HOUSING OF POULTRY 



163 



that is impossible. In the case of the Scotch cottagers a 

 century ago the fowls were kept near a fireplace, and ven- 

 tilation and dryiiess were furnished by the fireplace. 



Natural and Artificial Conditions. It is a well estab- 

 lished law that domestication tends to enfeeblement. The 

 fact that fowls have been under domestication two thou- 

 sand years or more nullifies this law only in degree. But 

 then, how is greater production secured under domestica- 

 tion than in the wild state? It is secured in spite of 

 domestication. The fowl is placed under more favorable 



THE EVOLUTION OF THE POULTRY HOUSE 

 The first and not the worst poultry house that was ever built. 



conditions for production. She is furnished a regular and 

 copious supply of food. Under the wild state the food 

 supply is often precarious. That is one reason why in 

 spite of domestication there is high production. But it 

 requires the highest skill of the feeder and the breeder to 

 offset this law of enfeeblement. 



Houses and Vigor. The hardest problem in poultry- 

 keeping is how to maintain the health and vigor of the 

 fowls. Housing has considerable to do with health and 

 vigor. Ages ago, before domestication, chickens roosted 

 in trees, and they still have a little of the wild nature. 



