128 



POULTRY CULTURE 



FIG. 159. Incubator house at Ontario Agricultural 

 College. (Photograph from the college) 



frame enough to hold the shell firmly, that it be securely nailed, and 

 that the sills shall be either so placed or protected that they will not 

 rot, or put in so that when decayed they may be easily replaced. 



Some of the most prac- 

 tical poultrymen put 

 sills right on the earth 

 and replace them when 

 necessary, finding it 

 cheaper in the long 

 run to do this in 

 buildings of light con- 

 struction than to use 

 heavy sills and pro- 

 tect them to prevent 

 the decay of the wood. 

 Durability has to be considered most in connection with materials 

 which are shorter-lived than wood, and with parts that receive wear. 

 When roofing paper is used for covering, it is economical to use 

 paper of good quality that with proper care may be expected to last 

 from fifteen to twenty years. Cloth is now often preferred to glass for 

 openings, because it is cheaper and admits some air ; but cloth or 

 like porous material is so short-lived, when exposed to the weather, 

 that in the long run it may be 

 cheaper to use glass and leave 

 windows partly open, as we do in 

 our dwellings. If cement floors 

 are used they should be substan- 

 tially built ; a common mistake is 

 to make them too thin and with 

 an insufficient foundation. Such 



floors crack and settle and become 

 uneven and very unsatisfactory, 

 and the faults cannot be rem- 

 edied except by taking off the old 

 cement and remaking the floor. 



Warmth is not given such consideration as formerly in the con- 

 struction of houses for adult and weaned birds, but in building in- 

 cubator and brooder houses, or other special buildings which are to 



FIG. 160. Rear of long poultry house 

 at the Ontario Agricultural College. 

 Gables and ventilators break the long 

 straight lines. (Photograph from the 

 college) 



