REARING CHICKS IN BROODERS 



AN ORIGINAL DESIGN FOR AN EASILY CONSTRUCTED, PORTABLE COL- 

 ONY HOUSE— CARE OF BROODER CHICKS— THE QUESTION OF FEED 



£. W. McBRIDE 



'^^''^k.^- 



TWENTY-FOUR hours after hatching the chicks are 

 removed to the warm brooder. Not more than 

 fifty chicks are placed in each and one brooder is 

 placed in each colony house. The next thing is to instruct 

 them in the ways of their new home. The little motherless 

 chick must be taught everything, but it soon learns. Teach 

 them first of all how to seelf the warmth of the "hover." 

 Watch carefully to see they do not remain outside huddling 

 up against the exterior of the cloth instead of nestling 

 snugly inside. For the first few days they must have con- 

 stant attention. Show them where to find the water, and 

 dip their bills into it so that they may know how to use it 

 when found. 



Some kind of litter such as clover leaves or chopped 

 straw should be placed on the floor of the brooder as soon 

 as the chicks are put into it, and in this chick feed and small 

 grit should be scattered, so that they may learn early to 

 scratch. At the end 

 of a week they can 

 be given a mash 

 made of two parts 

 corn meal and one 

 part middlings. 

 They can be al-, 

 lowed out of the 

 brooder after two 

 days to run about 

 the colony house, 

 but particular care 

 should be taken to 

 teach them how to 

 go back by the 

 passageway leading 

 up from the ground. 

 Do not lift the stupid ones off the floor of the colony 

 house, even though this may be an easier method, but make 

 them go back the right way, so that they may know how to 

 return to the brooder when they want the heat. 



As soon as they have learned these lessons they may 

 be allowed outside in the yard. This enclosure need not be 

 more than 10 feet square, with 1-inch mesh wire netting a 

 foot high. After they are ten days or two weeks old this 

 pen may be removed and the chicks allowed to run at will, 

 but for a few days they should be watched to see that they 

 return properly to the brooder. 



They should be taught a call the first day. An imita- 

 tion of a hen's cluck is a good call for this purpose. As they 

 grow older change this to tapping on the feed bucket, as 

 this sound they can hear and distinguish a good distance 

 away. 



When they are about three weeks old give them larger 



grain, such as wheat screenings, cracked corn and Kafiir corn. 

 The manner of mixing the soft feed is important. Take 

 two parts of corn meal and one of middlings and mix these 

 together dry, thoroughly. Then pour boiling water on the 

 mixture (the water must be boiling) and stir vigorously into 

 a crummy state. This food is partly cooked, and is very 

 wholesome and relished by the chicks. 



The brooder should be kept closed at night for about a 

 week or ten days until the chicks understand how to go in 

 and out, and the lamp should be kept going for about four 

 weeks, although it is needed only at night when the day is 

 warm and the brooder is not used. After the chicks have 

 gone, say, two weeks, without any artificial heat the brooder 

 is taken out and used over again for younger chicks, and 

 is replaced by a "cold" brooder, that is, a brooder without 

 the "hover" or lamp, and having simply the inside dia- 

 phragm. This is used until they are large enough to roost. 



Then the cold 

 brooder is removed, 

 and roosts are 

 placed in the colony 

 houses. The cock- 

 erels are finally re- 

 moved to the fat- 

 tening pen, and the 

 pullets allowed to 

 run loose until ready 

 for laying. 



The colony 

 houses shown i n 

 the illustration 

 which accompanies, 

 this article possess 

 some novel feat- 

 ures. They are 6 feet square at the base, and 7 feet high. 

 The bottom is a soft pine board 1 by 12 inches. The corners 

 are fastened with a piece set in so that they can not possibly 

 pull apart. The framing of the upper part and doorways is 

 made of Oregon pine, stripped and fenced to J inch thick 

 and 2iinches wide. All the joints are cleat nailed, thus 

 preventing the wind from racking the frames in any way. The 

 tent has a, back entrance door and one chick door at the front 

 left hand corner, as well as one front window opening which 

 is provided with a duck canvas curtain, but in which glass 

 can be set in cold weather if necessary. The four sides are 

 of 12 inch Army duck canvas. Thorough ventilation is 

 secured by 6 by 8 inch openings in the front and back, with 

 roll-up canvas curtains adjustable at any point. These 

 houses are serviceable, well ventilated, and portable; they 

 are moreover built so that they can be taken apart and laid 

 aside in the winter when not in use. 



A PORTABLE COLONY HOUSE 



