MANUAL ON POULTRY. 



HOUSES AND SHEDS. 



Breeders of poultry in Georgia should not be induced to follow 

 the practice of those in more northern climates in constructing- 

 houses for the accommodation of their flocks. Here, where the 

 mercury never reaches zero, and seldom falls below 20 degrees,, 

 very close houses are neither necessary nor desirable. On the con. 

 trary, close houses, in our warm climate, are often fruitful causes 

 of disease and death among poultry that are required to occupy 

 them. Let any one who is skeptical on this subject enter a close 

 house in which a large number of poultry are roosting on a warm 

 night and observe the foul air which the poor birds are compelled 

 to breathe, and the correctness of the above statement will at once 

 be recognized. Close barns, built after the pattern of those of the 

 Northern State?, have been repeatedly tried in Georgia, and as often 

 abandoned as unsuited to our climate. Close houses are no better 

 suited to poultry than to cattle in warm climates. They may be 

 used during the winter months to advantage if well ventilated, but 

 the fowls should be excluded from them from May 1st to October 

 1st, and required to roost either in trees or open sheds. Thorough 

 ventilation is absolutely necessary, even in winter, to prevent dis- 

 ease. This should be provided for by a " lantern" rising above the 

 centre of the roost, and provided on the sides with slats arranged 

 after the manner of Venetian blinds, or by having the south side of 

 the house, from within three or four feet of the floor to the top, 

 closed in with one by three slats, leaving a space of one inch be- 

 tween them. The roof should be sufficiently tight to perfectly pro- 

 tect the interior of the house from rain, and the north, west and 

 east sides so close as to exclude" cold winds. Fowls will suffer more 

 during cold spells if confined in a house in which they are exposed 

 to draughts of cold air than if roosting on trees where the whole 

 body is exposed alike to the cold. This is illustrated by the inju- 

 rious effects of a draught of cold air upon the person of a human 

 being while sleeping. The roosts need not be more than thirty 

 inches from the floor of the house, and eighteen inches from the 

 wall, especially if the large breeds are kept. At eighteen inches 

 from the floor place a shelf two feet wide, extending immediately 

 under the roost. Dry earth, coal ashes or cotton seed should be 



