THE CHICK BOOK 



13 



vigorous lot of chicks we never saw. Being satisfied with 

 results so far, we left them another week, hut when we went 

 to see them we only found a few feiathers from the hens, as 

 a pack of dogs had put a stop to our experiments, but we 

 learned this one fact, that very little, if any food should be 

 given to newly hatched chicks for the first three or four days 

 at least, and we believe there are more chicks killed by 

 overfeeding in the first ten days of their lives than at any 

 other time. This hardly ever affects the chicks until about 

 the seventh day, when they get diarrhoea and stand around 

 with full crops and soon die from Indigestion, caused by 

 strong food and feeding. We all know what a hen that 

 steals her nest does after her chicks are hatched. She does 

 nothing the first few days but brood her chicks, then after 

 they are three or four days old she will commence to scratch 

 for them, but very little do they get for the first ten days. 

 They secure a few small seeds at a time, and as they grow, 

 and their digestive organs get strength they find more food, 

 and most of the chicks live and grow to maturity; they de- 

 velop very fast, too. Let us watch the old hen and learn 

 lessons that will help us much in raising chicks with 

 brooders. 



\Ve think exercise is of great importance, and if one is 

 so situated as to allow the chicks a good run it will be found 

 very beneficial. If the room is limited use plenty of litter 

 with dry food scattered through it. Avoid sloppy food. 

 Remember dry food is nature's food and always remember, 

 too, that little food is far better than too much. 



AUG. D. ARNOLD. 



ON BROODERS AND BREEDING. 



Four years of experience with artificial incubating and 

 brooding has settled definitely in my mind the fact that 

 with it we can raise "better poultry and more of it." I 

 mean by this, that we cannot only raise a larger quantity, 

 but a better quality. This is from the standpoint of a fan- 

 cier as well as a marketman. 



In my hands brooder raised chicks are superior in 

 growth and development, shape and plumage to those raised 

 by hens. There are many reasons why this should be so, 

 and these will be apparent to the unprejudiced poultrymen. 

 My exhibition specimens have invariably been brooder 

 raised. 



If I could have but one I would prefer a brooder to an 

 incubator. I do not think an incubator superior to a hen 

 for hatching, but I do think a brooder superior to her for 

 raising chicks. To be successful the floor of the brooder 

 should be built as near the ground as possible, should be 

 capable of generating sufficient heat, and should have a 

 regulator that will maintain the correct temperature. I 

 believe a regulator on a brooder in which you expect to 

 place newly hatched chicks is as Important as that on an 

 incubator. The heat should come from above, with just 

 sufficient bottom heat to keep the floor dry. The tempera- 

 ture under the hover should be ninety degrees Fahrenheit 

 for the first two weeks, with a gradual lowering from that 

 on. Overheating is just as injurious and will cause bowel 

 trouble just as quickly as will a chilly atmosphere. 



Let me caution readers against buying cheap brooders, 

 for they prove very expensive in the end. Out of the many 

 brooders made and advertised, there should be no trouble 

 to select a good one. Buy the best or none at all. 



I have absolutely no use for an outdoor brooder, unless 

 it is to be used indoors, and then I prefer an indoor brooder. 

 Imagine shutting up fifty to two hundred chicks in a brood- 

 er three by four feet for two whole days when the weather 

 is stormy, and expecting them to do well. 



I have made small houses, six by eight feet, with a 

 window and door in front. In a corner of this house I place 



A Vigorous Brood and Their Brooder. 



the brooder, and after the chicks are three days old I give 

 them the run of the house. On pleasant days the door to 

 this house is left open and the chicks are given the run of 

 the yard. In stormy weather they are kept in the house. 

 On the floor of this house is four to six inches of chaffl an4 

 into this the food is placed. At the end of eight or ten 

 weeks the brooders are removed and roosts are put in their 

 place. The young are left here until placed in winter 

 quarters. 



For food for the first four weeks I use bread soaked in 

 milk, squeezed dry' as possible, millet seed, cracked wheat, 

 and oat groats. After the fourth week cut green bone is 

 fed twice a week in place of bread and milk, and cracked 

 corn alone for night food. Chick grit, granulated bone and 

 do' bran is kept before them at all timeK. Be careful and do 

 not overfeed. Small chicks will commence to scratch as 

 soon as hungry, and they should be kept at it. 



It is needless to say attention to details is necessary to 

 success. Clean the brooder frequently and keep the sur- 

 roundings in a sanitary condition. 



Fresh, pure water should be kept before them. Get the 

 chicks out on the ground as soon as possible, if but for a few 

 minutes every day. 



With me the brooder chicks and their care are a source 

 of pleasure, and their attention means a friendship between 

 us which is noticeable when they become adult fowls. 



DR. 0. P. BENNETT. 



THE TEMPERATURE OF THE BROODER IS OF FIRST 

 IMPORTANCE. 



We have been raising chicks since 1893 and with the 

 exception of the first year we have raised nearly all of them 

 in brooders. We have at times raised nearly every chicSt 

 put into them, and again, we have lost every solitary one, 

 with many varied and interesting experiences between the 

 two extremes, but the method with which we have had the 

 best success is that which we here describe. 



When the chicks are hatched we have the brooders all 

 ready and warmed to a temperature of ninety degrees, which 

 we consider nearly a perfect temperature (that is ninety 

 degrees in the coolest part of the hover and not exceeding 

 one hundred degrees in the- warmest.) We place the cMeks 

 under the hover and for one week keep the temperature at, 

 or as near ninety degrees as it is possible to keep it. The 

 second week, if all has gone well, we reduce the temperature 

 to eighty degrees, and after the second week and for as tong 

 as the chicks need the heat in a brooder we run it at seventy 

 to eighty degrees, or at whatever temperature the chicks 

 seem to be contented. We consider the heating part of this 

 brooder business of more importance than the method of 



