28 OPEN-AIR POULTRY HOUSES 



Prof. James Dryden, Oregon Agricultural College, claims that 

 tests he has made show that fowls prefer an open-front house even 

 though they have been accustomed to a closed house. A flock 

 which had Seen originally divided equally between two houses, one 

 closed and the other open-front, was given the choice between the 

 two houses and at roosting time about nine out of every ten of the 

 hens crowded into the open house. He says : 



"It is the nature of the hen to roost in the tree rather than in 

 a house, and the poultryman should study her nature if he wishes 

 to succeed. 



"There are times, of course, in severe storms when chickens 

 prefer the shelter of a roof to roosting in a tree, but the lesson 

 is tliat fowls prefer the out-door life, or the 'simple life,' and when 

 we put them in close houses and compel them to live there under 

 the mistaken notion that wc are being good to them we are imposing 

 conditions that will result in decreased vitality. Housing is really 

 an artificial condition for chickens and it is a serious mistake in 

 poultry-keeping to follow too closely artificial lines." 



]\fany more successful poultry workers could be quoted in favor 

 of the open-front house, but this chapter must be brought to a 

 close and I will cite but one more authority and that an important 

 one. Many poultrymen who believe in fresh-air are still afraid to 

 use an entirely open-front house in cold climates and cling to 

 curtain-fronts or curtains in front of the roost. With fine mesh 

 wire netting over the open front curtains are more objectionable 

 than useful. I do not believe in the use of curtains, no matter what 

 kind of fowls you keep or where your house is located. Curtains, 

 or any kind of shutters, in the front of an open-front building defeat 

 the purpose of the house. Curtains collect dust and filth and strain 

 the air through it. They get wet and foul and render the house 

 more liable to dampness. I cannot see any possible practical use 

 for curtains in an open house except that they may possibly keep 

 out the little snow which sifts in through the wire screen, and the 

 snow does not blow into a properly constructed fresh-air house in 

 sufficient quantity to cause any trouble. I do not approve of curtains 

 in open-front houses and I most earnestly urge you not to use them. 

 Build 3'our house right and you will find it all right when run 

 open. Here are some extracts on the subject from the 1909 Report 

 of the Department of Agriculture for the Province of British 

 Columbia. When the open-front house has proved better than the 

 cui'tain-front or the closed houses in a climate like British Colum- 

 bia, I don't think that any of us need worry about the use of 



