76 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 



heating as well as chill to guard against, and the 

 ventilation problem as well. If I should attempt to 

 classify the enemies against which one must con- 

 tend with different ways of brooding, it would be 

 something like this: 



Hens — Vermin. 



Fireless brooders — Chill and vermin. 



Heated brooders — Chill, vermin and overheating. 



The more artificial your system becomes, the more 

 complications arise and the more watchful must 

 the caretaker be. 



Before the incubator hatch comes off, the brooder 

 must be ready. It was disinfected when it was put 

 away at the end of last season's work and again at 

 the beginning of this season's, and it must certainly 

 be cleaned and disinfected between hatches, not so 

 much from fear of white diarrhea, as because of 

 the wicked red mite, which is a more dangerous foe. 

 After the brooder has been swept and washed till it 

 looks clean, go over it with a cloth, wet in water 

 containing a little creolin. If the brooder has been 

 infested with mites, this will not be sufficient. Every 

 bit of wood should be painted with the kerosene and 

 carbolic acid mixture (1 part crude carbolic acid to 

 3 or 4 of kerosene) . Go over it inside and out, for 

 mites will go through if there is a tiny crack any- 

 where. 



When it is thoroughly clean, cover the floor of the 

 brooder with clean, coarse sand, and on top of the 

 sand scatter cut alfalfa, either green or dry. A 

 little dry straw under the hover will help to make 

 the chicks comfortable. Scatter grit and steel-cut 

 oats in the litter, and provide a fountain of fresh 

 water, and your brooder is ready, except for the 

 matter of heating. 



The brooder lamp should be cleaned and filled 



