PouIvTry Raising in Colorado 
7 
This can be prevented by placing a small window sash in the rear wall 
under the-platform. 
A good house for a farm flock is built the same shape as this 
brooder house, 20 feet square, 8 feet high at the peak, 4 feet high 
front and rear. This house should have a full window in the west end 
and also one in the east end beside the door. These windows provide 
plenty of light and sunshine; the front being low can be left open ex¬ 
cept in zero weather, when a cloth curtain is sufficient protection. The 
hens are far enough from the opening not to be affected by draught, 
yet fresh air is always abundant. The front and rear are low, only 
4 feet high, lessening cost of material and adding to the comfort in 
cold weather. Sunshine from three sides helps to make it a cheerful 
house. 
When careful attention is given to cleanliness and to providing 
plenty of litter, more hens can be comfortablv housed in a certain 
space than when conditions are not so favorable. A poultry house 
should always be roomy enough to provide comfort and scratching 
space in bad weather. Wet, cold feet will not help fill the egg basket. 
Comfort and Convenience .—A hen would probably consider a 
house about 3 feet high ideal, especially in cold weather, but for the 
convenience of the caretaker we build them higher; unnecessary height 
means a colder and more expensive house, so the building should be as 
low as possible, consistent with convenience. The farther the roosts 
are from the open end the better for the fowls—twelve feet is better 
than less, fourteen or sixteen feet even better. The house should be 
^shorter rather than narrower, if a certain amount of floor space is re- 
*quired. 
The underground poultry house shown on outside front cover is 
slowly but surely gaining friends, especially in the plains regions. The 
chief and about the only cost is the roof. A cement plaster on the dirt 
walls is advisable, but is not necessary where the soil is firm. Dirt 
floor is good enough and can be renewed once a year. If the purpose 
of a poultry house is to provide shelter and comfort, the underground 
house fills the bill. A pit 4 feet deep, about 30 feet long and 14 
feet wide for 100 hens; the roof either double pitch or shed 
style; if the latter, the north end resting on timber or concrete founda¬ 
tion 6 inches high, the south end raised 3 feet above the surface. The 
entire front, 3 feet by 30 feet, covered during cold weather with a bur¬ 
lap canvas curtain both for protection and ventilation. No windows 
are necessary on the south, as this curtain can be raised during the day, 
affording light and admitting the sunshine. If the door be made on 
the south, a small window can be placed in each end, giving more light 
and sunshine, also giving better ventilation in warm weather. Instead 
of steps there should be an incline; to avoid slipping cleats may be nail¬ 
ed to the incline, leaving a smooth space for the wheelbarrow. 
AVOID EXTRAVAGANCE 
Cost of Building .—It is easy to be extravagant in building. Don’t 
do it. Extravagance and waste are the causes of as many failures as 
inexperience. I/imit the cost of providing house room to sixty dollars 
for m'aterial per hundred hens. It can be done for less, perhaps, but 
