42 POULTRY SECRETS REVEALED. 



And what is the result of this well doing? 



Breeding and feeding. 



These are the two stumbling blocks that trip the beginner. 



The latter has been considered; now for the former. 



The secret of successful brooding is easier shown than told. 



The two methods — natural and artificial — vary widely. Success or 

 failure does not depend on either. Good management means success 

 in either case just as surely as poor management means failure. 



Let us first consider the natural method. 



If one raises only a few chicks a good "mother" hen makes the 

 best brooder. She will teach, hover and protect them. The dreaded 

 white diarrhoea win rarely trouble her little flock. If she "runs" 

 with them in a roomy pen — as she should do — rats and cats will leave 

 them alone. And so, barring accidents, she will raise most of her 

 fiock. 



But a good hatcher is not always a good brooder. An excitable 

 hen, that is forever rushing about, will tread many chicks to death; 

 and a clumsy, awkward hen will crush them. 



I never let a lot of valuable chicks out on free range until they are 

 large enough to care for themselves. I don't believe in furnishing 

 chick meat to cats or rats. 



The roomy Buckeye colony houses, with large covered runs, allow 

 plenty of exercise. They give shelter in cold or stormy weather, and 

 a cool, well ventilated retreat on hot days. When the hen is re- 

 moved they make ideal homes for the growing youngsters, and they 

 are vermin proof. Although each house measures six by three feet, 

 with liberal head room, yet two men may carry one of them with ease. 



