114 PRINCIPLES OF POULTRY-HOUSE CONSTRUCTION 
sunlight in the back part of the house and the floor space is very 
large. Such a unit will have a capacity of one hundred birds, allow- 
ing four square feet per bird; it is adapted to all climateswhere poul- 
try are commercially kept ix the United States, and isoneof themost 
efficient producing units. This unit is adapted to both the intensive 
poultry farm and the general farm where large flocks are kept. 
The capacity of houses with this unit can be increased indefinitely 
by the addition of other such units. For example, if five units 
were used the house would be twenty by one hundred feet and 
would have a capacity of five hundred birds (Fig. 71). 
Type of Roof.—The type or form of roof should be studied 
carefully, as it is the most expensive part of the house. It usuallv 
covers only one floor, and must be made water tight and strong 
SHED TWO-THIRDS SPAN EVEN SPAN 
MONITOR HALF MONITOR 
mich 
After Rice and Rogers, Cornell Bulletin No. 274. 
Fic. 72.—Six types of roofs for poultry houses. The shed roof is most common 
and is the best. 
enough to support heavy snows and windstorms. The accompany- 
ing sketch (Fig. 72) shows six different types of roofs used for 
poultry houses. Each of these has a variety of uses. There is 
much difference in the lumber and labor required to build the dif- 
ferent types. Care should be used to build the best and get the 
most economical type. The three which offer the best conditions 
in most instances are the shed roof, the two-thirds span, and the 
even-span or gable roof. In these three types of roofs with a uni- 
form floor space and equal pitch, the amount of material is about 
the same. 
In actual practice it is possible to construct the shed roof with 
less pitch. When this is done, the shed roof is the most economical, 
requiring less labor to erect; a higher front is possible, which enables 
