THE PRINCIPLES OF BROODING. THE IMPROVED NEW YORK 



STATE GASOLINE-HEATED COLONY-HOUSE 



BROODING SYSTEM 



The most difficult problem in successful poultry-keeping is to raise 

 the chickens to renew the flock. The most expensive factor in rearing 

 chickens is the labor required to handle the large number of brooders 

 necessary when chickens are kept in small flocks. 



This bulletin presents to the public a method of brooding which, 

 it is believed, eliminates at least three-fourths of the labor required 

 to brood chickens in small outdoor kerosene-heated brooders. The 

 system has been thoroughly tried for the past ten years, during which 

 time it has been improved until we feel warranted in the statement 

 that it is a practical, workable, economical and safe method of rear- 

 ing chickens in large numbers. 



THE PRINCIPLES OF BROODING AS APPLIED TO THE GASOLINE-HEATED 

 COLONY-HOUSE BROODING SYSTEM 



Many factors enter into the construction of a perfect brooding system. 

 Of the many brooding devices now in use, including the one here pre- 

 sented, not one can claim perfection or a monopoly of all the desirable 

 features. Each system has its advantages and its disadvantages. There 

 are at least 1 7 important features which should be found in a successful 

 system of brooding. The extent to which they are furnished in the 

 gasoline-heated colony-house brooding system designed and used by the 

 New York State College of Agriculture, and the principles involved, 

 will be discussed under separate headings as follows: 



I. Maintaining a proper temperature 



Access to a temperature of 100 degrees is essential to successful 

 brooding of chickens either in large or in small flocks. The larger the 

 flock the more important it is that a high temperature be maintained, 

 because the greater is the danger of crowding. When the chickens 

 become cold they like to go quickly to a warmer temperature than 

 they could occupy with comfort or safety if compelled to remain there. 

 Chickens will crowd when they become cold if sufficient heat is not 

 supplied. It is but natural that they should. A chicken's body tem- 

 perature is normally about 105 to 106 degrees. It is therefore to be 

 expected that a cold chicken will crowd against another chicken 105 

 degrees warm instead of standing alone in a temperature of 80 to 85 



