[THE ROOF]
The roof of the poultry house is, for the average poultryman, a problem solved by the state of his pocketbook, climate, and the location of his buildings, as well as personal preference.
The shape of the roof may be governed by taste, the prevailing type of architecture, etc., but where the welfare of the fowls themselves is jeopardized by a certain style, personal preference must yield and the health of the birds themselves determine the choice.
Roofs that can be made watertight with the least difficulty, which do not overhang so far as to prevent sunlight from entering the windows, and which are sightly, are the aim of the average builder.
Considered from the point of utility alone, the single-pitched roof seems to be the most popular. It gives the necessary watershed and interior room for the least amount of material.
While the height of the roof from the floor should be influenced by the other dimensions of the building, the fowls will do as well with a low-roofed building properly cleaned and ventilated, as with one of lofty roof, but the inconvenience of caring for the low-roofed building must be considered, and hence few of us want a roof lower than six feet.
After one has decided the form of the roof, the next point is the material.
In counting the cost, one must consider the possible expense in keeping in repair a roof cheap at the outset. Some roofs absorb the sun's rays to such a degree as to make the building too warm. In certain locations a fireproof roof is imperative, by law or expediency.
