ARTIFICIAL BROODING 



grees by the end of the fourth week and run at this temperature 

 while the chicks remain in the brooder. These temperatures 

 are given for the hover space when the chicks are outside. 

 The operator should always aim' to keep the chicks comfortable 

 and to be guided fully as much by the appearance and actions 

 of the chicks as by the temperature indicated by the thermome- 

 ter. Many experienced operators running individual brooders 

 pay no attention whatever to the thermometer, depending on 

 the appearance and actions of the chicks >to guide them. Their 

 rule is to have sufficient heat under the hover so that the chicks 

 win be comfortable. When they are warm enough the little 

 chicks will be found ranged about the edge of the hover with 

 their heads peeping from beneath the felt. If they are not 

 warm enough they will be bvmched up out of sight imdemeath 

 the hover or will show a tendency to huddle and crowd. If 

 allowed to remain in such condition, they wiU be almost certain 

 to be ohiUed by morning. It is always wise to have a little sur- 

 plus heat at night. In apartment brooders where the chicks 

 have an opportunity to get away from the source of the 

 heat there is very Httle danger of their becoming overheated. 

 When they are warm enough to stay around the edge of 

 the hover at bedtime they will, when the brooder cools off 

 as the night grows colder, gradually draw nearer the 

 source of heat underneath the hover and so keep comfort- 

 able all night. If a brooder operator wiU carefully and 

 closely observe the habits of his chicks he will have httle 

 difficulty in properly brooding them. 



In running the brooder on warm nights it may be 

 found advisable, where double felt curtains surround the 

 hover, to raise the outer row of felts, or in metal drum 

 brooders having removable felts, to remove the felts 

 altogether. 



It is probable that more of the troubles which beset 

 the amateur in raising brooder chicks are caused by either 

 overheating or chilling the chicks than from faulty feed- 

 ing. It is as dangerous to overheat them as it is to chill 

 them. The well made, modem, up-to-date brooder, if 

 properly operated, will readily take care of temperature 

 changes occurring outside of the machine of from 10 to 

 15 degrees, but where there are greater changes than these 

 it will be necessary to provide promptly for offsetting them 

 by either turning the lamp flame up or down as needed. 



THE NUMBER OF CHICKS TO THE BROODER 



As a rule brooder manufacturers rate the capacity of 

 their brooding devices much too high for practical purposes. 

 Seventy-five or even 100 newly hatched chicks may be 

 placed in the brooder having a brooding apartment 36 

 inches square with a hover two feet in diameter, but 

 such a brooder is not adequate for raising this number of 

 chicks to weaning age. Fifty chicks to be carried to weaning 

 age are enough for one flock in any brooder. It will be much 

 wiser for the beginner to start his brooder with only fifty 

 chicks, since, if more are placed in the machine he is almost 

 certain to lose some of them until they thin the flock down 

 to that number or below it. 



SUGGESTIONS AS TO BROODER MANAGEMENT 



When the chicks are first placed in the brooder give each a 

 little drink of pure fresh water by dipping its bill. After this 

 keep water where they can have access to it at all times, but do 

 not place water dishes in the hover chamber where they can 

 slop over and wet the floor and htter material. In addition to 

 the chick food and grit, sprinkled in the litter, give the little 

 chicks for their first meal a httle dry stale bread crimibs barely 

 moistened with sweet milk. Feed this for the first two days, 

 then discontinue and feed exclusively on dry mixed grain chick 

 food. After the fourth day keep good pure beef scrap con- 



stantly before the chicks; also see that they are supphed with 

 chick-size grit and charcoal. Green food should be given early 

 and fed at regular intervals. 



In brooders having removable wooden hovers, take off the 

 hover while the chicks are being fed during the first week. In 

 this way you will make sure that all the chicks come out from 

 under the hover and get a chance at the food. 



Do not permit any weaklings in your brooder flock. Weak- 

 ly chicks are not worth raising and serve only as a setback to 

 the healthy ones. It will be best to put them out of the way 

 before they prove a source of injury to the balance of the flock. 



After the chicks have occupied the brooder 24 to 36 hours 

 they should be provided with a little outside run; limit this nm 

 at first to a short distance beyond the inclined run-way and do 

 not have it wider than the front of the brooder. Increase the 

 size of this run gradually as the chicks become accustomed to 

 their new quarters. Watch them closely for the first few days 

 to make sure that they do not crowd or bunch up outside of the 



44— OUT-DOOR BROODER IN SHADY LOCATION 



machine and help them to learn their way to and from the hover, 

 which is the source of heat. 



Be sure to always leave the ventilators partly open; never 

 attempt to entirely close up the brooder; the chicks must have 

 an abundance of fresh air to breathe if you are to raise them. 

 Every day, if possible, sun and air the interior of the brooder 

 and when -practicable expose the under side of the hovers and 

 the felts to the direct rays of the sun for a httle time each day. 

 Where the chicks are confined in chick shelters or small wire 

 enclosed runs, remove the brooders to fresh ground at least 

 once in two weeks. 



In the early spring brooder chicks will do much better in 

 moderate sized runs than if allowed wider range. Later in the 

 season they may be given larger runs, but it is a wise plan to 

 keep them somewhat confined until they are large enough to 

 be weaned from the brooder, since they are h3,ble to injury 

 from sudden storms unless they are kept within easy distance 

 from shelter. After weaning from the brooder and removal to 

 colony coops the wider range they have the better. 



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