260 



POULTRY PRODUCTION 



the season of the greatest and most eeonomical production. 

 Next to the southern exposure the east is the most desirable, 

 because if they cannot have both, chickens, in common with 

 flowers, prefer the morning to the afternoon sun. The west 

 slope is the next most desirable, and the north exposure is 

 the least desirable of all. 



Air Drainage. — Poultry houses are sometimes placed on 

 low ground because of the shelter afforded by the higher 

 ground, or for reasons of convenience. Cold, damp air 

 settles in low places and frosts appear there earlier in the 

 fall and later in the spring than on the surrounding higher 

 ground. If there is no lower ground beyond, on to which the 

 cold air may drain, such a situation is bad. Because damp, 

 chilly air is uncomfortable it is not conducive to good pro- 

 duction. The shelter of high ground is desirable only when 

 there is enough ground lower than that upon which the 

 house is situated, so that the cool air that settles about the 

 house may quickly drain away. 



Fig. 137 



A comfortable house with a board, glass, and muslin front, covered with 

 straw. (Courtesy of Reliable Poultry Journal.) 



The Hen-house and other Buildings. — In locating a per- 

 manent poultry-house the fact that it must fit into the 

 general routine of farm work and bear certain relations to 

 other farm buildings must not be lost sight of. It is highly 

 undesirable to build very near granaries, cribs, or barns, 

 where the poultry is a nuisance, and which harbor ra,ts and 



