CHAPTER XXI. 

 ARTIFICIAL BROODING. 



Artificial brooding usually follows artificial incubation, but, 

 where only a few hundred chicks have been hatched in a machine, 

 they are sometimes brooded under hens, because this necessi- 

 tates less attention. Artificially brooded chicks are more subject 

 to certain diseases, and if neglected may not make as rapid growth 

 as if brooded under hens, while at the same time they need more 

 care. The possibilities in artificial brooding, however, are many; 

 and, if the type of brooder and methods are good, and the chick's 

 requirements as to feed and temperature are understood, just as 

 good, if not better, results can be secured as when the hen is 

 used. The great advantage of the artificial method is the large 

 number of chicks which can be handled. Were it not for the 

 development of this branch of poultry keeping, the broiler in- 

 dustry as we know it to-day would have been impracticable, and 

 on the large intensive egg farms it would have been impossible 

 to brood each year the many thousands of chicks required to supply 

 future layers. There are many brooder systems and many types 

 of brooder houses, all possessing advantages and disadvantages, 

 and all adapted to certain conditions. 



Brooder Houses. — In the construction of brooder houses we 

 find two general plans. (1) Long brooder houses are permanent. 

 They may be from fourteen to twenty feet wide, and from fifty 

 to several hundred feet in length (Fig. 163). (2) Colony brooder 

 houses are nearly always portable, and contain from fifty to one 

 hundred square feet of floor space; some, however, are very small, 

 and contain only ten to twelve square feet of floor space. 



In choosing which type or system of brooding to use, three 

 things must be considered: (1) The number of chicks to be 

 brooded; (2) the season of the year; (3) funds available for per- 

 manent equipment of this kind. The intensive brooder equip- 

 ment of the long-house type is adapted to broiler raising on a 

 large scale, to the production of many hundreds, or perhaps 

 thousands, of pullets for laying purposes, or to any poultry farm 

 where thousands of chicks are to be brooded to advanced age. 

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