SIXTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VIII. 697 



prepared than later hatches to enter upon the winter. If one is to have 

 pullets to lay in the winter he must get his birds hatched early in the 

 spring. But this can seldom be done with any degree of certainty when 

 the hens are depended upon to do the hatching. One year I thought I 

 would get the most of my hatching done in March and early in April, 

 and so avoid the diseases and troubles that are apt to visit the later 

 broods. But my hens (Langshans, too, at that) utterly refused to fall 

 in with my plan. They laid excellently well, but sit they would not till 

 they got a good ready, and they did not sit till late in April. 

 That spring's experience converted me to the incubator. Wtih 

 an incubator you can get your chicks out as early as you please. 

 Some of the best broods I have ever raised were hatched so early that 

 sometimes the brooder which sat out in the yard would be nearly buried 

 in snow\ The incubator is much more satisfactory than hens in every 

 way. When one gets the hang of it It is easy to operate, and there is 

 no- bothering with refractory hens that stay off their eggs too long, or 

 that tramp the newly hatched chicks to death. Then too there is consid- 

 erable saving in being able to keep all the hens at w^ork laying. Hatch- 

 ing and brooding chicks means the use of 14 or 15 hens that would be 

 able to lay enough eggs to pay for the running of several incubators and 

 brooders. 



And there is just as much advantage in the brooder as there is in the 

 incubator. A good one does its work thoroughly. It is free of lice. It is 

 always there ready to brood the little fellows. There is no hen there to 

 annoy you or to tramp over the feed and scratch it in every direction. 

 If the weather is bad the brood can be kept indoors and will be as com- 

 fortable is if it were in a cellar. My brooders are so well supplied with 

 windows that they are thoroughly lighted and the chicks get the benefit 

 of every ray of sunlight. 



One counsel I would give in regard to brooders is that in buying or 

 making them (and if you are skilful with tools you can make a good 

 brooder) see that they are large enough. It is not wise ever to put more 

 than 100 chicks together. It is better to have the number smaller than 

 that. The little fellows need room to stir around in, and they never 

 thrive their best when they are crowded. The brooder that is the most 

 satisfactory is the one that has two compartments, one with the hover 

 in it and the other to be used as a feeding-room. This sort is more easily 

 kept clean and it is more sanitary. The feeding-room should have plenty 

 of glass in it. A glass top is preferable. The chicks like to bath in 

 the sunlight and it is a wonderfnl promoter of health and growth in the 

 brood. 



If the hatching and brooding are to be done with hens it will be found 

 a good arrangement to have a room set apart for the use of the sitting 

 hens. I find it necessary to use a few hens each season for hatching, 

 and I fix up a corn bin in the granary for the purpose. It is closed up 

 with a horse blanket so as to confine the hens to the room. It is large 

 enough to accommodate 15 and give them room for feeding and for 

 dusting themselves. Boxes are provided that are just large enough to 

 admit one hen in each, and that are low enough to allow the hen to 



