PROGRESSIVE POULTRY RAISING 



Mediterranean breeds should be set in March and the 

 first three weeks of April so that they will be out in 

 April and early May. Chicks hatched earlier or later 

 may do well but the chances are against it. Chicks 

 hatched too early are likely to go into a molt in the 

 fall and not lay till spring. Late hatched pullets are 

 likely not to come into laying until cold weather sets 

 in, in which case they also are not likely to lay much 

 before spring. 



There are two types of brooders 

 Farm which usually meet the farm poultry 



Brooders raisers' needs. These are the small 



oil heated Colony Brooder and the 

 large coal heated Colony Brooder. The first usually has 

 a capacity from fifty to seventy-five chicks while the 

 latter will brood from 400 to 600 and even more. So 

 far as the care of the heater is concerned it is little or no 

 more work to attend a coal stove brooder which will 

 care for several hundred chicks than it is a small oil 

 heated brooder. Where chicks are raised in any con- 

 siderable numbers, it will take very much less labor 

 to take care of them in comparatively large groups than 

 in small flocks, and where they have a good range and 

 fresh ground, they will do nearly, if not quite, as well. 

 In buying a brooder of either type, there are certain 

 things that one should look . out for. An oil-heated 

 brooder should have lamps with bowls large enough to 

 contain a forty-eight-hour supply of oil. In windy, 

 stormy weather unless one has the brooder in an unusually 

 well protected place, it is sometimes difficult to get the 

 lamp lit and the heater door closed, before the wind puts 

 the lamp out. At such times, it is highly desirable to let 

 the lamp burn another day before opening up the heater 

 box. With the small oil-heated brooders, one should 

 also be very sure that arrangement has been made to 

 give the chicks a constant supply of fresh air when 

 they are under the hover. Young and old stock both 

 are highly sensitive to the lack of ventilation. 



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