1907.] DISCUSSION. 109 



poultry house it is sprinkled about the g-round. Sometimes you 

 want to disinfect the droppings with it as well as the house. 



Question. If pullets are well developed do you think they 

 are less reliable as breeders than yearling- hens, especially when 

 breeding' for the fancier ? 



Dr. Wood. I just as soon breed from a good, mature, 

 healthy pullet as I would from a hen. Possibly with a cockerel 

 that was all right a yearling would be better. If the pullet had 

 gone through all right you might perhaps get better results, 

 but as nine out of ten men won't pick hens that have gone 

 through the pullet stage all right, that is where the trouble 

 comes in. 



Question. Do you feed charcoal to poultry? 



Dr. Wood. I use granulated charcoal if I can get it. I 

 keep it before them all the time. It may not be necessary to 

 keep it there all the time, but that is the easiest way to feed it. 

 Granulated charcoal can be bought of some of the supply- 

 houses that make a specialty of poultry foods. 



Question. By breeding from pullets does it not decrease 

 the size of your poultry? 



Dr. Wood. I have never done it. I do not breed from a 

 pullet unless it is a pretty good one. 



A Member. I think that question is open to a good many 

 qualifications. When I say breeding from a pullet I mean a 

 bird that is laying in its pullet year. She may be sixteen or 

 eighteen months old, before I begin to use her. 



A Member. Mr. President, I wish that Dr. Wood would 

 state how long he keeps chicks in his brooders, and how does 

 he prevent huddling? 



Dr. Wood. Well, that is easy. I keep them in the brooder 

 until they get through wanting heat. Sometimes it is six 

 weeks and sometimes it is eight before they commence to get 

 on top of the hopper, and when they commence to flock out in 

 the front part of the brooder they have got all the heat they 

 want. On cool chilly nights, if they are in the brooder they 



