96 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



and the ground feed with uicat scraps iu it in a hopper where 

 they could eat during tlie afternoon; the next best result 

 was where the hens had a wet mash and the ground feed ; the 

 next, where thej had a grain feed out of hand ; and the poor- 

 est result, where they could eat grain whenever they wanted 

 it. The natural conclusion, therefore, is that it is desirable 

 to give hens ground feed in the hopper, dry, and feed grain 

 out of hand night and morning. 



I shall have to pass one or two of the slides, only pointing 

 out briefly what they are intended to show: first, the desira- 

 bility of a concrete floor and foundation in a hen house; 

 second, the desirability of having some sort of wallow where 

 they can free themselves from vermin in a dust bath, lo- 

 cated where they will not have to breathe the dust in the air 

 that is made by other hens; third, that there should be a 

 broody group in each house, where they can be quickly 

 placed and cared for, because that is the way they can be 

 broken up in a hurry, and also a place for surplus males ; and 

 fourth, there should be the open-air type of house, whatever 

 style may be desired. There are many different good ones. 

 One little principle in making a poultry house wall which 

 we find exceedingly effective in our State is to have a double 

 board directly back of and above the place where the chick- 

 ens roost. This slide (Fig. 25) shows the interior of a 

 house. Here at this point is a double boarding extending 

 down below the platform that catches the droppings, opening 

 between the studs at the bottom, and at the top, between the 

 rafter just above the place where they roost, so that there is 

 a circulation of air and no dead air space between these two 

 walls. All the rest of the house may be single boarded. It 

 is simply a question of making the place where the hens 

 roost warm and dry, because the air that circulated through 

 this house around between those two walls keeps this wall 

 from getting cold, and consequently prevents condensation of 

 moisture, and is a very cheap and exceedingly effective way 

 of keeping the place where the hens roost warm and dry. 

 We also believe that heat in the summer is quite as serious 

 a fault as excessive cold in winter, and that hens fail to lay 

 in the hot summer weather quite as much as in excessive cold 



