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deal of heat. He has come from a warm place the tempera- 

 ture of his mother's body being 103 degrees. For the first two 

 or three days the temperature in the brooder should be 95 de- 

 grees ; then it may be gradually lowered, as the chicks grow, 

 until it drops to 80 degrees if the weather is warm and pleasant. 

 "The best rule to follow is to observe the chicks. . . . If 

 they arrange themselves at the edge of the brooder, and sepa- 

 rate, by spreading out, the heat will be just what they desire. 

 If too cool they will come closely together and crowd. Many 

 operators have left their chicks apparently contented at night, 

 only to find in the morning some of them dead under the 

 brooder, because the heat lowered and the chicks trampled 

 among themselves in the effort to secure more warmth, and 

 this, too, when (to the operator) there seemed to be sufficient." 



CARE OF THE BROODER. 



The brooder is to be the home of the chicks until they are 

 at least six weeks old. It is a good idea to keep the brooder in 

 the brooder house until August, and then on cold, wet days 

 which we sometimes have in summer give the chicks a little 

 heat. The floor of the brooder should be kept sprinkled with 

 sand, and should be cleaned every morning. The floor of the 

 brooder house should also be kept covered with clean sand, 

 and the windows should be opened every warm and sunny day. 

 There is no hurry to get the chicks out on the ground ; indeed, 

 it is better for them to spend the first four weeks of their lives 

 indoors. 



The brooder should be enclosed with a low fence of boards 

 for the first few days, so that the chicks cannot get far away. 

 They should be given their first feeds in the brooder and wa- 

 tered there, but in a little while the feed tray and fountain may 

 be placed outside the brooder, but close to it. Grit of some 

 kind should be supplied. 



HOW TO FEED BROODER CHICKS. 



My method of feeding brooder chicks is as follows: The 

 first week or ten days I feed rolled oats and nothing else just 

 the same kind of rolled oats that I use on my own table. I 

 feed them dry. I feed them in little troughs made for the pur- 

 pose, and keep oats before the chicks all the time. Every day 

 or two I take the troughs and empty the oats remaining in 

 them into the hens' dish, and brush out the troughs with a 

 whisk broom. It may seem extravagant to feed rolled oats at 



