AMERICAN POULTRY CULTURE 
first pretty downy little balls of life arrive it is a 
temptation to want lots of them; but most people 
who raise a limited number of chickens lead busy 
lives, and after the first enthusiasm passes off— 
usually at the end of the first week or two—they 
find that either for lack of time, room, or, alas! 
sometimes of inclination, the chicks must suffer. 
And it is an indisputable fact that, in order to 
attain maximum success with little chicks, no detail, 
no matter how small and insignificant it may seem, 
dares to be slighted; every little thing counts, and 
a few chicks well cared for are better property 
than twice that many half cared for. 
Don’t put too many chicks together in one 
bunch; large broods are entirely unnatural, and 
death from crowding often results. It is better 
in all respects to limit the number of chicks kept 
together in one lot, whether they are kept with 
hens or in a brooder. Crowding usually develops 
many unexpected troubles, as well as those com- 
monly known to result from such practices. Fif- 
teen to twenty chicks are as many as one hen of 
good size can satisfactorily look after, while the 
biggest individual brooder made should not con- 
tain more than one hundred chicks. Most 
machines give the best results when they contain 
not more than sixty to seventy-five chicks, and forty 
or fifty is usually the safest number. 
Lice and mites often cause much disappoint- 
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