and saving time and labor in caring for the fowls. Its disadvantages are 



in the difficulty of keeping free 

 from vermin and the danger of 

 contagion in case of sickness. 

 Many poultrymen claim that the 

 advantages and drawbacks balance 

 each other and that the extra care 

 involved equals the labor of the 

 colony house plan. 



THE COLONY HOUSE 



With the colony house, each house 

 is separate and distinct and each 

 is really a poultry plant in itself. 

 Such houses may be separated 



Illustration No. 4. 

 The old-fashioned colony house. 



at distances to suit the poultryman, according to the amount of traveling he 

 cares to put into the labor of attending the flocks. If open range is allowed 

 advantage is taken of the instinct of the fowl to return to its own home to 

 roost. The colony house gives a better chance for protection against disease 

 though it involves extra labor on account of the distances at which the 

 houses are separated. 



THE CLOSED HOUSE The closed house represents the older 

 method of housing the poultry. It has many advocates today and, whatever 

 the internal improvements may be, the ventilation must always depend upon 

 opening and closing of doors and windows after the manner of years gone 

 by. 



THE OPEN FRONT HOUSE is a popular modern idea and its 

 advocates claim much for it. The house is made with unusual depth and 

 with perfectly tight walls, except at the front, which is low and entirely open, 

 without curtains or windows. While this allows absolute ventilation, it 

 avoids drafts on the same principle that it is difficult to blow into a bottle 

 that is tight _at every point except the opening. The sloping front and back 

 allow the birds to roost well up in the peak, where the heat from their 

 bodies keeps them warm.' This is, perhaps, an extreme, and you will find 

 it modified in the Curtain Front House. 



THE CURTAIN FRONT HOUSE The curtain-front house is com- 

 ing into favor every day. It will doubtless be in universal use before a 

 great while, as it solves the problem of ventilation without drafts. It is a 

 rather curious fact that a frame covered with muslin will afford a better 

 protection against cold than a sash of the same size with panes of glass. It 

 has been proved an excellent plan in every case where it has been properly 

 tried. It allows the air to filter through the mesh of the cloth in a wny 

 that keeps the air in the house dry and provides sufficient oxygen for the 

 fowis. At the same time it breaks up the currents of air, and prevents 

 drafts by mixing the air thoroughly before it can reach the fowls. It 

 will, however, produce shade where glass will not, and will prevent sua radia- 

 tion unless you also have glass windows to use in winter days when the sun 

 is shining. Many poultrymen provide for this by having the cloth covered 

 frame so that it can be hinged and hooked to the ceiling, while the sash and 

 glass can be slid from .one side to cover the openings when the covered 

 frames are elevated. In southern climates, where the windows can be left 

 open on a winter's day, no sash or glass will be needed and, even as far 

 north as the state of New York, there are many poultrymen who claim that 

 no glass is needed at any time or in any climate. 



At the Michigan State Experiment Station, when the thermometer regis- 

 tered tventy degrees below zero, for many days at a time these curtained 



