CHAPTER XXXII. 



METHODS OF HEATING AND VENTILATING BROODERS. 



When the rage for brooders began in the United 

 States, brooders were all built to have heat distributed 

 over the backs of the chicks, in alleged imitation of the 

 hen. They are said to be "under "the hen at night. 

 Now it is natural for chickens to feel the feathers of 

 their mother upon their back, and when the ground is 

 cool and damp, for instance after cold rains, and they 

 feel chilly before becoming thoroughly warmed after 

 going to bed, they will be found standing up at full 

 height to get all the heat they can upon their backs, and 

 will also crowd closely together and towards their mother 

 to get warm. The empty artificial brooder, as com- 

 monly used, without even one regulator, to say nothing 

 of two, the operator cannot venture to heat to 103, the 

 temperature at the outside of the hen's body; for the 

 vital heat of the brood would soon make it so hot that 

 they could not stay in it at all. He therefore aims gener- 

 ally at about 90 or 92 for quite young chicks. On first 

 entering the hover, they elevate their backs as much as 

 possible and stretch their legs to full length, even stand- 

 ing on tiptoe some of the time, especially if there are 

 loose folds of soft cloth overhead to imitate the hen's 

 feathers, or a tank or pipes of hot water, the radiant 

 heat from which they plainly perceive is above them. 

 Not content with stretching to the utmost towards the 

 grateful warmth, the biggest, strongest fellows try to 

 climb upon the backs of their companions to reach the 

 heat, and some of the weaker ones are trampled to death, 

 as described in previous pages, and their bodies form 



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