26 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



sheds or shelters, whose tight roofs will protect the fowls 

 alternately from the scorching ra^^s of the hot sun at noon- 

 day and the down-pouring Hood of sudden showers, while 

 affording always the free fresh air that would naturally be 

 found by the fowls roosting in trees. At the same time by 

 the aid of wire netting the birds are i)rotected from night 

 jH'owlers of the four-legged and other varieties. 



It is both progressive and pr()tita))le in poultry' archi- 

 tecture to secure the advantages of the scratching shed or 

 covered exercising place, and to include this space as a part 

 of the comfortable living room during the inclement weather. 

 This is readily and economically accomplished by combining 

 the scratching shed with the laying and roosting room, by 

 providing a roosting platform with curtained front, by wide 

 double front doors for each house or room for a flock of 

 thirty fowls. 



How to ventilate the hen house in winter is a much- 

 mooted question. It is easily and economically accomplished 

 in either of two waj^'S : — 



A window of two sashes may have the lower sash raised 

 two or three inches and a board inserted under the sash 

 frame, filling the space so that the Avind shall not enter 

 directly, but pass between the frames at the middle of the 

 window, and enter the room without creating a direct draft 

 upon the roosting birds. Another })lan, where the hen 

 house has a double pitch roof, is to place poles or joists four 

 or five inches apart to form a perforated ceiling at the level 

 of the tops of the plates, sa}'^ six or seven feet above the 

 floor, and upon this scattbld pile loose straw, hay or ever- 

 green boughs, one or two feet deep. In the gable ends 

 above the "straw loft" place windows or ventilator holes, 

 and by opening the same more or less regulate the entrance 

 and exit of the air, which, sifted by the straw, is supplied 

 fresh, dry and without direct drafts to the fowls in the room 

 below. This plan prevents excessive moisture in the room 

 atmosphere, and corrects any tendency to dampness and 

 chilliness Avhich are the fretiuent causes of the dreaded 

 scourge termed roup. On the hot, bright days of summer 

 the "straw loft" acts as a shield against the direct down- 



