BROODING 35 
With good stock and proper incubators a 
poultryman should get a hatch of about 55 
per cent. Thus he will have a reasonable 
margin to go on. For example, if he gets a 
60-per-cent hatch he will have four hundred 
and eighty chicks, which will be fairly within 
the capacity of his brooder house. If he 
gets a poor hatch of, say, 45 per cent, he will 
have three hundred and sixty chicks, which 
will make a comfortable brood. In other 
words, his incubating should be so planned 
that each hatch will furnish one good brood 
of chicks. Early-hatched chicks require a 
larger stove in proportion than late-hatched 
chicks; thus a forty-two to forty-eight inch 
hover will be large enough for a brood of 
four hundred in April or May. 
Arrangement of Chimney. Care should 
be taken to see that the chimney extends at 
least a foot and a half above the ridgepole, 
in order that there may be a good draught, 
regardless of the direction of the wind. A 
certain amount of creosote is very likely to 
be deposited on the interior of any metal 
chimney. Occasionally the chimney should 
be taken off the stove, swung to one side, 
