POULTRY HOUSES 383 



supported. A combination roof has a double pitch, having 

 a short pitch in front and a long one behind. This type of 

 roof is well suited to buildings wider than 14 feet, and gives 

 a strong construction. A two-pitch or gable-roof house 

 usually has rafters of the same length, coming to a ridge in 

 the center. This gives a high center to the pen, hence a loss 

 of heat, so that in winter the house is likely to be cold. A 

 ceiling is sometimes built in such a house, and attic storage 

 room thus provided. What is called the monitor roof, has 



Fig. 215. A continuous poultry honso with ^aned alley. Photograph by courtesy 

 the Poultry Herald. 



what resembles a continuous cupola along its whole length, 

 with adjustable windows in the south side, by which sun- 

 light may reach the rear inside. A semi-monitor roof has 

 one long sweep of rafter for perhaps two-thirds the width 

 of the house. Below the high point of rafter a vertical wall 

 is dropped sufficiently to allow a line of windows. From the 

 bottom of the window sill, a shorter length of rafter gives the 

 necessary front pitch to the roof. There are also houses 

 with the fronts slanting to the ground, and others of wood that 



