1907.] DISCUS-SION. 41 



manufacturer's directions, and then if you do what the manu- 

 facturer tells you to do it lies between you and the manufac- 

 turer, and you have not got to run around all over the neigh- 

 borhood to fix the responsibility, but just bear in mind that 

 when you get those chicks hatched, for the first thirty-six or 

 forty-eight hours the chief requirement of young chicks is 

 warmth and rest. They do not want to be milled around. They 

 want to be let alone. They want to be kept quiet and warm. 

 I believe that almost ninety per cent, of the trouble with young 

 chicks comes either from too much handling or chilling, and 

 chiefly from chilling. You hatch these chickens out at a tem- 

 perature of about 102 1^ to 103, and it sometimes goes up to 

 106 before they are all out. Sometimes I have seen it no to 

 112. And then you put them in a brooder where the tempera- 

 ture is 95, and you can see what kind of a drop you are going 

 to give those poor little delicate things. That is a point that 

 should always be borne in mind, keep them warm and do not 

 allow too great a variation in the temperature. Let it be re- 

 duced gradually. Then you will be safe. I ran my brooders 

 right out in a snowbank the last of the winter, and the snow 

 was all over the top of them. The chickens lived. I would 

 hate to tell you what the temperature went to sometimes in 

 there, but there are times when I do not hesitate to keep it as 

 high as no. 



DISCUSSION. 



Question. What would the temperature be outside when 

 you have it at that point inside ? 



Dr. Wood. It would not be much more than 75 or 80 in 

 any of the box brooders that were ever built. 



Now those chickens should be kept close for the first three 

 days in the brooder, and they should be kept warm and quiet. 

 When I feed them I take the hopper off so as to give everybody 

 a chance. There are always a lot of little weak chickens in 

 there that do not come out to get anything to eat. They have 

 to be looked after. It only takes about twenty-four hours, 

 and sometimes only twelve hours, to put a chicken where he 

 Avill stay with you about a week or ten days, for unless you 



