struction are glad, as a rule, to provide muslin protection 

 and to utilize it fully on occasion. 



The foregoing applies, of course, only to winter condi- 

 tions in cold climates. For warm weatb.r ii scarcely is 

 ( ossible to provide too much ventilation. This is, in fact, 

 one of the builder's most difficult problems to secure 

 sufficient ventilation in warm weather without making the 

 house too cold fo'r successful winter use and in the 

 north it calls for careful proportioning of window and 

 muslin-covered surfaces to the total floor space enclosed. 

 The building plans given in this book are conserva- 

 tively designed with reference to the amount of glass 

 and muslin-covered openings provided. These houses, as 

 illustrated, are intended to meet the requirements of 

 poultrymen in moderately cold climates. The only change 

 that is necessary to adapt them to extremes, either of 

 cold or heat, is to increase or decrease the size of the 

 curtains. Glass windows are not required south of the 

 Ohio River. Some poultry keepers far north of that lati- 

 tude omit glass sashes, but as a rule it is doubtful 

 whether it is true economy to do so. In all northern lati- 

 tudes there are many cold, stormy days in winter when 

 the curtains must be down, and the houses .will be inade- 

 quately lighted at such times unless some glass is provided. 

 Muslin-front construction is applicable to laying and 

 breeding houses, colony houses, portable houses, and 

 brooding coops. For permanent brooder houses, which 

 are used mainly .in severe winter weather, conditioning 

 houses, incubator cellars, etc., other and more suitable 

 methods of ventilation are provided. 



1 'The widespread popularity of the muslin-front house 

 has resulted in a virtual standardization of poultry-house 

 construction one of the most encouraging developments 

 in the industry. Uniformity and simplicity in house de- 

 sign mean economy in construction and greater certainty 

 of results than can possibly be achieved where there are 

 no established standards to adhere to, and where each 

 builder feels the need of originating a special type of 

 house to meet his particular requirements. 



There still is, and probably always will be, a tendency 

 among beginners to try to work out original plans in poul- 

 try-house construction, but it is one that, in the inter- 

 ests of economy and efficiency, should be firmly repressed. 

 The beginner can safely assume that the essentials of 

 poultry-house construction are now so thoroughly under- 

 stood that approved general plans now require only 

 slight modifications to adapt them to special requirements 

 of location or climate, in practically all parts of the coun- 

 try; also, that the advantages of adopting standard de- 

 signs are so great that scarcely any practical condition 

 will justify radical departures from them. 



Many new plans have been prepared expressly for 

 "Poultry Houses and Fixtures," embodying, in each in- 

 stance, only those designs and details that have been de- 

 veloped and tested in practical, every day experience. We 

 have attempted to present sufficient variety to meet the 

 requirements of poultry keepers in all parts of the coun- 



try. Throughout the book, however, it will be seen that, 

 so far as laying and breeding houses are concerned, we 

 have kept close to certain clearly denned standards, so 

 that there need be no confusion in the mind of the reader 

 as to just what changes, if any, need be made in a given 

 plan to adapt it completely to his own conditions, what- 

 ever they may be. As a rule, complete bills of materials 

 required in building the different houses are supplied, but 

 no estimates of constiuction cost are given, or only in the 

 most general way. Prices of all kinds of materials vary 

 so widely at the present time that estimates of cost 

 would serve no practical purpose. 



At the risk of seeming repetition we desire to im- 

 press upon the prospective builder that, in poultry-house 

 construction particularly, experiments are costly. Doubt- 

 less there are possibilities for improvement in the best 

 plans, but the brightest and most experienced poultrymen 

 and women in the country have been studying the build- 

 ing problem for many years. In connection with the 

 plans here given there is scarcely a modification or change 

 that is likely to suggest itself to the beginner that has 

 not been tried out many times and under many conditions, 

 and rejected for good and sufficient reasons. It is com- 

 mendable to be on the lookout for better plans for ad- 

 vanced ideas, but the practical conservatism that allows 

 "the other fellow" to try out new things first, saves much 

 disappointment and expense. 



The beginner, therefore, who carefully considers his 

 needs and requirements, and then selects the house that 

 most nearly meets his conditions and follows the plans 

 literally from foundation to roof, will save time and money 

 and he will be certain of having a building that will not 

 disappoint him when put to practical test. 



In the designing and testing of poultry houses th 

 various state agricultural experiment stations have taken 

 a leading part in recent years. Much of the present stand- 

 ardization in poultry-house construction, to which refer- 

 ence has already been made, must be credited to this 

 source. In "Poultry Houses and Fixtures" we have 

 availed ourselves freely of the plans given in the various 

 state and national government bulletins on the subject. 



In presenting plans and detailed descriptions from 

 this source, personal credit has been given wherever pos- 

 sible, but we wish here to express our especial indebted- 

 ness for helpful suggestions and down-to-the-minute in- 

 formation secured through direct correspondence with 

 many of these government workers, each a recognized 

 leader in the poultry industry, and each with special fit- 

 ness for giving instruction in poultry-house design by 

 reason of elaborate and long-continued experiments in 

 this particular line. 



This edition of "Poultry Houses annd Fixtures" has 

 been carefully edited by Homer W. Jackson, Associat 

 Editor of Reliable Poultry Journal, who has prepare 

 many of the plans, and has furnished all of the text not 

 duly credited to other contributors. 





