64 THE BEGINNER IN POULTRY 



a matter of substituting close personal care for the 

 automatic work of the higher priced heated brooders. 

 One who handles a fireless brooder must expect to give 

 time instead of money in order to have his chicks 

 "properly brooded." 



"When does one cease to be a Beginner ? " inquires 

 one whom poultry people generally call an expert. 

 " For myself," he says, " I can say that I am still very 

 much in the Beginners' class." Had he said, "the 

 learners' class," we could all agree ; for he who ceases 

 to learn has ceased to be a reliable worker, or a reliable 

 teacher. 



The best article I ever saw on brooding chicks dis- 

 cussed " four vital points in brooding." These four 

 points were exercise, feed, space, and uniformity in 

 age and size of chicks brooded together, in the order 

 here given. You may notice that all these are points 

 depending on the operator ; hence it must be taken for 

 granted that they are based on the use of the best 

 brooder attainable. 



Two of the stock questions which editors receive but 

 never answer, are, " Which is the best incubator ? " ; 

 " Which is the best brooder ? " I shall not try to give 

 the name of the best brooder, but that brooder is the 

 best which affords the least chance for the Beginner to 

 go wrong. This means, one in which the heat cannot 

 go fatally high or. drop to a fatally low point ; one in 

 which the chicks are free to select for themselves from 

 several temperatures, at any given time. It must be 

 one which has good circulation of fresh air, and no cor- 

 ners where chicks may tend to crowd and smother. 

 Because the round hover meets most of this demand, 



