HATCHING AND REARING CHICKS 



ment and loss with little chicks. Hen-hatched 

 chicks are sure to be more or less lousy, and even 

 incubator-hatched chicks are seldom free from the 

 pests. The only sure way of keeping the vermin 

 under control is to begin fighting them as soon as 

 the chicks are hatched and keep it up all along the 

 line. A reliable brand of louse powder will fix the 

 body lice, but has no effect upon the red mites 

 which infest the coops. These must be eradicated 

 by spraying or painting the coops or brooders with 

 some good liquid lice paint or with common kero- 

 sene oil. For further advice on this subject, see 

 Chapter Fifteen. 



The Best Temperature for Brooders. The 

 maintenance of the correct temperature in the 

 brooder is a very important matter. It seems to 

 be comparatively easy for the average beginner 

 to keep his brooder either too hot or too cold dur- 

 ing the night, and the one extreme is about as 

 common and as serious as the other; chilling pro- 

 duces bowel disorders and other ailments, while 

 too much heat will give you a bunch of " hot 

 house " chicks that are lacking in vitality and 

 stamina. 



Most experienced poultrymen regulate the 

 temperature of their brooders more by the actions 

 of the chicks than by the use of a thermome- 

 ter. When the chicks spread out on the floor of 

 the brooder in a contented manner and soon go to 



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