HOUSINO AND HYGIENE 279 



south and the glass window and door on the east and west 

 sides. In houses having openings on more than one side, 

 care must be taken to see that the fowls are so protected 

 that they are out of the line of any drafts. 



Ventilation Systems. — ^Most of the ventilating systems 

 used in stables depend upon a considerable difference between 

 inside and outside temperatures for successful operation. 

 Owing to the facts that chickens require a much greater 

 amount of floor space per hundred pounds of live weight than 

 do the larger animals, and that the roof must be high enough 

 to furnish head room for the feeder, there is too much cubic 

 space in a hen-house for the hens to heat it sufficiently to 

 make such systems work. Up to the present time, open- 

 front, curtain-front, and slatted-front houses seem to furnish 

 the best means of ventilation. Where the summers are 

 extremely hot, such ventilation may be supplemented by 

 ventilators at the back of the house, as shown in Fig. 149. 

 This is so arranged that the fowls are never in a direct 

 draft. 



Walls and Partitions. — ^The walls and partitions must be 

 solid enough to support the roof and withstand heavy winds. 

 They must be draft-proof, dry, and easy to clean and dis- 

 infect. Matched boards free from knots, well painted, and 

 lined with building paper, or covered with prepared roofing, 

 will usually be draft-proof. If the boards are dressed on the 

 inside, as they should be, they will be easy to clean. By 

 having the siding run vertically instead of horizontally the 

 disinfectant used in spraying will penetrate the cracks much 

 better and render it an easier matter to get rid of mites 

 should they gain access to the house. 



Such a wall as this will meet the requirements of most 

 climates and will be dry. The greatest difficulty from 

 moisture gathering on the walls usually comes from dead air 

 spaces in the walls that are double boarded. During the night 

 the air between the boards becomes cool. In the morning 

 when the sun pours into the pen it warms it faster than it 

 does the air shut in between the boards. The result is that 

 the wall on the north side in particular will be cooler than 

 the air of the pen and will condense the moisture from it. 



