HATCHING AND REARING CHICKS 
ment and loss with little chicks. Hen-hatched 
chicks are sure to be more or less lousy, and even 
incubator-hatched chicks are seldom free from the 
pests. The only sure way of keeping the vermin 
under control is to begin fighting them as soon as 
the chicks are hatched and keep it up all along the 
line. A reliable brand of louse powder will fix the 
body lice, but has no effect upon the red mites 
which infest the coops. These must be eradicated 
by spraying or painting the coops or brooders with 
some good liquid lice paint or with common kero- 
sene oil. For further advice on this subject, see 
Chapter Fifteen. 
The Best Temperature for Brooders. The 
maintenance of the correct temperature in the 
brooder is a very important matter. It seems to 
be comparatively easy for the average beginner 
to keep his brooder either too hot or too cold dur- 
ing the night, and the one extreme is about as 
common and as serious as the other; chilling pro- 
duces bowel disorders and other ailments, while 
too much heat will give you a bunch of “ hot 
house” chicks that are lacking in vitality and 
stamina. 
Most experienced poultrymen regulate the 
temperature of their brooders more by the actions 
of the chicks than by the use of a thermome- 
ter. When the chicks spread out on the floor of 
the brooder in a contented manner and soon go to 
161 
