36 



the pen after they are a week old, and then the first fair day they are 

 allowed to go out doors a little while each day, and in a few days more, 

 according to the weather, all day. 



Plate 2 shows the outside of the brooder house in the winter time, 

 with the windows dropped a little at the top, opposite the pens that 

 have the oldest chicks. Plate 3 shows the colony houses, with snow on 

 the ground also, and they have 6 by 8 foot sills, with a front of 5 feet 

 and the back 3 feet high. There is a self-feeder inside that holds a bag 

 of cracked corn, a box for scraps, another for shells and grit, and a 

 one-half size bucket for water. Fifty chicks are put into each, right 

 from the brooder, and kept there until they are sold as roasters, ha^'ing 

 a run large enough so that they do not kill the grass. 



One of the greatest obstacles in the rearing of chickens artificially 

 is what is known as the "white diarrhoea," and the writer had it here 

 for years, but not for the last three seasons. If the temperature during 

 the whole process is kept where it should be, from the time the eggs 

 are put into the incubator until the chicks are three to four weeks old, 

 there will be no "white diarrhoea." If one will notice how the chicks 

 are taken down, it will be found that they do not eat as much as they 

 should, but drink a great deal of water, which shows that they are 

 feverish, and this is either caused by a lack of sufficient warmth or 

 because they have been chilled. 



Then comes the question of what is the proper heat in all of the 

 different stages of the process; and about this time there is another 

 element that enters in, and that is, if a chick comes into the world in a 

 good, strong, vigorous condition, it can stand considerable ill treat- 

 ment; but if it is not ver}' strong, perhaps has not had just the right 

 heat in the incubator, or the old stock was not just right, and yet it 

 is possible to raise it, icith the right kind of treatment, it must have a 

 chance to get where it is warmer, if it wants to. The cooling process 

 referred to under the head of incubation can be carried to such an ex- 

 treme that will produce just this trouble, and then there are several 

 ways by which it can be brought on in the brooder. One way is to 

 run the heat too low all of the time, and in this last case it need not 

 be much too low, either; then it may be run warm enough practically, 

 but the fire goes out, and the longer it remains out and the lower the 

 temperature goes the more likely they are to receive the chill necessary 

 to bring on this trouble ; and again, the younger the chick the greater 

 the danger. Then there are brooders that are so constructed that the 

 little chicks do not know enough to find the place where the proper 

 heat may be, after they are once let out; and one will often see them 

 in various numbers, huddled up in some corner trying to keep each 

 other warm, which means white diarrhoea in a few days. In this last 

 instance it may happen that only a few get chilled, and they may be 

 the only ones to have it; then, if the party has used some concoction 

 as a remedy, he may think that the remedy was what cured the rest of 

 the lot, when as a matter of fact they never had it at all. So the best 

 remedy is to give them a chance to go to any temperature they want, 

 and so arranged that the little chicks right out of the incubator can- 

 not help finding it, — in other words "fool proof." 



The question is often asked, " Is there a chance for me to get a living 

 in this artificial chicken business?" The reply is, "There certainly is," 

 for the right party ; and there are very few if any other kinds of busi- 

 ness that offer as large returns for the amount of capital invested. 

 But when the question is asked, "Can / make a living at it? " it is quite 

 another thing, for no one can tell another whether he can make a 

 success if he goes into any kind of business, — chickens, dairying, 



