of flock to be cared for with the minimum of labor. The 

 dimensions of the house as per the accompanying drawings, 

 is 14 feet wide and with a 16 foot front. This type of 

 house, however, has been built in varying sizes up to 20 feet 

 by 20 feet in dimension. The roof construction in some of 

 these larger houses has not been made sufficiently strong to 

 resist the heavy snow 7 loads which may come upon them in 

 Iowa. The house has a shed roof with a front, providing ade- 

 quate window and curtain surface which is arranged to face 

 the south. 



CONSTRUCTION. 



The house as illustrated in the drawings of plates VI, VII, 

 and VIII, is entirely of frame construction. Figure 6 shows 

 the same house built of hollow clay building blocks, 5x8x12 

 inches in size, and laid so as to make a 5 inch wall. This illustra- 

 tion shows two wide curtains filling the space between the two 

 windows of the front with the door in the end while the draw- 

 ings show smaller curtains. Th^ arrangement may be varied 

 much more, but in any case there should always be care used to 

 secure a sufficient amount of effective glass and curtain surface 

 in the south front. For a house of the size shown, the front 

 should have two 12x9x12 light windows and two curtained 

 openings of the same size. As in the former houses, these cur- 

 tains are made of light muslin or cheese cloth tacked onto 

 frames, which are hinged at the top in such a manner as to per- 

 mit them to be swung up and hooked against the roof. 



Another small window, (plate VI), should be provided in the 

 front directly in front of the dust box which is best when made 

 in the form of a 6 inch depression in the house floor. A trap 

 door below the curtains which may be opened during warm 

 days of the summer will add materially to the comfort of the 

 fowls. 



The wall and roof construction of this house is much like 

 that of the Iowa colony house previously described. Matched 

 flooring nailed in place vertically is used for siding and the 

 same material is used for the roof sheathing, being covered 

 with a good grade of prepared roofing. Extreme care should 

 be used in joining the roof to the walls to see that all joints are 

 perfectly air tight. The roosting compartment has matched 



