BROODER HOUSES 353 
use ofalamp. If properly carried out, this method will give almost 
ideal brooding conditions, yet the labor involved is so great, as 
compared with the central heating system, that, where a large 
number of chicks are to be cared for, the latter is by far the best. 
The fourth method, practised to only a limited extent, is to 
equip the long brooder house with fireless brooders or hovers, so 
constructed that they conserve the heat given off by the bird 
itself. The troubles are that they are hard to ventilate properly, 
that their use induces a loss of vitality, and that very few birds 
can be grouped in a single flock,—not over twenty-five with 
safety. Fireless brooders have not been, and probably never 
will be, used very extensively. 
Colony brooder houses are of three types, varying in size and 
other respects. Those of extremely small size, often only three 
by five feet, are equipped 
with a portable hover, the 
heat being generated by 
a kerosene lamp. These 
are commonly called port- 
able outdoor brooders (Fig. 
166), and have a capac- 
ity of approximately fifty 
chicks each. They necessi- 
tate considerable labor and 
attendance, are hard to 
clean, and the lamp is in- Fie. 167.—Colony houses built on runners and 
ac cessible In the early equipped with hovers heated by kerosene lamps. 
aoe . (Photo from Maine Experiment Station.) 
spring, too, it is difficult 
to maintain the required degree of heat, as they are always ex- 
tremely susceptible to outside changes in temperature. These 
brooders are well adapted to the needs of the small poultryman, 
who broods only two or three hundred chicks. 
The second type of colony brooder house is much larger, 
usually six by eight or eight by eight feet at the base, and there 
are various styles of construction. The shed-roof house is com- 
mon (Fig. 167). Such houses are equipped with one or two, 
usually two, portable or adaptable hovers, which are heated 
with kerosene lamps. The lamp may be placed outside or inside 
of the building as seems most desirable. Being of large size, 
these houses will accommodate a considerable number of chicks. 
After the chicks have grown sufficiently, the hovers can be re- 
23 
