FIN 1ST LESSONS IN POULTRY KEEPING. 77 



LESSON X. 



Five Good Small Poultry Houses. 



IN THE last lesson I gave plans and descriptions of two bouses that suit me for my way 

 of keeping fowls and doing the work for them. In this paper I give plans for five 

 small houses, furnished by as many different readers of FARM-POULTRY, in response to 

 an offer made lo bring out good ideas of poultry house construction. These five I 

 selected from a large number, as combining good plans and good statements for low cost 

 poultry houses. 



Let me refer in this connection to a criticism a reader of the paper occasionally makes about 

 my advocacy of low cost poultry houses. Most poultrymen want houses to cost as little as 

 possible, and still be as good as necessary. It is on the point of how good it is necessary for 

 a building for fowls to be that their opinions differ. A good many people do not believe that 

 fowls can be comfortable, contented, and productive in such houses as I use and will not 

 believe it until they try it. Others think that while these houses may suit my breed, they would 

 not suit theirs and probably they will not believe until they have gradually learned that the 

 requirements of a breed are not absolute, but that the stock can be adapted hardened in this 

 case to the conditions made for it, and that when once " acclimated " to the cold house, 

 fowls may do as well or betttr in it than in warm houses. 



However, houses warmer and tighter than those described in the last lesson can be built at 

 very little more cost. Where lumber is cheap they may be built at less than mine cost. We 

 may have cheap warm houses as well as cheap cold ones, but always, and for all poultrymen, 

 I am an advocate of cheap low cost poultry houses, and this for two good reasons: 



(1). Because every dollar unnecessarily tied up in buildings is a handicap on the profitable 

 operation of the plant. 



(2). Because costly expensive buildings always seem to me inappropriate for live stock. 



If a man wants to build expensive poultry houses, I feel that it is belter he should look else- 

 where for the expensive features at least. The plain, simple plans I give will, of course, work 

 just as well if worked out in more expensive material, and if that is all that is wanted, an 

 architect's or builder's services are more useful at that stage than those of a poultryman pro- 

 vided always the builder or architect does not make some change to suit his ideas of what is 

 correct from his point of view, but wrong from a poultryman's. That is the point to guard 

 against when professional builders begin to improve the plans of poultrymen. 



So because the great majority of readers of these lessons want to build economically, as well 

 as because I have myself no interest iii'costly hen houses, I will introduce into these lessons no 

 plans of poultry houses having features which poultrymen generally would agree were super- 

 fluous, or calling for expenditure which would be commonly considered extravagant. 



In presenting the following plans 1 will give the descriptions as furnished with the plans, 

 except where it is as well to condense; and where there seems to be occasion for comment on a 

 plan or statement, will make such comment immediately after. 



