314 AN EGG FARM. 



Next followed the invention of side heat, one of the 

 ablest advocates of which is the eminent expert, Mr. C. 

 Yon Culin, whose argument we will let him state in his 

 own words : 



"A brooder is supposed to take the place of a good hen. To do 

 this successfully it must be made as nearly like a hen as possible. 

 Now how is a hen built? Where does the heat come from? Where 

 do the chicks hover? How do they get to and from the heat, and 

 receive fresh air ? Look at the illustration of a brooding hen, and see 

 for yourself. Is not the heat which tne chicks get from her princi- 

 pally side heat ? By chance a chick may get cauglit under the breast- 

 bone or under the foot of a hen, but not often. The wings, feathers 

 ar.d down of the hen retain the greater part of the heat from the 

 body. The brooding chicks 'can put their heads out for fresh air, 

 instead of being crammed into a bunch and surrounded by from fifty 

 to a hundred other chicks. If they are too warm they can get out, if 

 not pinned down under the breastbone or foot of the hen. The heat 

 from the hen certainly cannot be termed ' bottom heat,' nor yet ' top 

 heat.' It is a? she squats down and her body is surrounded by the 

 chicks principally side heat,' with some top heat retained by her 

 feathers." 



At about the same time that side heat was thought of, 

 a combination of top and bottom heat was tried and its 

 advocates became extremely numerous, its superiority 

 to either top or bottom heat alone being very evident. 

 In the combination plan a small part of the heat is dis- 

 tributed under the brooder floor to check the reaching 

 upward, which, as we have seen, is so disastrous, but 

 the most of the heat enters near the top of the hover 

 and radiating downwards meets the heat which rises 

 from the moderately warm floor, so that the brood cham- 

 ber is warmed throughout. The choice lies between the 

 combination and the side heat plans. One great advan- 

 tage of the latter is that the chicks are in a thin line 

 instead of in a bunch, preventing crowding, and they 

 can always withdraw from the drum or tank by taking a 

 couple of steps, nature having taught them to do this, 

 just as they hug the body of their mother closely or 

 withdraw from her, as regard for their comfort dictates 

 under the varying conditions of wind and weather. 



