36 



THE BEGINNER IN POULTRY 



Webster's Dictionary says that the word "broody," 

 meaning "inclined to brood," is rare. I think his inti- 

 mates were not poultry people. I use the word "sitter" 

 mostly ; but many always speak of " broody hens " and 

 even use the word as a noun, speaking of the hen as a 

 " broody." " Brooding," proper, is warming and shel- 

 tering the chicks after hatching. 



Winter Chicks in Large Open Shed. Columbian Mother. Columbians Have 

 Some Asiatic Blood 



There are people who hatch with the incubator and 

 brood with the hen. Others have a different idiosyn- 

 crasy, and hatch with hens, to bunch several broods 

 together and brood with the wooden mother. They 

 believe that they do the work with less trouble, or with 

 better ultimate success, than when working in the regu- 

 lation way. Yet, in doing this, they but add the disad- 

 vantages of both methods together; for their hen-hatched 

 brooder chicks will have lice and their incubator-hatched 

 chicks, brooded with the hen, will have been subjected 

 to every handicap that may come from machine hatch- 

 ing, before the hen is given a chance to show what she 



