WHERE TO KEEP FOWLS 47 



BUILDINGS OF MANY KINDS 



A warm house, or at least warm sleeping quar- 

 ters, is essential to get eggs in the winter. Fowls of 

 Ihe Mediterranean breeds and others which have large 

 'Combs and wattles must be kept in warm houses to 

 prevent freezing the combs and wattles. Warming 

 the house by means of artificial heat is not advisable. 

 This gives an unnatural condition which leads to many- 

 troubles. It is better to spend a little more in building 

 the house substantial and warm. The importance of 

 warm houses cannot be too greatly emphasized. A 

 test by the West Virginia experiment station shows 

 •clearly the value of a substantial house. Two houses 

 huilt exactly alike and placed side by side were selected 

 for an experiment and in each were placed twelve 

 pullets. One house had previously been sheathed on 

 the inside and covered with paper to rnake it perfectly 

 light. Bdth were boarded with matched siding and 

 shingle roofs. Fowls were fed alike in each case and 

 .the experiment, which started November 24, continued 

 five months. In the warm house the twelve pullets 

 laid a total of 629 eggs ; in the other, 486 eggs. North 

 of the Mason and Dixon line it will pay to make all 

 "houses double boarded with or without a dead air 

 :space. A small roosting room that can be closed tight 

 ' 'during winter nights, and roomy, airy quarters for the 

 ■daytime, is the ideal arrangement for health and profit. 

 Such an arrangement is provided for in the scratching 

 .-shed house or in some modification of it. 



The Scratching Shed House — Although open 

 sheds have long been used for poultry to run under 

 •during winter, we believe the scratching shed house, 

 so called, originated with Mr. A. F. Hunter, formerly 

 editor of Farm Poultry. Such a house, shown in 



