This “Fresh Air Poultry House” has been evolved by Mr. Joseph Tolman, a
practical poultryman of eastern Massachusetts, some twenty-five miles
south of Boston, and differs from most other plans in that the front is
wide open night and day all the year around; the south front is always
open, being closed by one-inch mesh wire netting only.
[Illustration: FIG. 33—The All-Open-Front Poultry House.]
The roof and sides are one inch boards nailed to two by four inch
rafters and studs, and covered with sheathing paper and two-ply Paroid;
this makes a tight roof, and east, west, and north walls, excepting
that there is a window in the center of the west side and a door
opposite it, in center of east side. In operating this house in summer
both the door and window are removed and wire netting tacked to a
light frame set in the places; for convenience we recommend that the
door-screen be hinged to outside of door frame, and when not in use
hooked back against the wall. There are many nights in spring and fall
when it is desirable to leave the door open excepting that the opening
is closed by the wire screen, and possibly the very next night it is
better that the door be closed; having the door-screen hung to the wall
enables adapting to weather changes at will.
[Illustration: FIG. 34—Ground plan.]
The house here shown is made eight by fourteen feet in size, four feet
to eaves and seven feet to apex of roof, and makes a fine home for
twenty-five fowls; a larger size of this house is recommended to be
made twenty-one by fourteen feet on the ground, with five feet posts
in north and south ends and eight feet to apex of roof; this would
comfortably house fifty head of layers.