78 



ially adapted to the farmer or poultryman who raises flocks of about 

 two hundred chicks at a time. 



Prof. James E. Rice of Cornell University, where these houses 

 were first brought into use, has this to say about the house : 



The subject that I have chosen may not be quite as applicable to 

 your conditions as it would be to the State of New York, because a 

 very large part of the poultry produced in some states is raised on 

 general farms rather than upon the large special poultry farms ; 

 nevertheless, I am convinced that the method of brooding and feed- 

 ing young chickens that I shall discuss is applicable on many of the 

 general farms, even though only a few hens are kept, If there is any 

 one place more than another where economical methods, labor saving 



Figure 19. The old range at Cornell, showing congested conditions and improper 

 methods of rearing chickens on small, bare yards. 



methods of rearing chickens is important, it is on the general farm, 

 where there are so many other things that demand attention. One 

 of the chief reasons why the farmer has kept only a few fowls has 

 been that it has been too much trouble for him to hatch and rear each 

 year enough chickens to keep up large flocks. Hence the w r ork for 

 the most part has devolved in very many instances upon the wife or 

 the children, who already had as many responsibilities as they could 

 well attend to. Therefore, any method that will enable us to rear 

 chickens in flocks of two or three hundred in a single house and by 

 hopper methods of feeding which will enable us to reduce three- 

 fourths of the labor in the rearing of several thousand chickens as 

 compared with the old method of rearing chickens in little outdoor 

 brooders, twenty-five to fifty in a flock, or by means of the hens in 

 still smaller flocks, is worthy of serious consideration. The Cornell 



