38 



houses, seems worthy of some credit ; and it begins to be doubtful whether 

 there is actually, as theoretically there has been, an economy of food in 

 using warm houses. 



The strongest point that caH be brought against the cold house for 

 poultry is that it is not suitable for fowls with large combs and wattles 

 easilj' afl'ected by frost. This point has not so much weight with farmers 

 in this State as in places where Leghorn and Minorca fowls are kept, 

 because white eggs are wanted. Here most of the fowls on the farms 

 are Plymouth Rocks, Wyandottes or Rhode Island Reds. The combs of 

 the hens of these breeds are not easily affected by frost. Many of the 

 male birds are almost as easily frosted as Leghorns. Where only a few 

 males are needed they can be removed to warmer quarters on very 

 cold nights ; but with birds not intended for exhibition, or for sale for 

 purposes where a frosted comb would count against them, I would let 

 tlie comb freeze and the bird lose a part of it. It seems a cruel way, 

 yet on the whole is more merciful ; for, if the bird is properly taken 

 care of after the comb is frosted, it does not seem to suffer much, the 

 comb soon heals, the frosted tips drop ofi", and the bird is thereafter 

 practically immune from frost bite, and the keeper does not have to give 

 it special care. 



I make the foregoing suggestion to those who have male birds with 

 moderately large combs, and want to use cold houses. I would not 

 advise it for fowls with very large combs, which if exposed would lose 

 most of the comb. The best way is to keep fowls with small combs not 

 easily frosted, or if one thinks he must have large-combed fowls, to select 

 for breeders those least susceptible to frost. There is a great difference 

 in individual birds in this respect. I have had Leghorn males with 

 very large combs that were never frosted, though repeatedly exposed to 

 temperatures at which other Leghorn males and many males with 

 smaller coml)s were quite badly frostbitten. A few people using cold 

 houses for Leghorns report that their Leghorns that have been all their 

 lives kept in such houses do not suffer as much from frosted combs as 

 the same stock in closed houses. While I would not deny that they 

 may be correct, it seems to me that conditions with them must be more 

 moderate than in this section, or the houses were not as open as those I 

 have been describing. As a matter of fact, large-combed males are a 

 deal of trouble where the winters are cold, no matter what kind of a 

 house is used ; and j^ractical poultry keepers, whether on farms or else- 

 where, will find it to their advantage to breed for small combs. There 

 is, I know, a very general belief that the largest-combed hens are the 

 best layers and the largest-combed males the most vigorous sexually, 

 and hence the most useful as breeders ; but I think this impression errone- 

 ous The best-laying Barred Rocks I ever owned had combs so small 

 that the development of the comb as the pullets began to lay was often 

 not noticeable. In Leghorns I have never found the size of the comb at 

 all reliable as an index of laying capacity ; mj- good layers of that breed 

 have had large, medium and small combs, and I have found all degrees 

 of productiveness in all kinds of comb but one. There is a type of 

 conilj most conspicuous in Leghorns and other large-combed fowls, but 



