12 BULLETIN No. 215. 



which is sufficiently large for forty, the results are discouraging. 

 It is always best to sell part of the hens rather than to try to 

 keep more than the house will accommodate satisfactorily. 



THE WIDTH OF THE HOUSE 



As a general rule, it is far cheaper to build a wide house than 

 a narrow one. A house 20x20 is cheaper than a house 10x40 

 and contains as much floor space for the hens. A house twenty 

 feet wide, however, will be found impracticable for some types 

 of roofs and will not be found satisfactory where one wishes to 

 keep a number of small breeding pens. There are several com- 

 mon types of roofs used on poultry houses as shown in Figure 

 6. Just which style of roof should be chosen is largely a mat- 

 ter of personal preference, but the type of roof will be found to 

 influence the cost of construction to quite an extent. 



TYPES OF ROOFS 



Shed Roof. A shed roof or "one slant/' as it is sometimes 

 called, shown in Figure 6 1, is probably the most commonly 

 seen and has the advantage of requiring less cutting of rafters 

 as one rafter should reach clear across from plate to plate. It 

 also turns all the water to the north leaving the south or front 

 dry and warm. It can be used advantageously on narrow 

 houses but can not be used to so good advantage on buildings 

 over fourteen feet wide. This roof is especially unsuitable on 

 wide houses in places subject to heavy falls of snow. If it be- 

 comes necessary to build a shed roof wider than fourteen feet, 

 heavy material should be used for rafters or else supporting 

 beams should be run lengthwise throughout the house. On the 

 wide houses this roof does not give a good appearance and 

 should, therefore, be avoided if it is desired to construct a wide 

 house in a conspicuous place. As a rule the roof on a poultry 

 house is built rather flat, not over one-fourth pitch. A shed roof 

 also has the advantage of giving a low rear elevation which makes 

 the house warm, but has a disadvantage in some locations as 

 the high front catches strong south winds, and also heats up 

 rapidly during sunny days in winter. Most of the prepared 

 roofings last longer on a north slope, and, therefore, are par- 

 ticularly adapted to the shed roof type. 



Combination Roof. The combination roof shown in Figure 

 6 2 is merely a modification of the shed roof but is more at- 



