ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS 



373 



trous results. About fifty chicks is a large enough number in a 

 single colony house. In some sections the practice is to place 

 only twenty-five in each house. The capacity will depend upon 

 the floor space and fresh-air feature. A house 6x8 feet, if prop- 

 erly ventilated, will accommodate fifty growing pullets without 

 any trouble. Colony houses are usually elevated above the ground 

 from ten to twelve inches and provided with a wooden floor. 



Fig. 173. — Four types of summer developing houses. A, Fresh-air house so constructed 

 that both side walls hinge and open upward, allowing an unlimited circulation of air; B, shed- 

 roof colony house; C, a wide-open house; D, a portable summer chick shelter, showing a 

 luxuriant vegetation furnishing an abundance of green feed and shade. 



The houses should be located at frequent intervals about 

 the range (Fig. 170), care being taken to place them on high 

 spots that are not damp or muddy during wet weather. If they 

 are some distance apart, there will be less possibility of the birds 

 mixing. One hundred feet will provide ample range, and, if the 

 birds are confined for two or three days when first placed on the 

 range, there will be little mixing in their houses. Roosts should not 

 be placed in the colony houses until the birds are at least four 



