Report of Missouri Faryners' Week. 511 



to the hover. As soon as the chicks require no further heat the 

 hovers are removed, roosts put in, and the house used for housing 

 purposes until the next brooding season. This is a decided ad- 

 vantage over the outdoor brooder which is more expensive, which 

 deteriorates in value because of exposure and is of little use except 

 when being used for brooding purposes. Poultrymen should aim 

 to make their apparatus of universal use, and this method is an 

 example of how it may be done. 



Perfect cleanliness is essential to successful brooding. In. pre- 

 paring a house for brooding, clean thoroughly and disinfect and 

 also treat the brooder parts in a similar manner. Brooders should 

 be cleaned as often as dirty and disinfected at each cleaning. 



The brooder should be tested and warmed before the chicks 

 are put in. The temperature should start at 95° Fahrenheit with 

 a reduction of about 5° a week until 70° Fahrenheit is obtained. 

 The correct temperature can best be ascertained by observation. 

 Chicks that are too cold will huddle and crowd and will peep. At 

 night the brooder should be warm enough so that examination will 

 reveal a row of heads sticking out from the folds of the hover felt. 

 Nature conditions are then being imitated, for usually the chick's 

 body is kept warm by the heat from the hen while their heads will 

 be exposed, thus insuring them an abundance of fresh air. The 

 brooder floor should be covered with fine litter of some kind. 

 Digestible material is preferred because of the liability of the chick 

 eating some of it as food. Fine clover or alfalfa chaff is the best 

 material. Any material used as a litter should be free from molds, 

 for this fungus often, causes lung trouble known as aspergilosis, 

 which is the cause of many deaths in little chicks, while in addition 

 the moldy material may cause digestive disorders. 



Chicks should not be fed for 48 to 72 hours after hatching. 

 Prior to hatching, the yolk is drawn into the body and furnishes 

 food for several days. The first food should be fine grit or sharp 

 sand in limited amounts. The grit stimulates the digestive ap- 

 paratus so that the various organs begin to perform their func- 

 tions and prepare the tract for the food. Chick food and rolled oats 

 can then be fed by sprinkling in the Htter or on boards. The chicks 

 take readily to the rolled oats and as a food it is hard to excel. 

 Stale bread crumbs mixed with raw eggs and finely chopped by 

 running through a meat chopper, mixed with milk and fed in, a 

 crumbly, not sloppy, condition makes an excellent ration. Milk 

 should be kept in fountains before the chicks. Some people prefer 



