38 POULTRY 
clover or alfalfa. This chaff or litter should 
be swept off and removed about once a week 
and a new coating put on. 
Temperature of Brooder. During the 
first ten days after the chicks are placed in 
the brooder house the temperature should 
be 100°, two inches from the floor at the 
outer edge of the hover. It should be low- 
ered about five degrees a week until the time 
comes when the chicks will need no heat. 
For early-hatched chicks this will be about 
ten weeks, for later-hatched chickens about 
eight weeks. 
Transferring Chicks. When the chicks 
are transferred from the incubator they 
should be kept covered with flannel or some- 
thing of that kind so that they will run no 
risk of being chilled. Just before they are 
placed in the hover, their bills should be 
dipped in sour skim milk or buttermilk, so 
that every chick is forced to swallow a drop 
or two. Sour skim milk or buttermilk aids 
in the digestion of the chick’s food and helps 
it to adjust itself to the poultryman’s system 
of feeding. 
After the chicks are all in the hover, a 
