l6 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. I904. 



covered with 10 ounce duck, so as to make them light. They 

 are hung with double acting spring hinges. The advantages of 

 having all doors push from a person are very great, as they 

 hinder the passage of the attendant, with his baskets and pails, 

 very little. Straps of old rubber belting are nailed around the 

 studs which the doors rub against as they swing to, so as to 

 just catch and hold them from opening too easily by the wind. 

 Tight board partitions were used between the pens instead of 

 wire, so as to prevent drafts. A platform 3 feet wide, extends 

 across both ends and the entire front of the building, outside. 



The house is well made of good material and should prove to 

 be durable. It cost about $850. A rougher building with 

 plain instead of trap nests, with the roof and walls covered with 

 some of the prepared materials, instead of shingles, could be 

 built for less money, and would probably furnish as comfortable 

 quarters for the birds for a time, as this building will. 



This house accommodates 350 hens — 50 in each 20 foot sec- 

 tion. It was not ready for occupancy until the 6th of December. 

 Since then there has been some very severe weather, considerably 

 below zero at night and about zero during the day, with a good 

 deal of high wind. During this rough weather the bedding on 

 the floor has kept comparatively dry ; and the voidings on the 

 platform as found when the curtains were raised in the morn- 

 ings, have been but slightly frozen. The yields of eggs during 

 this severe weather and the week immediately following it, were 

 not below those immediately preceding it. It should be borne in 

 mind that had the weather been mild during that time the hens 

 probably would have increased in production rather than remain 

 stationary. They were doubtless affected by the severe weather, 

 but not seriously, as they began to increase in production very 

 soon after the weather became usual for midwinter. 



THE YARDS. 



The yards to most poultry houses, are at the south, or sheltered 

 sides of the buildings, to afford protection during late fall and 

 early spring, when cold winds are common. The north house 

 has yards on both north and south sides with convenient gates. 

 The south yards are used until the cold winds are over in spring, 

 when they will go to the north yards, which are well set in grass 

 sod. With the new curtain front south house the yards are to be 



