294 



COMMERCIAL POULTRY RAISING 



disturb the hens unless they step around on the nests a great 

 deal, in which event they are likely to trample the chicks, or if 

 they pick at the chicks, then the chicks should be removed as 

 soon as they are hatched and placed in a basket lined with flannel 

 or some other warm material, and kept near a stove until the 

 balance of the hatch is completed. Occasionally a hen will 

 manifest a vicious attitude toward the brood from the start, 

 and nothing that the attendant can do will alter the situation, 

 in which case it is best to take the chicks away from the vicious 

 mother and give them to a quieter bird. 



Fig. 189. — Rectangular brood coop 



and run. 



{Courtesy Kansas Experiment Station) 



Fig. 190. — V-shaped brood coop 

 and run. 



If the sitters are well fed immediately before hatching time, 

 they are not so likely to leave the nests in search of food, there- 

 fore the brood is not chilled before the chicks have had a chance 

 to dry off. Confine the hens for a few days after the hatches 

 come off, or they will take their broods too far afield and tire 

 them. It is well to provide separate coops for the broods, and 

 wherever possible place the coops on a grassy range, preferably 

 where there is some shade. For the first two weeks confine the 

 hens to the coops in the early morning, or until the grass has had 

 time to dry off; otherwise the hens will stalk their young through 

 the dew-laden undergrowth and get them soaking wet. 



