HOUSING OF POULTRY 171 



houses. Severe storms driving snows or heavy rains 

 will send them into the house. It is the storm more than 

 the cold that the hen objects to. In a scratching shed 

 where the fowls are sheltered from the wind the hen will 

 sing and keep busy all day with the temperature at zero; 

 but hard winds, even on a summer day, will drive her from 

 her picking and bug hunting in the fields to the leeward 



A REAR VIEW OF THE MISSOURI HOUSE, SHOWING VENTILATION 



side of the poultry house, where she will stand humped up 

 and look as though she did not care whether school kept or 

 not. In other words, you can keep the hen busy at a low 

 temperature if she is sheltered from the winds and storms. 

 Feathers will keep out cold but will not keep out wind. 



On one occasion I watched several thousand hens at 

 Petaluma hunting the shelter of fences during the middle 

 of the day to escape the strong breeze that was blowing 

 from the coast, though the day was otherwise nice and 

 sunshiny. It is shelter rather than warmth that the 

 house should furnish. If the proper shelter be furnished 

 the hen will take care of the heating apparatus. All notions 

 of the warm house should be abandoned, and a shelter 

 built. This does not mean that warmth is injurious to 

 health and vigor. Fowls maintain good health in the/ 



