FIRELESS BROODERS HAVE COME TO STAY 81 



and hinged on one side of the box for ingress and egress of the 

 chickens. The hover frame is covered with heavy double canton 

 flannel, and seven square blankets cut out of good thick felt lie 

 on top of the hover. These little blankets must not cover the 

 quarter inch crack for ventilation, but should just fit inside the 

 frame. This is another special novelty. The first week all of the 

 blankets are used and each succeeding week one is removed, until 

 at eight weeks of age the chicks have no blankets over them and 

 are ready to leave the brooder. 



The brooder 20 inches square and made as I described will ac- 

 commodate only 25 chickens. Mr. Hammons' experience has 

 taught him that this number is the very best for one flock, as then 

 each chick can grow without crowding. 



At first he makes a nest of straw nearly filling the box, leaving 

 a nicely rounded out place in the middle for the baby chicks to 

 nestle in, and as they grow, less straw is needed, but a little should 

 always be used to keep the floor and the chickens' feet clean. The 

 blankets should be sunned and aired daily to keep them sweet and 

 clean, as one airs one's own bed. 



Mrs. Frank Metcalf, the originator of the celebrated "Buckeyes," 

 writes : "I have had fine success with Mr. Hammons' brooder and 

 recommend it to others as the best I have ever used. I raised 

 forty-seven out of fifty hatched in the last batch of Buckeyes. Fif- 

 teen turkeys may be raised in one of these; I found that eleven did 

 very nicely, although more would have been better at first. We 

 had little coops 30 inches wide, by six feet long and confined the 

 chicks with the box inside of these for the first week; after that 

 they had wire runs out of doors." 



This brooder is simply a square box, 20x20 inches, 6 inches 

 deep, made of ^4-inch dressed tongue-and-grooved wood, with a 

 hover laid on it instead of a lid, and with ventilation all round the 

 edge of the hover and the sides of the box, giving free air around 

 the chicks as it would be around a hen. It is a good imitation of a 

 hen. 



Handles can be nailed on the box so it can be carried easily, 

 chicks and all. 



The canton flannel cover of the hover should have a little plait 

 at each corner, so the flannel will sag down in the middle a little, 

 on the backs of the chicks. 



I have found that if too few chicks are in the brooder that they 

 cannot at first keep warm enough. Six chicks for instance are too 

 few. In that case I put a hot water bottle or bag on the top of the 

 hover, under the blankets, for a short time. I also have found that 

 the blankets can be cut out of a common woolen blanket, which 

 does as well as the felt and costs less. 



