Il8 POULTRY CULTURE 



Height of poultry structures. In small structures which the 

 attendant does not have to enter, or enters infrequently, the height 

 of the building is usually adapted to the poultry ; in larger struc- 

 tures it is adapted to the attendant. The lower houses furnish the 

 best conditions for the birds, but, though that point has not been 

 carefully investigated, it does not appear that the conditions in a 

 house three or four feet high are so materially better than in a 

 house high enough for a man to stand and work in (about six 

 feet) as to make it advisable to reduce the height when that would 

 mean a reduction of floor space and of the size of flocks. 



Depth of poultry structures. The depth of poultry structures 

 should be proportionate to their height. In order that an interior 

 may be properly sunned and ventilated, the depth, or distance from 

 the front to the rear wall, must bear such proportion to the height 

 of the front wall that sunlight will penetrate well back. As the 

 elevation of the sun varies with the seasons, it is manifestly impos- 

 sible to make a structure of fixed height and width in which the 

 desired condition will be obtained at all seasons, but if the height 

 of the front be about half the width of the building, the average 

 conditions will be as nearly right in this respect as they can be 

 made. Since it has already been determined that the height of the 

 larger shelter for poultry should be near the minimum height of a 

 building in which a man can work expeditiously, it follows that the 

 fixing of such a standard of height, and of the relation of height 

 to width, limits the width to about twelve or fourteen feet. 



In a single house, or in a two-pen house which may be lighted 

 and ventilated with windows or doors on the sides in addition to 

 those in the front (south), the depth may be as much greater as de- 

 sired, the side openings carrying light and air back. This arrange- 

 ment is not adapted to the continuous-house plan with more than 

 two pens, because the side openings affect only the end compart- 

 ments. It is not nearly so much used as the plan with all openings 

 in the front. Its advantage is most obvious when it is desired to 

 make for a larger flock a compartment that will be well lighted 

 and ventilated without increasing the height or making the length 

 so great that the faults of long, narrow houses will be introduced. 

 Even with the use of side openings the depth is rarely increased 

 more than 50 per cent over what it would be by the rule given. 



