BULLETIN No. 215. 



POULTRY HOUSE SITE 



Poultry houses should be located where it is dry and well 

 drained. If the ground is not naturally dry, it should be 

 ditched and drained artificially, for poultry will not thrive in a 

 house when the floor is constantly wet. A damp location means 

 a damp poultry house all the way through and the result is 

 that the fowls are affected with many troublesome diseases. 

 Damp ground that is likely to remain muddy around the house 

 is not satisfactory because the hens' feet become soiled and, as a 

 consequence, the eggs and nests become dirty, and dirty eggs 



Figure 1. A system of rotation is possible with portable colony houses. The houses 

 can be moved each year to a different field 



are unattractive on the market. If cleaned, a large amount of 

 labor is necessary and with the best of care, cleaned eggs never 

 look so well as eggs that have never been soiled. When hens 

 run at large on wet ground, the litter on the floor of the house 

 soon becomes dirty and wet, thus making a very unsatisfactory 

 place for feeding. The ground out-of-doors is also unsatisfactory 

 for feeding as wet ground soon becomes filthy and the filth 

 sticks to the feed, making it impossible for the hens to pick it 

 up without consuming more or less filth. Ground which is 

 raturally wet is cold in the spring. It is also slower to become 

 aerated and holds filth on the surface much longer than dry 

 ground. 



Houses should be placed so that they will not be subject to 

 violent winds; yet, good air and drainage are essential. A 



