AMERICAN POULTRY CULTURE 



any other conditions that are liable to surround 

 them. By " colonizing " is meant the removal of 

 the chicks to small colony houses or to brood coops, 

 similar to those described in Chapter Five, where 

 each one must look out for himself and depend 

 upon the warmth from his own body and the pro- 

 tection of his feathers. At this age chicks will 

 stand cool weather much better than dampness, 

 which is very hard on them. The Mediterranean 

 chicks feather out the most rapidly of all, and can 

 usually be safely colonized when they are eight 

 weeks old. The American varieties are some- 

 what slower in clothing themselves, but may usu- 

 ally be colonized at the age of ten weeks. The 

 Asiatic breeds are the slowest of all and often 

 require twelve weeks, or even longer, before they 

 become well feathered out. 



Small portable houses should be used where any 

 considerable number of chicks are to be carried 

 Housing through the summer, for with these 



the Chicks the birds may always have a dry, com- 

 fortable protection, and it is easier to look 

 after a few colony houses than two or three 

 times that number of brood coops. Where 

 portable houses are used, one hundred chicks may 

 safely be housed together until they get pretty well 

 matured. Where mere brood coops are used, the 

 number of chicks in each had best be limited to 

 twenty-five or thirty, and the chicks should be got- 



170 



