POULTRY KEEPING 569 



Rearing Chicks With Brooders. Many people prefer the arti- 

 ficial method of raising chicks, but want something cheap. It is not 

 always \vise, however, to use the cheapest. A packing case brooder 

 which will accommodate fifty chicks can 'be built for about a dollar. 

 This brooder has given excellent results, but must be used in a shed 

 or colony house. The brooder proper is made of four ten-inch 

 boards, three feet long, on which is nailed a tin or galvanized-iron 

 cover. Above this, around the sides, are strips one inch thick, and 

 on these strips sits the floor of the brooder. There should be a couple 

 of one inch holes in each strip to admit air. The floor should be 

 made of matched lumber. In the center an eight inch hole should be 

 cut, and over this an old tin pan, about ten inches across at the top 

 (which is now to become the bottom) and four inches deep, should 

 be placed. The sides of this tin should be punched full of holes. 

 For a hover a table two feet six inches square, with legs about four 

 and one-half inches long, may be used. Cheap felt may be tacked 

 on for a curtain, care being taken that it is cut from top to bottom 

 every five or six inches. For an outside wall four four-inch strips, 

 three feet long, nailed together and set on the brooder, will be satis- 

 factory. When the chicks are ten days old, one side may be taken 

 away, and a bridge used so that they may run from under the hover 

 direct to the floor of the room. Any good lamp may be used in this 

 brooder. The burner can be bought for twenty-five cents, and the 

 bowl may be made of a two-quart tin basin covered with a small pie 

 plate turned bottom side up. This plate should have a hole punched 

 in it and should be fastened to the collar of the burner with a drop 

 of solder. It is also advisable to fasten the plate to the basin in the 

 same way. (Conn. B. 3'6.) 



A temperature of 100 degrees is essential to successful brooding 

 of chickens in either large or small flocks. The larger the flock the 

 more important it is that a high temperature be maintained, because 

 the greater is the danger of crowding. When the chickens become 

 cold they like to go quickly to a warmer temperature than they could 

 occupy with comfort or safety if compelled to remain there. Chick- 

 ens will crowd when they become cold if sufficient heat is not sup- 

 plied. It is but natural that they should. A chicken's body tempera- 

 ture is normally about 105 to 106. Therefore, a cold chicken can 

 not be blamed for rubbing up against another chicken 105 degrees 

 warm instead of standing alone in a temperature of 80 to 85 degrees. 

 The more the chickens crowd the hotter the pile becomes and, there- 

 fore, the more attractive is the source of heat to the chickens on the 

 outside. If a temperature of 100 degrees is maintained, the chickens 

 will spread out of their own accord. They can be trusted to remain 

 in the temperature which is most comfortable to them, which also 

 will be the temperature best suited to their needs. The first sense to 

 be developed in a young chick, seems to be the sense of touch, as 

 manifested by the sensation of warmth, which to the chick means 

 comfort and comfort to the chick means home. The first instinct, 

 therefore, to be awakened in the chick appears to be that of location. 



