WITH 4200 HENS 103 



Water and feed is provided in the house until they are 

 turned loose in the early morning. 



We put 250 cockerels into each 9x10 compartment of 

 the house. The first few evenings we make sure that the 

 straw is banked up in the corners under the roosts so 

 they cannot crowd and pile up ; they must be watched in 

 this respect for several nights, until they resume their 

 roosting. 



The further treatment of the cockerels will be dis- 

 cussed in a separate chapter. 



Continuing the Brooder House Work 



Taking out the cockerels makes room in the brooder 

 house and gives the remainder a better chance. If the 

 weather is bad it may be necessary to slightly increase 

 the stove heat to make up for the body heat lost by the re- 

 moval of so many of the flock. 



No change is made in the feed or the method of hand- 

 ling the chicks, excepting that the gradual change from 

 chick size to coarse grain is continued until at 7 weeks 

 the fine grain is entirely replaced. The January pullets 

 are taken from the brooder house at from 7 to 8 weeks, 

 dependent on the weather. If the weather is good we 

 take them out at 7, otherwise they remain until 8. The 

 March pullets remain in the brooder house longer, as we 

 do not have room for them until the summer re-arrange- 

 ment of the laying hens is made. If the room is available 

 they can be removed even earlier than the January lot. 

 We put in higher roosts (in the brooder houses) at 8 or 

 9 weeks, spacing them 8 or 10 inches apart and about 18 

 inches from the floor. 



