322 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT 



brooder. A too high or a too low temperature will result 

 in an inevitable loss of chicks, which may extend over a 

 period of several weeks, and also in weakened vitality in 

 some that live. It should also be remembered that when 

 chicks have once been overheated their powers of re- 

 sistance have been weakened and they will be unable to 

 stand the same degree of cold as others that have been kept 

 under proper temperature conditions. 



Training the Chicks. In artificial brooding the at- 

 tendant must do the training that in natural brooding is 

 done by the hen. Success will depend very largely upon 

 the attention given to the chicks during the first two or 

 three days of their brooder life. The chick for the first 

 two days does not know where to find the heat if it should 

 get out from under the hover. It must be taught. By fre- 

 quently pushing the chicks toward the heat they will soon 

 learn to find it. They should be taught to leave the hover and 

 seek the cooler fresh air occasionally for a time. They should 

 be "kept going" between the heat and the cold for the first 

 two or three days. At any rate, this training should be 

 done several times a day for the first two days, and under 

 no conditions should they be allowed to remain away from 

 the heat until they begin to peep and crowd against each 

 other for warmth. This is fatal. A little time spent, or a 

 little "puttering," for the first two days will save a great 

 deal of trouble and loss later. 



Ventilation. Where fifty or a hundred chicks are kept 

 together in a brooder, that means a great many lungs call- 

 ing for fresh air or oxygen. They need a little ventilation 

 at the start, but comparatively little to what they require 

 as they grow older. Ventilation as well as temperature 

 must be elastic or progressive. Every day there is an in- 

 creased demand for fresh air. A mistake is often made 

 in cutting off on the heat as the chicks grow older, instead 



