PROGRESSIVE POULTRY CULTURE 93 



tlie mother hen she may, in; most cases, be permitted to 

 leave her chicks when it suits her best. In artificial 

 rearing of the chdcks, the time for changing from the 

 brooder having a heated hover, to the unseated colony 

 house, depends very much on t.h<e season and the prevail- 

 ing weather, somewhat also on the location and the 

 conditions of shelter and furthermore on the extent to 

 which the chicks are feathered out and the kind of care 

 they will receive. If the change is made in early spring, 

 the chicks should, in their new quarters, be amply pro- 

 tected from storms, chilly winds and dampness. If the 

 change occurs in sultry weather, the chicks should not 

 be confined in close, hot quarters, during either day or 

 night. Chicks will bear considerable moisture if there 

 is no chilliness accompanying it. They will stand con- 

 siderable cold if the air is not humid. The combination 

 of wetness and chilliness, however, is unbearable. The 

 only safe rule is to keep the chicks comfortable. 



Culling the Cockerels. The poultryman may see fit 

 to cull out the cockerel chicks that he does not care to 

 raise and sell .them as broilers. This plan saves con- 

 siderable feed and care and the birds will usually sell 

 for a sum sufficient to pay for the growing of the pullet 

 chicks to laying age. Cockerel chicks that are intended 

 to be grown to roaster age, may be caponized when two 

 to three months old according to directions to be given 

 later in this chapter. Selection of birds which promise 

 to be of value, as special breeders or for exhibition pur- 

 poses may be made at any time. Such birds are given 

 especial attention and care under conditions as favora- 

 ble as possible to the development of their fine qualities. 

 Sometimes it works well to select one or two very prom- 

 ising cockerels and place them, in pullet flocks. They 

 thus escape any quarrels likely to occur among their 

 fellows and by association with the pullets they tend to 

 develop more rapidly and successfully, their fine quali- 

 ties for exhibition purposes. 



COLONIZING THE CHICKENS. 



The ideal method of growing chicks after they have 



