POULTRY HOUSES. 181 



The opposite engraving represents the poultry house of P. 

 Melendy, Esq., of Mount Healthy, Hamilton Co., Ohio. He 

 has furnished me with the following description, for this work : 



My largest poultry house, which is here represented, is one hundred 

 and twenty-four feet long, fourteen wide, and sixteen high two 

 stories. Besides whic*h, I have one fifty feet long, ten wide, and ten 

 high ; and another twenty-four feet long, six wide, and eight high. 

 They are constructed on what are considered the most approved plans ; 

 divided into several apartments for the different breeds, and for laying, 

 hatching, etc. Three acres of ground are attached to the houses, 

 divided into separate parks, for the several breeds, with a pond of 

 water for the ducks and geese. 



You ask how my stock have stood the cold winter. They have 

 stood it well. The cold snap in January touched their combs a littl< , 

 and I had common fowls frozen in the same house. I think if the 

 foreign kinds can endure such cold as we had this winter, there nee : 

 be no fears about their hardiness. My house has answered the pur- 

 pose thus far admirably, and I have dispensed with the steam, or othe . 

 artificial heat, this winter, believing that it would not be healthy for 

 the fowls. It would be almost impossible to keep up an even tempe- 

 rature, and the changes from high to low, would be apt to give thj 

 fowls a cold. My plan is to keep them in the house in bad weather, 

 let them out \vhen it is dry, and feed them every night and morning. 

 In this way, there need be no difficulty in having eggs all the year 

 roujid. 



In constructing a poultry house, let the front be towards the south 

 or south-east, and the yara in front of the house, with sufficient slope 

 to secure dryness. My plan would be to excavate three feet, and 

 build of brick ; but this would be expensive. If built of wood, it 

 should be lathed and plastered inside. A house for, say three hundred 

 hens, should be about fifty feet long, twelve feet wide, and ten feet 

 high in front, sloping down to seven feet at the back. Make it two 

 stories high, the lower one six feet in the clear, the balance for the 

 roosts. The front wall should be as much of it glass as one can afford, 

 the glass extending from within ten inches of the ground, to as near 

 the roof. The main floor should not be boarded, but earth. 



The roosts for the large breeds should be flat strips of board, four 

 or six inches wide, and only two feet from the floor ; for common, 

 breeds, as high as you please, and only two inches wide, or if you 

 please, round poles, with ladders for them to ascend. Place a wido 

 board underneath each roost, to catch the droppings, which can thua 

 be removed with little labor every day, or as often as you choose. If 

 suffered to accumulate, it makes the house unpleasant, and unhealthy 

 for the fowls. The ammonia arising therefrom is thought to occasion 

 the roup. This substance forms a most excellent and powerful manure, 

 being real " home made guano." It is also used by tanners and 

 morocco dressers, who willingly give fifty cents a bushel for it. 



Ventilation must be provided for at the top of the house, or the 

 fowls will not be healthy. The advantage of plastering the inside of 

 the house is, that it gives little chance for vermin to harbor. 



