32 N. H. Agricultural Experiment Station [Bulletin 266 



electric incubators costiiifj $1,695 each, a 1 h. p. combination table saw. 

 band saw. and planer, worth $260. but secured second-hand for al)Out 

 one-fourth that amount, two electric hand saws at $40 each and a Yo" 

 portable hand drill at $37.50. 



The total of this new equipment amounts to $3,582, all of which has 

 been bought solely at the discro^tion of the owner. Up to March, 1927, 

 the total investment was $3,075. but several chanpfes have been made 

 in the original layout, reducing this to $2,429. Tlie ultra-violet ray 

 equipment (medical type) was removed because of the practical ditfi- 

 culty of exposing a large number of groups of birds daily without 

 either moving them or tlie light. The 5 h. p. utility motor was aban- 

 doned, and a tractor purchased instead, due to a standing demand 

 charge on the motor, whether in use or not. The hay-fork hoist was 

 exchanged for a more satisfactory type but is not now motor-operated. 

 AVhile the experimental feed mixer was not considered entirely satis- 

 factory (largely from the standpoint of labor requirements) it has 

 been in constant use for the past five years — a strong indication of the 

 need for equipment of this type. 



The original 20 lights in the barns and poultry pens were increased to 

 45 with the making of additional space on the third floor of the main 

 barn. By raising the roof at the eaves on one side, an additiomil floor 

 was obtained at nominal cost. This large barn now has four floors cut 

 up into lighted pens in which poultrj^ is kept — a method which is be- 

 coming more prevalent for utilizing the spacious New England type of 

 barn for poultry raising. Large numbers of birds can thus be main- 

 tained in a compact space where they may be cared for with a minimum 

 of labor. The lighting of hen pens is carried on from October 15 to 

 about April 10. 



Twenty-seven additional lights were required in the new brooding 

 houses. Seventeen of these (15 to 25 watts) are kept lighted all night 

 — a method which has proven successful in contrast to using lights in 

 the early morning or late afternoon for giving the birds greater day- 

 light hours in winter. Having only a dim light, the birds go to roost 

 to sleep, get up and eat or drink or exercise, as their mood happens to 

 be, but at all times are able to see their way about. No ill efifects of 

 this method have as yet been discovered. 



In the battery brooding room 4 lights are run day and night, using 

 40 watts in the daytime and 10 watts at night for each light. These 

 were operated one year from September until June but, due to rate 

 conditions, were cut down to Febmuiry till June. 



Twenty -five to 30 additional lights are also used to provide warmth 

 for day-old chicks in the "live and grow" type brooder box. At a 

 room temperature of 55° to 60° F. a 5()-watt lamp on a flexible cord is 

 placed in each box containing 50 chicks for the first week. For the 

 following week or ten days lliis is icduced to 40 watts, after which the 

 chicks are removed to regular l)i'ooding quarters, as these temporary 

 brooding boxes fail to give sufficient lu'ad room after 15 to 20 days. 

 The use of lamps in tliis manner provides the necessary heat for the 

 chicks in each pen and also liglit so tliat they may move about freely. 



