ARTIFICIAL BROODING 73 



The novice should heed the oft repeated asser- 

 tion, "It's easier to hatch the chicks than to raise 

 them." Good eggs placed in a good incubator run 

 properly or placed under a hen will hatch, but to 

 properly care for the little creatures presents a more 

 difficult problem. To properly care for chicks means 

 to supply them with the things which nature intends 

 they should have to promote their health and 

 growth. 



Warmth is the first essential to their welfare. 

 When hens are used to mother the broods there will 

 be no trouble in this direction, unless perhaps too 

 many chicks are placed in their charge, but where 

 the artificial methods are used improper tempera- 

 tures are apt to cause many losses before the causes 

 are detected by the inexperienced. The low and 

 irregular temperatures of brooders have caused 

 more cases of diseases and deaths than any other 

 one thing in the artificial brooding of chicks. 



First of all the novice should install a brooder 

 which will meet his particular case. What I mean 

 by this is he must pay some attention to where the 

 artificial mother is to be located, whether in a warm 

 room, a fairly warm henhouse, or in the yard. 

 There are heated indoor, heated outdoor, and fire- 

 less brooders; all have their advocates. It would 

 be far from practical to put a heated indoor or a 

 fireless brooder outside during the early part of 

 the season, nor would it be economical to purchase 



