POULTRY EXPERIMENTS. 155 



have given every evidence of perfect health and vigor. While 

 they are on the roosts they are warm. They come down 

 to their breakfasts and spend the day in the open air. Such 

 habits of life seem to work equally well with brute or man. 



After having used this so-called Pioneer house one year, a 

 house was constructed 12 feet wide and 68 feet long. Its front 

 and back walls were 5 feet high and the roof was evenly divided. 

 It was divided into two rooms, each 34 feet long. The elevated 

 roosting closets extended along the entire backs of each room 

 and they were constructed in the same manner as the one in the 

 Pioneer house. The partition between the 2 rooms was made 

 of 2 inch mesh poultry netting. There were 4 openings in the 

 front of the building, 2 in each room, equal distances apart. 

 Each opening was 3^, by 8 feet in size, fitted with frame cloth 

 curtains, to be used only on winter nights and stormy days, in 

 the same way that they were in the Pioneer house. These 

 openings were put close up to the plates and came down to 

 within i l / 2 feet of the floor. There were no glass windows in 

 the building. 



This house was not satisfactory. There were currents of air 

 from one end of the building to the other, even when there was 

 little wind outside, and when the wind was high in winter the 

 loose snow would be sifted in and distributed over a large part 

 of the floor, dampening the litter and making life uncomfortable 

 for the birds. The wire partition between the pens was replaced 

 with one of close boards, and conditions were bettered ; but each 

 of the pens still had 2 openings, about 8 feet apart, and the same 

 troubles from currents of air and sifting of snow continued, al- 

 though somewhat lessened. One of the openings was closed by 

 screwing glass windows on the outside. This left each of the 

 rooms with one opening and one large glass window. 



This change entirely corrected strong air currents through 

 the building and sifting snow, except in heavy storms when the 

 wind is strong from the south. Of course the large opening 

 allows the wind to blow into the room, but as there is no outlet 

 for it except where it came in, there are no drafts of air across 

 the birds to cause them to be uncomfortable and take colds. 



Another difficulty remained ; the opening came down to within 

 V/2, feet of the floor, and the birds, sunning themselves on the 

 floor or scratching in the litter, were in the direct course of the 



