The Business Hen. 



^=^ 



Fig. 24. 

 VAN DKESSER'S PARTITIONED HOUSE 



taking the place of windows. 



The object of the curtains in 

 front of the roosts is to make a 

 warm room for the hens on very 

 cold nights. On such nights, 

 after the hens have gone to 

 roost, the curtains are let down 

 and buttoned, so that the hens 

 are shut in a small room. The 

 heat ot their bodies keeps this 

 room warm, and, strange to say, 

 the air behind the curtains does not become foul. It is said that when 

 these "sleeping closets" are used not a sick hen or even a case of bad cold 

 could be found. After passing the night in this warm place the hen* 

 seem to enjoy coming down to the floor to scratch for their food in the 

 litter. We would not recommend this "roosting closet" except for use on 

 very cold nights. The plan of an open front with a curtain has much in 

 its favor. 



HOUSE INTERIORS. — The interior fixtures for henhouses vary 

 almost as much as do those for human families. Fig. 24 shows an in- 

 terior of one of Henry Van Dresser's houses. A wire netting partition 

 divides a large room in two. The arrangement of roosts and nest boxes 

 is easily seen. Fig. 25 shows a little house used by Mr. Cosgrove, who 

 lives in a cold part of New England. He describes it as follows : 



"This is the most economical house to build that I know of. The 

 house is 10 x 10 on the ground. A perpendicular front would (with the 

 same roof) be only 7 x 10, so I gain 30 feet of floor surface at a cost of 

 only 46 feet of boards. The house is made of seven-eighths-inch matched 

 pine, roof and back covered with red Neponset roofing paper. There are 

 no sills or plates ; the boards are nailed to a 2 x 3 x 10 scantling six 

 inches from bottom edge, and three inches below top edge, so that the 

 ends of the 2x3 pieces that the roof is nailed to rest on the 2x3 that 



the sides are nailed to. Each 

 part, top, back, front -and sides 

 are made separately, and are 

 hooked together across the cor- 

 ners. The house can be un- 

 hooked, laid flat on the ground 

 and loaded on a wagon in five 

 minutes, and put together again 

 as quickly. Two large windows 

 which slide sideways allow near- 



r Hi. ^o, 



COSGROVE'S MOVABLE HOUSE. 'y half of the front to be open 



