258 POULTRY PRODUCTION 



About the only means for reducing her body temperature 

 when it is too high that has been furnished the hen is panting, 

 and panting steals productive energy. 



The jungle-dwelling fowl of the hot country is kept cool 

 by the shade of the thicket, and the domestic hen should be 

 protected in the same way. In addition to trees, there 

 should be some low shrubbery under which the hens love 

 to hide and which serves as a protection from hawks and 

 crows in the case of young stock, as well. 



The same trees that furnish shade will keep out the wind. 

 It is not enough to locate the poultry-house in the lee of 

 some larger farm building. Such shelter is valuable if it is 

 the best to be had, but the large building will not always be 

 to windward, and hot winds are often quite as blighting as 

 cold ones. 



Fig. 136 



When it is necessary to build where there are no trees, shade must be 

 provided for the stock. (Courtesy of Kansas Experiment Station.) 



Sudden changes in temperature always lessen egg pro- 

 duction and generally lessen hatching power. The house 

 that is completely surrounded by trees will not be subject 

 to such sudden and severe changes as the house that is in 

 the full sweep of the wind. These trees may at the same 

 time comprise the farm orchard or be the means of supply- 

 ing fence posts. A hillside may be of great assistance in 

 protecting a house from prevailing winds, but it should be 

 supplemented by trees. 



