A SELF-SUPPORTING HOME 



filled with the cut hay or whatever you use, 

 and the floor wet and mussy. 



At the front of the feeding compartment 

 is a small door to open and let out the babies 

 into a run, which should be made of slats 

 and one-inch wire netting as wide as the 

 brooders, six feet long, one high, and the top 

 made to open like a box-lid, for convenience. 



Everything being ready, start the lamp 

 burning, at first leaving the doors, or lids, 

 open about an inch. Close after a few hours, 

 and get it running steadily at ninety-five 

 degrees, for twenty-four hours before you 

 expect to use it. Remember that too much or 

 too little heat is as dangerous in a brooder 

 as in an incubator. Many beginners will use 

 the greatest care in hatching the eggs, and 

 then spoil everything by neglecting the chicks 

 in the matter of heat, and so lose them by 

 the dozen. 



Commence with ninety-five degrees; the 

 second week lower gradually to eighty-five, 

 decreasing that till it is at seventy at the end 



147 



