CHAP. in. SIZE OF POULTRY HOUSES. 611 



not agree with this, for it is almost impossible to properly ventilate a low 

 house. If the birds are allowed to perch at all, and this is necessary 

 except in the case of Cochins, Brahmas, and other feather-footed exhibi- 

 tion birds, they will either have no ventilation provided, or will be in the 

 direct line of the draught, as bad an arrangement for fowls as it is for 

 human beings. It is undoubtedly true that the low houses are usually 

 warmer in winter than are the higher ones, simply because there is not 

 the same space. But this additional warmth is very dearly pui'chased 

 if the inmates have to breathe every night a fcetid atmosphere. The 

 great advantage of a more lofty house is that ventilation can be secured 

 without the least need for the fowls being exposed to any draught ; and, 

 if the house is well built, we do not think that the additional space thus 

 afforded will add seriously to the coldness of the atmosphere in the 

 winter season : even if it does there are other ways in which this can 

 be guarded against or provided for. Our own preference is to have 

 the roof about three feet above the roosting perches, but if the roof be 

 gabled it may with advantage be six or twelve inches higher than that, 

 the object being to allow for a ventilating chamber in the roof. This 

 is, however, a question to which we shall refer again. 



The size of the house is not an easy question to settle; but for medium- 

 sized fowls, such as Minorcas, Houdans, &c., it may be taken as a good 

 guide that one fowl needs two square feet of floor space, that is, if the 

 house be six feet square, and therefore covering an area of thirty-six 

 square feet, it will comfortably accommodate eighteen fowls all 

 through the year, but in the autumn and winter three or four more may 

 be placed therein. If the fowls kept are of the larger breeds, then the 

 number in a house of this size should be reduced by two, and if of the 

 smaller varieties it can be increased. More fowls can be accommodated 

 when, in addition to the house, there is also a covered shed attached, 

 and this is most desirable wherever it can be managed. Fowls do not 

 like to sleep in the same apartment as the}' go to for shelter when 

 the weather is unfavourable, or for their dust-bath. A very great 

 mistake is made by many poultiy-keepers through their attempting 

 to keep too many fowls in their houses ; overcrowding never pays, and 

 many of the diseases and troubles of domestic fowls are due to this 

 cause. If, therefore, the space which we have advocated seems exces- 

 sive, it is because of the very mistaken ideas which are prevalent on 

 this question. 



In this country it is the custom to merely give as much light as will 

 pass through a small sky-light, or through a window let into the wall 

 on one side ; in either case the window does not exceed a foot or 

 eighteen inches square,' and it is very often about a foot by six 

 inches. This is a mistake, and the American plan of giving a con- 

 siderably greater amount of glass is the wiser one. The object of 

 limiting the glass has arisen from the idea that it causes the house 

 to be hot in summer and cold in winter ; this is undoubtedly true, but 

 the benefits to be derived from the using of glass more freely are so 

 great, that it is worth while seeking to obtain these advantages while 

 endeavouring to avoid the ill effects of either excessive heat or great 



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