58 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 
there is a draft in the house the birds will 
contract a cold, and will take a prolonged va¬ 
cation from their job of laying eggs. It is 
not uncommon to find a crack in the wall, 
just behind the perches of the house, and when 
we consider that in such houses the birds stay 
all night in a direct draft, it is little wonder 
that they appear so unhealthy. 
There are a few other common faults that 
we will consider before bringing this chapter to 
a close. It is often found that there are too 
many birds cramped into a small house. It 
is a good plan to allow at leagt four square 
feet of floor sptoce for each bird that you win¬ 
ter. For instance, if we were planning on 
having one hundred birds this winter, we could 
have a house built twenty-five feet long, and 
sixteen feet deep. Multiplying these two fig¬ 
ures, gives us four hundred square feet. Di¬ 
viding this product by four, gives us allowance 
for one hundred birds. Then, lastly, the floor, 
itself. Too often the floor is cold. If a ce¬ 
ment floor, we should cover it with about six 
or eight inches of good, clean, dry litter. Even 
if made of wood, a good substantial litter should 
fce maintained. The best litter is probably of 
