HATCHING AND REARING 27 



flock, and others assert that "better results are obtained 

 when not more than thirty occupy one brooder. 



The First Food. / 



We usually place the chicks in the brooder in the after- 

 noon or evening and confine them pretty close to the hover 

 until the next forenoon, when we offer the first food. The 

 prepared chick foods, manufactured especially for the pur- 

 pose and advertised in poultry journals, are cDnvenient and 

 satisfactory to feed from the very first. These foods con- 



interior of a Brooding House Equipped With What is Known as a, 



"Box" Hover. This Hover is Open Only at the Front, Into 



the Pens, and is Heated by Hot Water Pipes. 



sist principally of finely cracked grains with a little grit, 

 some charcoal and some beef-scraps added. They may be 

 fed in a litter of hay chaff or some such material, or, if 

 the chicks haye sufficient range, it is often satisfactory 

 to feed them in hoppers from the start. Usually, however, 

 it is better to scatter the food so that the chicks can ex- 

 ercise in finding it. Fine grit should also be scattered about 

 the brooder, outside the hover, with the chick food. Fresh 

 water should be constantly within reach. Sweet milk is an 



