518 A STUDY OF FARM ANIMALS 



but the large houses, which are heated by coal stoves, may 

 have several. The temperature under the bro'oder should 

 be kept as nearly 100 F. as possible. A brooder house 

 may be a simple box-like affair of one room 6 by 8 feet in 

 size, with the hover in the back and a door and window in 

 front. On large farms it may be of considerable size, con- 

 taining a series of pens, in the end of each of which is a 

 hover, warm air being supplied by a hot-water heating 

 plant. The floor of the brooder should be covered with fine 

 sand, if at all available. The brooder should have plenty 

 of sunlight; it should be rat-proof; it should be roomy with 



Figure 251. A colony house at Ohio State University. Photograph from 

 Prof. F. S. Jacoby. 



plenty of scratching space; good ventilation should prevail; 

 and the temperature should be easily controlled. 



The colony house is a small, single-room building con- 

 taining roosts and nests, and located in a yard or field. It 

 is simple and cheap of construction, and is usually portable, 

 so as to be easily moved from place to place. There is no 

 one style of house; and structures are made of all kinds of 

 material, ranging from piano boxes, at a total cost of $3 or 

 $4 up to those made with care by a carpenter, costing $35 



