Illustration No. 



measurement in planning a poultry house. A house 15x12x7 feet high in 

 front, and five feet high at the back, with a single span roof, will have 180 

 square feet of floor space and 1,080 cubic feet of air space, which allows a 

 flock of thirty fowls ample accommodation. 



Look out for dampness, as it is fatal to profits. The warmer the air 

 in the house the more moisture it will hold and, when this comes in contact 

 with a cooler surface it condenses in the form of hoar frost in winter, and 

 makes the air soggy and damp in summer, and it is common to say that the 

 house sweats. The remedies for these conditions are, first be sure that you 

 have a dry floor, and the second is diffusive ventilation to dry out the mois- 

 ture in the air as fast as it appears. 



EXPERIMENT WITH CURTAIN FRONT Illustration No. 6 

 shows how an experiment was tried on the Lone Oak Poultry Farm at Read- 

 ing, Mass., with muslin curtains. They were troubled by moisture condensing 

 on the walls and roof at night, and then dripping on the floor during the 

 day. They made light frames one-fourth the size of each window and 

 covered them with one thickness of ordinary muslin. Where the window 



was dropped one- fourth and the 

 curtain set in, as in Figure No. 1, 

 Illustration No. 6, it resulted in 

 a slight draft. When they used 

 the muslin at top and bottom, as 

 in Figure No. 2, it created consid- 

 erable draft, but where used in 

 the whole half of the window, as 

 in Figure No. 3, they found that 

 it gave excellent ventilation, with- 

 out draft, and the condensation of 

 moisture ceased. This, however, 

 does not present the full curtain front idea, being only an illustration of 

 the principle in a small way. 



CURTAIN FRONT It is difficult to predict where the curtain front 

 house is going to stop. We know that curtain front poultry houses, open 

 entirely during the day, even in cold weather, and closed only by curtains 

 during the cold nights, are being tried farther and farther north, without 

 any falling off of egg laying, and with the excellent result of hardier and 

 more active fowls and a lower percentage of sickness than was ever before 

 known. That there is a limit to this experiment no one will deny, but it 

 has not yet been reached and every step so far has been of benefit to the 

 fowls and greater profit to the industry. 



To keep the house cool in summer and warm in winter is a matter of 

 great importance. It solves the great problem in all-year-round egg pro- 

 duction, for you are simply imitating conditions under which the hen complies 

 with nature in the most productive, natural season. The difference in temper- 

 ature and sunshine are the main reasons why more eggs are produced in one 

 season than in another. Thus your housing has much to do with continuous 

 egg production. 



It is our intention first to explain the various general principles and 

 features of poultry house construction, so that you may get a fair idea of 

 the problem to be tackled. It is no use going into the details of building 

 until you have a clear idea of what you are building for. All this pre- 

 liminary talk will familiarize you with the subject and give you a foundation 

 for intelligent choice for your own particular needs. You are not building 

 for a man in Greenland you are building for yourself, on your own land, 

 and according to your own bank account. 



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