No. 4.] POULTRY CULTURE. 235 



that broodiness is one of the great factors in cutting down egg 

 production among our American and English breeds. 



Many methods for brooding chicks artificially also have been 

 devised. These cover a great range, with the fireless brooder 

 at one end and the large pipe brooder house at the other. In- 

 termediate between these are innumerable kinds of hovers, 

 brooder stoves, etc. Our modern brooding equipment not only 

 furnishes the means of caring for chicks in larger flocks, but 

 concentrates the work and cuts down the labor to a minimum. 

 This is evident from the fact that the pipe brooder houses are 

 capable of caring for from 1,000 to 3,000 chicks at one time. 

 Brooding equipment has not yet reached as high a point of 

 eflBciency as that of the incubator, but we hope in a few years 

 to place the former on just as sound a working basis as the 

 latter. 



Modern methods of dry mash feeding, together with the 

 hoppers and other utensils that make up our feeding equip- 

 ment, enable us to keep a larger number of birds at a much 

 lower cost and with less labor than formerly. Many kinds of 

 automatic hoppers are being tried out, and it is possible that 

 we may be able to so equip our houses that the hens will do 

 their own feeding. 



What has been said concerning hoppers can also be applied to 

 drinking fountains, as some of the newer ones on the market 

 are so made that the water is kept warm during the winter 

 season by the use of a small lamp. 



The Large Flock Homse. 



The large flock house has come to stay. I do not refer 

 to flocks of several hundred, but to those of 100 to 150. It 

 has been shown conclusively that flocks of this size can be kept 

 profitably, and the egg production will be nearly as high as 

 that of smaller flocks. The great drawback in the past in keeping 

 large numbers in one pen was the inability to devise a house that 

 would comfortably accommodate such a flock. Modern poultry 

 houses will do this. 



