2:!2 POULTRY PRODUCTION 



Tlicise hens which are best for setting will usually lie found 

 to make the l)est mothers. The coop may be of almost any 

 size and shape. The " A" shaped coops with a small protected 

 run sliown in Figure 109 will be found con^•enient, serviceable, 

 and inex])ensive. 



Ca])ons are sometimes used as mothers, but are more of 

 a curiosity than a success. In inducing them to take 

 the chicks, confine them in a roomy nest box with a 

 low roof and place the chicks under them at dusk. If on 

 examination in the morning it is found that the capon 

 has not accepted the chicks, they should be taken away 

 and kept warm throughout the day and placed under 



Capon brooding chicks. (Courtesy' of Geort^c Beuo>'.) 



the capon again at dusk, he having been confined to the 

 nest throughout the day. He will freciuently accept the 

 chicks the first night and rarely refuses them on the second. 

 Some breeders who use capons extensively for brooding, 

 wait until the chicks are two weeks old before trusting them 

 to the capons. 



Natural versus Artificial Brooding. — Artificial brooding is a 

 more or less necessary accomjiauiment of the use of incu- 

 bators. Its advantages and disadvantages arc cpiite com- 

 parable with those of artificial incubation. The natural 

 method is the proper one where only a few chicks are raised. 

 With any mmibers, however, the use of brooders is to be 



