POULTRY FOR PROFIT 77 



and lighted at least twenty-four hours before the 

 chicks are to be taken from the incubator, and the 

 thermometer should (show a temperature of 100 

 degrees or more. Remember the chick comes from 

 a temperature of 103 or 104 degrees, and while the 

 temperature was lowered somewhat while he was in 

 the nursery, it was not enough to harden him. Re- 

 member too, that the hen's temperature, if she were 

 brooding him, would be 105 degrees, and that he 

 likes to be very warm. If your brooder lamp, like 

 one I used, does not heat the brooder sufficiently, 

 add hot water in pails, jugs or jars till you reach 

 the 100 mark. 



Directions for using brooders usually say : "Leave 

 the chicks in the incubator nursery twenty-four to 

 forty-eight hours after hatching." This is all right 

 for experts, but for beginners I believe it is safer 

 to take the chicks from the nursery as soon as the 

 hatch is over and put them in a flannel-lined box or 

 basket. Cover them well with a warm blanket, and 

 if they do not sleep quietly, let them have a flannel- 

 wrapped jug of hot water to cuddle about. I say 

 this because I have found it very difficult to control 

 the heat in the nursery of an incubator. If the 

 thermometer is left hanging where it was during 

 the hatch, it will not show what the temperature is 

 in the nursery, and if it is placed in the nursery it 

 is more than likely to be knocked over, so that you 

 cannot see it at all. If the chicks lie quietly and 

 sleep, the heat may be just right, or it may be too 

 high. If they stand up or peep miserably, they are 

 cold. A newly hatched chick never peeps if it is 

 comfortable. 



The idea is to gradually lower the temperature 

 from the time the chicks are out of the shell, and you 

 cannot do this unless you know the temperature. 



