ARTIFICIAL BROODING 



About three or four days before our hatch is ready to come 

 off we start a slow fire in the brooder, to dry it and heat it up 

 throughout. Then just before placing in the chicks we run the 

 temperature of the brooder up to 90 degrees and keep this 

 temperature under the hover from eight to ten days. The tem- 

 perature we do not guess at, for we think that is poor manage- 



46— BROOD coop AND PEN 

 A lath pen of this type is almost a necessity where mature fowls have access to the yard 

 where the chicks are fed. Special food is given in the pen and the fowls cannot reach it. 



ment, for these reasons. If the chicks become chilled they get 

 a very serious set-back; it gives them bowel trouble, causes 

 them to crowd and smother one another, and gives the operator 

 all kinds of trouble to get them straightened out again. Too 

 much heat is about as bad as too little. It makes the young- 

 sters weak, gives them leg trouble, colds, and causes them to lose 

 their appetite, a most essential thing for little chicks to have 

 if they are expected to thrive. To insure an even temperature 

 place a thermometer in the hover so that the bulb of the mer- 

 cury is raised about two inches from the floor. Then keep the 

 hover at 90 degrees foi* eight or ten days, and after that the 

 temperature can be dropped to 85 degrees for five or six days 

 and then to 80 degrees. This we find to be a good temperature 

 until the chicks are six or seven weeks old. 



We like the hot air brooders for several reasons, and we 

 also prefer the center heat. We find that if there is any crowd- 

 ing on the chicks' part that they crowd to the center and keep 

 making room for one another, hence they do not smother each 

 other by crowding into the corners. In a hundred chicks size 

 brooder we never place more than seventy-five newly hatched 

 chicks, and generally after the first ten days we are obliged to 

 remove about half of the youngsters to another brooder. This 

 is not only beneficial to the youngsters, but is also better for the 

 operator, for this reason; he can feed the more robust chicks 

 heavier than he would the weaker ones and the stronger chicks 

 do not domineer over the weaker ones. One thing we are care- 

 ful to avoid is not to feed or water the chicks in the hover part 

 of the brooder. We place their food and water in the outside 

 part of the brooder and compel the youngsters to go there to 

 supply their wants. We take special notice at every feeding 

 that every chick comes out to get something to eat. If they do 



not we put them out and watch them very closely to see if they 

 partake of the rations set before them. If they have not been 

 over fed previously they will take hold with the others. If 

 they do not, and stand around dumpish, we remove them to 

 other quarters. We also feed them in such a manner that they 

 cannot trot through their food or water, getting themselves 

 wet and all gummed up and then go back under the hover and 

 get that to smelling foul, thus causing sickness in the youngsters, 

 for which the brooder is often blamed. 



It is good policy in the spring, just as soon as the weather 

 will permit, to get the brooders and chicks out doors, so that 

 they can get all the fresh air possible. 



Another thing I should like to mention is this: In the late 

 spring or early in the summer it is not a good idea to set the 

 brooder and chicles out of doors so that the rays of the sun can 

 strike on the hover part unless the cover is raised to allow the 

 warm air to circulate in the hover freely. Then just before the 

 sun's rays leave the brooder, close it up so as to keep it from 

 getting damp with the night dews. Do not allow the fumes of 

 the lamp or heater to pass directly into the hover, as this is very 

 injurious to the youngsters. It gives them catarrh, sore eyes, 

 and in many cases kills them outright. If you have a brooder 

 with too much bottom or top heat, look out for all kinds of 

 trouble with the youngsters. Last, but not least, when you have 

 finished the season's work with brooders and have no further 

 use for them, don't let them stand around in the weather, but 

 remove to dry quarters, empty the lamps, brush Out the brooders 

 and set them away until you want them again in the spring. 

 With this kind of care your brooders will pay for themselves 

 many times over and last for years, as there is comparatively 



47— THREE USEFUL DEVICES 

 On the left is a three compartment grit and shell box with glass front, 

 an adjustable feed hopper. In the center is a drinking fountain. 



On the right 



Uttle wear and tear on them, and they are just as good to use 

 in after years as they are when you first get them. If you are 

 using incubators, do not try to raise chicks without the help of 

 a good brooder. It is just as essential to have as a good in- 

 cubator, because it is to your profit to raise as many of the 

 chicks hatched as is possible. 



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