356 ARTIFICIAL BROODING 



The stoves should be placed in the middle of the house just back of 

 the center. 



Requirements of a Successful Brooder. — Regardless of the 

 type of brooder selected and the method of supplying heat, there 

 are at least three, and perhaps four, requirements for the best 

 brooding of chicks. (1) A clean, easily accessible, well-ventilated 

 hover, partially darkened, to which the chicks may have free 

 access at any time to warm up quickly. (2) A well-ventilated, 

 lighted, and moderately warm compartment which will provide 

 exercise room for the young chicks, also a place for them to stay 

 when the brooder run is cool and they do not need the high 

 temperature under the hover. (3) A brooder run or pen protected 

 from storms, sun, and wind, and enclosed within the brooder house 

 itself. (4) An outside yard for use in pleasant weather, providing 

 an abundance of range, also a place for growing green feed. 



It will be seen from these requirements that the indoor brooder 

 adapted to the intensive brooder house must meet the first two 

 requirements, while an outdoor brooder must provide the first 

 three. The gasoline brooder offers the first three of these, the 

 second being secured by placing a board, temporarily, a little in 

 front of the hover, thus confining the chicks in close proximity 

 for the first two or three days, after which time the board is re- 

 moved and the chicks given the freedom of the entire floor. 



Preparation of the Brooder. — Before the chicks are placed 

 in the brooder, put it in the best possible order. It should be 

 cleaned thoroughly with a stiff bristle brush; if necessary the 

 floor should be scraped with a putty knife to remove any drop- 

 pings, and the interior should afterward be thoroughly sprayed 

 with a good disinfecting solution (50 per cent carbolic acid or 

 zenoleum). After the brooder has been cleaned the floor should 

 be covered to a depth of one-quarter of an inch ■s\T:th clean white 

 sand, and over this with short-cut alfalfa or fine-cut straw. The 

 lamp should be burning for a day before the chicks are put in, 

 so as to heat the brooder to an approximate temperature of about 

 98° under the hover. It is not advisable to heat the hover com- 

 partment to 100° or 105°, as is sometimes recommended, because 

 a high temperature tends to lower the vitality of the chicks, — to 

 make them much more tender and more easily injured by bad 

 methods. 



It is well to inspect the brooder and see that it is in good 

 repair, also that the canvas curtains in front of the hover or sur- 



