14 OPEN-AIR POULTRY PIOUSES 



returns from them. You have only to properly try open-air 

 methods to become convinced. t 



Everyone knows, or should know, that wholesome living things 

 will not thrive without sunlight in sufficient quantity for their 

 needs. If we lose sunlight for many days fungus growths and 

 other unwholesome things become active ; even the air becomes less 

 satisfying and is oppressive, and unless the blessed sunlight puts in 

 an appearance soon, and for a sufficiently long interval to do its 

 beneficent work, we find disease developing rapidly. We, oiir 

 •poultry and all other living creatures, must have sunlight to supply 

 us with energy and many useful elements which the light brings to 

 us. Everyone knows, too, or should know, that mankind is better 

 for much open air living. The same is true of our poultry -to even 

 a greater extent. They need an abundance of pure, fresh, open 

 air to breathe day and night, and particularly at night. The 

 fowl's body has a norrhal temperature considerably higher than 

 that of a human being. In proportion to 'its size the fowl undoubt-, 

 edly consumes a considerably greater amounf? of the life-giving 

 elements of breathing air. Nature built fowls to live in the open 

 and they require pure openi air for breathing purposes at all' times. 



Fowls go to bed early. They go to roost at dusk and do not leave 

 the roost until daylight in the morning. They sleep longer hours 

 than the ^^erage human being in summer and much longer hours 

 in winter,: Man's need of pure breathing air during sleep is 

 grea^r than during his waking hours ani the- fowl's need is even 

 greuter. , '. 



Sleep is a recuperative process, it is ISTature's method of-helping 

 to restore the proper balance of the body. During sleep the up- 

 building processes within the body are considerably in excess of the 

 breaking down processes, while during waking hours the conditions 

 are reversed. Sleep and the restoration of bodily balance or build- 

 ing up of broken down tissues is necessary to life and health. 

 Oxygen is necessary for the building up processes, and this oxygen 

 is to be obtained from pure, fresh, open air. The foul, stale air 

 of a closed house does not contain sufficient oxygen to provide for 

 the normal upbuilding and it does contain poisonoiis exhalations 

 that are dangerous to life and health. The open-front open-air 

 house when properly built insures an abundance of life-giving fresh 

 air at night, when it is most needed. 



The total intake and outgo of oxygen for the twenty-four-hour 

 day has not been figured out for fowls, but it has been determined 

 approximately for human beings. Fowls require more oxygen in 

 proportion to their size than do human beings, biit the figures 



