PROPER TEMPERATURE 357 



rounding the same are in order; if not, new ones should be sup- 

 plied, canvas being better than felt. Before lighting the lamp 

 put in a new wick. After the temperature has been kept at ap- 

 proximately 98 for twenty-four hours, the brooder is ready for 

 the chicks. 



Transferring the Chicks. The main point in transferring 

 the chicks from the incubator to the brooder is to do this as 

 rapidly as possible and with the least chilling. It can best be 

 done by taking the chicks from the incubator and placing them 

 in a basket, which can be covered with burlap or cotton cloth, if 

 the distance they are to be carried is great. Some incubators 

 are equipped with a nursery drawer which has a cloth cover, 

 and this has the advantage of making it unnecessary to handle 

 the chicks twice during the transfer. After moving the chicks 

 from the incubator, any toe punching or leg banding necessary 

 for pedigree breeding should be done quickly. (See Chapter XIX.) 

 If the process is lengthy, the chicks should be taken from the 

 incubator and placed in another warm machine as they are suc- 

 cessively marked. It is not wise to carry many chicks at once, 

 as they are apt to be crowded and injured; from fifty to one 

 hundred, according to the size of the tray or basket used, is safe. 



Proper Temperature. The two most important factors in 

 the management of the brooder are temperature and feed. The 

 following temperatures are recommended. Start the brooder at 

 98 to 100 under the hover; during the second week run it at from 

 94 to 96, the third week from 90 to 92, during the fourth at 

 about 85. Experiments conducted at the New Jersey Station 

 demonstrate that an exceedingly high temperature continued for 

 many days will lower the vitality of the brood and cause a heavy 

 mortality. Any extreme variation of temperature, especially if 

 rapidly produced, will cause a heavy death rate. Deaths usually 

 occur at the time of or immediately after extreme variations, 

 either up or down. Variations in the brooder temperature, 

 especially during the first two weeks, are responsible for much 

 of the mortality in artificial brooding. The figures given were 

 found to represent the most desirable hover temperature. It is 

 a good rule to keep the hover just warm enough so that the chicks 

 will spread out over the floor and not crowd. On the other hand, 

 the temperature should never be high enough to cause panting. 

 With Leghorn chicks it is unwise to run the hover at low average 

 or to lower the temperature too suddenly, for the young chicks 



