CHAPTER XVII 



BUILDING A POULTRY HOUSE 



This chapter deals with the actual construction of a 

 poultry house designed for laying hens. The specifications 

 call for a house six by eight feet, giving a capacity of from 

 ten to twelve birds, depending upon the breed. If it is 

 desirable to keep a larger flock, the capacity can be doubled 

 by increasing the width of the house, making it eight feet 

 deep and twelve feet wide. This will give a capacity of 

 from twenty to twenty-five birds. Such a house is designed 

 especially for a beginner, and is adapted to the small flock, 

 whether on the farm or in the city back yard. The house 

 described is economical of construction and easy to build, 

 and is most satisfactory, as proven by years of usage. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE HOUSE 



If designed to be portable, the house should be put on 

 runners, and have a wooden floor. If permanently located, 

 it must go on a concrete foundation, and have a concrete 

 floor. The house should be of the shed roof type, eight 

 feet high in front, and five feet in the back, with a depth of 

 eight feet, and a width of six feet. The area of the floor 

 will be six by eight feet. Halfway between the top and 

 the bottom of the front wall, and extending all across the 

 width of the house, is an opening three feet deep and six 

 feet wide for air and sunlight (Fig. 95). It is covered with 

 inch mesh netting, also by a muslin curtain, attached to a 

 frame. A small glass window sash is inserted just below the 

 muslin curtain to admit sunlight when the curtain is down. 

 There is a small ventilator at the back of the house which 

 can be used in the summer for free circulation of air between 

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