650 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



covered with 10-ounce duck closely- 

 tacked on. This door or curtain was 

 hinged at the top and could be swung 

 in and up to the roof. 



The roosting platform was made 3 

 feet above the floor and the whole roost 

 closed in by a light framework covered 

 with light drilling covered and glazed 

 with boiled linseed oil. The front of 

 this was hinged at the top and opened 

 out into the coop in the daytime. This 

 framework about the roost was made as 

 near air-tight as a carpenter would or- 

 dinarily make it. The roosts were made 

 of 2 by 3-inch stuff, placed on edge 

 about 10 inches above the platform. 



The hens were shut in this curtained 



is now being used extensively by poul- 

 trymen who believe in fresh, cold air for 

 their hens. 



In a 150 days' test at the West Vir- 

 ginia station, hens in a warm house 

 laid 52 eggs each and in a cold house 

 41 each. A test of shutting in with cur- 

 tains around the roosts at night showed 

 no advantages where the average lowest 

 temperature outside was 35.5° F., and 

 inside the curtain 41.5° F. "Winter 

 poultry houses should be warm >and 

 comfortable, but not necessarily much 

 above freezing point. 



Heating house— I n a short test at the 

 North Dakota station, in heating the 

 poultry house in January, February and 



Fig 414 — HOUSES AND YARDS OF AN UP-TO-DATE POULTRY PLANT 



front roost at night-time and the curtain 

 raised in the morning. On comfortable 

 days the whole front 8 feet of the house 

 was also opened. In such a coop as this 

 pullets began laying in November. 

 When a number of cracks were left to 

 give ventilation, ice frequently formed 

 in the roosting closet and the hens did 

 not begin to lay till March. The fowls 

 in this coop laid as well as their mates 

 in a large, warm house. Their combs 

 were red and plumage bright and they 

 gave every evidence of vigor. "The 

 birds seemed to enjoy coming out of the 

 warm sleeping closet down into the cold 

 straw, which was never damp, but 

 always dry, because the whole house 

 was open to the outside air and sun 

 every day." The curtain front house 



March, the food requirements were re- 

 duced about one-half and the number 

 of eggs laid was about doubled. At the 

 Montana station, experiments indicate 

 that houses may profitably be heated to 

 an average temperature of 45 to 50° F., 

 but in properly constructed houses little 

 heat is needed while the sun is shining. 

 Dust material and yards — Plenty of 

 dust material should be provided for the 

 use of the hens in winter. This is one 

 of the ways they have of freeing them- 

 selves from vermin, hence a good sup- 

 ply of road dust should be stored in 

 summer for the use of the hens in win- 

 ter. Where hens have to be penned dur- 

 ing the summer, as well as winter, they 

 should have running yards adjacent. 



