REARING THE YOUNG BIRDS 



145 



more or less attract heat, and the air underneath such a 

 tent is intensely hot during the middle of the day. 



Fresh Air Houses. — Chicken houses for summer use 

 should be merely shelters, the main requirement being plenty 

 of fresh air, although low cost is an important consideration. 

 The small colony house may be only a shed, with a roof and 

 one wall, the other three sides being covered with wire. But 

 whatever the type of shelter, it should afford protection 

 from all four-legged enemies, from the rain, and from the 



Fig. 78. — An ideal corner of a pasture for the growing birds. Sliade in abun- 

 dance, plenty of green grass, and a small brook running under the trees give the 

 birds everything they need. 



sun. Portability is next in importance, for it is often desir- 

 able to move the house from place to place in order to give 

 the chicks green feed. A house can be so built as to be used 

 for both the growing stock in the summer and the laying 

 birds in the winter, and such a house is called an adaptable 

 colony house, because it can be used for more than one 

 purpose. 



Desirable Types of Colony Houses. — The following is a 

 brief description of three useful types of small colony houses. 



