34 PROFITABLE POULTRY PRODUCTION 



dozen colony houses by measuring the distance he 

 would have to walk from house to house, multiply- 

 ing' this by the number of times daily, reducing the 

 distance to feet, then determining the number of 

 miles walked in a day, week, month or year. The 

 time required can then be determined by the rate 

 at which one ordinarily walks and the value placed 

 ■upon the time. It will be surprising what a dis- 

 tance is traversed and what amount of time can be 

 saved by bringing the flocks under one long roof. 



With the colony system there is more difficulty 

 in securing regularity of feeding than with the long 

 house. Especially is this so in bad weather. There 

 Is the further disadvantage that when flocks are fed 

 at given times, the fowls will congregate near where 

 the attendant begins to feed. There are the advan- 

 tages, however, of cheaper portable houses, less 

 ■expense for fencing, and the advantages of having 

 the fowls forage for themselves. When the colony 

 houses are placed in fenced yards, there is, per- 

 haps, no advantage over the long-house plan. 



In mild climates the objections to the colony plan 

 do not hold so strongly as in cold climates, where 

 there must be considerable work in shoveling snow. 

 This remark also applies where poultry can be kept 

 on range during the summer, especially on farms 

 where the fowls themselves can secure much of 

 their living by running among the growing crops. 

 Since the colony plan is popular for such places, 

 ■several styles of houses are illustrated throughout 

 the book. 



Permanent houses built on the colony plan are 

 more costly to build than houses of the same 

 capacity as the several separate ones when built 

 together. This is mainly because the ends of all 



