Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1915-01-08
ABOUT VENTILATION.

One positive essential in successful
poultry raising, on either a large or
small scale, is to have the fowls
housed in dry, sanitary quarters. To
do this, good ventilation withou,
drafts is absolutely necessary. The
Iowa Agricultural College has carried
on a number of experiments along
this line and their findings are ex.
tremely interesting and instructive.
We quote from bulletin of the Iowa
college:
The hen, compared with other an
lmals, has high temperature which
will average about 100 degrees Fab
renheit. This means a rapid combus-
ton within the body and for rapid
combustion much fresh air is neces-
sary. 1t has been estimated (Physics
of Agriculture, King) that a horse
weighing 1000 pounds breathes a
little less than $500 cubic feet of
air in "a hours. A 1,O00-pound COW
requires less than 5000 cubic feet.
Two hundred five-pound hens, while
weighing the same as the horse or
the COW, will breathe 5000 cubic feet
of air in the same length of time
Instead of Kidding the body of the
excrete of the kidneys in liquid form,
as other animals do, the hen gives
this off as white paste that is passed
with the feces. All the water that in
other animals passes off in the urine
must be largely gotten rid of by the
respiratory system. In order to do
this work, nature has given the hen
not only good pair of lungs, but
also a system of air sacks extending
to all parts of the body which are
even connected with the cavities in
the bones. Unless there is fresh air
to reach all parts of the body the hen
will not do we'll: Unless there is
good ventilation to carry off the mois-
ture of respiration, the house is found
to be damp.
"The fact that the birds are kept
in quite large fiocks is an added rea-
son for thorough ventilation. King
points out in his Physics of Agricul-
ture that the poisonous principle
given off by one individual is much
more poisonous to another individual
who is compelled to breathe it than
it is to the individual giving it off.
II is no uncommon thing to see hun
dred hens crowded into little house
with practically no ventilation. No
matter how we'll such hens are fed
there will be a lack of thrift if each
hen is compelled to breathe the pois-
onous gases given off by the rest of
the flock"
Great strides have ben made dur
ing the past few years toward better
understanding of the problems of
ventilation. The open front poultry
house has come to stay and several
notifications of it are even more pop
ular. A hen can roost in a tree in a
high wind without catching cold, but
the moment she is placed in direct
draft inside a house she becomes
sniffly and it takes only a short time
for cold to develop into bronchitis,
diphtheria or roup. Probably the
most popular and satisfactory house
is what is known as the curtain
front" The house is made absolutely
tight on three sides with the fourth
side equipped with cloth-covered
frames. These are opened in calm
weather, no matter how cold it is, and
lowered only during blowing storms
or extremely cold weather.
1t is pretty hard to give hen too
much air, provided she is not placed
in direct draft, and the beneficial
results that follow good ventilation
make very considerable increase in
the revenue she can produce.