342 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



of the room. Wire netting may be used to cover the front 

 when opened. Thus the whole house is readily turned into 

 a scratching-shed on pleasant winter days. A door about 3 

 by 6 feet is placed at the east end, and a window consisting 

 of a single sash at the west end and both near the front of 

 the house. A single sash window is also placed in each of 

 the large doors which form the front of the house. 1 might 

 add that windows in poultry houses should be protected on 

 the inside by hinged or sliding frames of wire netting, neatly 

 fitted in place, not too close to the glass. 



Scantling (2 by 3) will answer for most of the frame work 

 of the house, which is covered on the outside by common 

 boards, and these again, both roof and sides, with sheathing 

 paper and shingles. Our experience in a very windy loca- 

 tion indicates that paper as an exterior covering is very 

 liable to prove unsatisfactory ; between the boarding and the 

 shingles, however, it acts as a very effective nonconductor 

 of heat, and helps materially in keeping the house com- 

 fortable. In extremely cold situations the house may be 

 sheathed inside if necessary. 



Furnishing the House. 

 The interior fittings of the hen house should be as few and 

 as simple as possible, and all easily removable, so that they 

 can occasionally be placed out of doors in the sunshine and 

 fresh air. The roosting platform may be placed 1| or 2 feet 

 above the floor, in the back part of the house. It should be 

 made of boards, clear of knots, smoothly planed and closely 

 fitted together. Roosts are not always needed, but if thought 

 to be necessary may be made of 2 by 3 scantling, planed 

 smooth, rounded at the upper edges and placed broadside 

 down about 6 inches above the platform. To insure protec- 

 tion of the fowls during the coldest nights from the danger 

 of freezing their combs and becoming chilled, the space 

 above the platform may be enclosed by a curtain, which in 

 moderate weather is kept up out of the way. For nests 

 nothing is simpler or better than small boxes, which may be 

 placed beneath the platform and open towards the rear of 

 the house. A feeding trough is easily made, in the form of 

 a box 2 or 3 feet long and G inches wide, with sides 3 or 4 



