324 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT 



where -a fire occurs. Individual lamp brooders range in 

 capacity from about fifty to one hundred chicks. 



Colony Brooders. The colony brooder has many ad- 

 vantages over other systems of brooding. It is not only a 

 brooder but a growing house for the chicks after passing 

 the brooding stage; it is in use most of the year. An in- 

 dividual lamp brooder can be used only for a few weeks, 

 then a house must be provided for the growing chicks. The 

 colony brooding system is less expensive in equipment. A 

 good type of colony brooder is shown in illustration of the 

 Cornell gasolene brooder. This has a capacity of two 

 hundred chicks. The cost for heating by gasolene amounts 

 to from 2 to 10 cents a day, depending on the weather con- 

 ditions. The cost to build is in the neighborhood of $36. 



A colony brooder may be heated by coal oil lamps. 

 Lamps may be placed inside or outside the house and a de- 

 tachable hover used inside. 



A Hot Water Jug may be used to furnish heat in a 

 colony brooder and other brooders. A gallon jug, filled with 

 hot water twice a day will furnish heat enough under a 

 hover 2 feet square for fifty chicks. This is a fireless but 

 not a heatless brooder. Two such jugs and hovers in a 

 colony house 6x8 feet will take care of 100 chicks. 



A "Fireless and Henless" Brooder. Sometimes it is de- 

 sirable to rear hen-hatched chicks in a brooder without the 

 hen. We give an illustration of a home-made brooder on 

 page 325. It is made out of a dry-goods box, a little burlap 

 or flannel, and a gallon vinegar jug. The box may be 3 to 

 4 feet long, 2% feet deep and 2y 2 feet wide, set on edge. 

 Larger sized boxes, however, may be used. The hover 

 should be about 2 feet square, high enough to put the jug 

 under it. Strips of burlap about 4 inches wide are tacked 

 on to the under side of the hover top, which is made of 

 plain matched boards. These strips hang down all over 



