44, EGG MONEY 



ried over in the other houses, without danger of chilled combs, 

 they are wintered in this warmed house until danger from 

 chilling is past. 



The First Fresh Air House. 



In seeking for some better system of housing the birds 

 one of the small close houses, formerly used, was changed 

 into an open house. The building was 10 feet wide and 25 

 feet long. An opening 3 feet wide and 15 feet long was 

 made close up under the plate, and was left open every day 

 in winter, except when the snow or rain blew in. At night 

 the opening was covered with a framed curtain made of 

 cotton cloth. An elevated roosting closet along the entire 

 length of the back of the building was made warm by pack- 

 ing the walls with hay. A close fitting frame cloth cur- 

 tain shut them in at night. 



It did not freeze in the closet and the birds apparently 

 did not suffer for lack of air. They seemed to enjoy com- 

 ing out of the warm sleeping closet, down into the cold straw, 

 which was never damp, as the whole house was open to the 

 outside air and sun every day. There were no shut off 

 corners of the floor or closet that were damp. This build- 

 ing was used through three winters with 50 hens in it each 

 year and did not have a sick bird in it. Not a case of cold 

 or sniffles developed from sleeping in the closet with its 

 cloth front, and then going directly down into the dry 

 straw, in the cold room, and spending the day in the open air. 



The birds laid as well as did their mates in the large 

 warmed house. Their combs have been red and plumage 

 bright and they have given every evidence of perfect health 

 and vigor. While they are on the roosts, in bed, they are 

 warm. They come down to their breakfasts and spend the 

 day in the open air. Such habits of life seem to work equal- 

 ly well with brute or man. 



After having used t his 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 even- 

 ly divided. It was divided into 2 rooms, each 34 feet long. 

 The elevated roosting closets extended along the entire 

 back of each room and they were constructed in the same 



