BROODING 29 
rear should be such that the front third will 
be cool and at times even cold. The secret 
of the proper brooding of chicks is to main- 
tain a temperature under or near the hover 
sufficiently high to insure that the chicks will 
be warmed up quickly, while at the same 
time they have ready access to quarters 
that are considerably cooler. This makes it 
possible to harden them off. 
One Room Best. It is better to have the 
cool area and the warm area all in one room, 
so that the chicks, when they are running 
around where it is cold, may constantly see 
the stove and the other chicks. They will 
then readily go back and get warmed up 
when they grow too cool. If the brooding 
arrangements are in two rooms it will be 
necessary to teach them to go in and out 
through an opening. Of necessity this open- 
ing must be small. The chicks may get too 
far away from the opening and become lost, 
because they cannot see or feel the source of 
heat, or see other chicks. 
Construction of House. The brooder 
house should be twelve feet wide and sixteen 
feet deep. The roosts and dropping boards 
