HANDLING AND FEEDING YOUNG FROM MACHINES 69 



inch of chaff or clover. Then, as soon as you dare, get 

 them on the ground, but see that they are sheltered from 

 cold wind. In summer, always provide some shelter 

 from the sun, no matter what the age of the chicks. A 

 fiercely hot day may take off some of your four-months- 

 old specimens, if they have no shade. A rule to cover 

 all conditions might be " Reverse the conditions, for 

 hot and cold weather." In cold weather, make sure 

 that the heat cannot get too low ; in hot weather, watch 

 the other extreme, and make sure that it cannot get too 

 high. I never like to close the sliding glass window of 

 the brooder entirely, unless it is where strong wind 

 affects it. And I don't like the top windows of glass. 

 They are seldom safe. We must have light in the 

 brooders ; but it should come from side windows ; else, 

 we would better raise the cover more or less, and use a 

 screen to keep the chicks within, when necessary. Top 

 glass radiates away too much warmth when it is cool, 

 and bakes the chicks during hot sunshine. 



Any one may read, in these days, about " Old Trusty " 

 Johnson, an incubator manufacturer. His one principle 

 of brooding, judging by the way he harps upon it, is 

 that about all a chick needs to bring him up successfully 

 is to have his back kept warm ! Mr. Johnson never 

 gave any explanation of the reasons — so far as I know. 

 But Professor Atwood, of the West Virginia Experiment 

 Station, referring to the fact that a chick, when cold, runs 

 to the hen and shoves its back against her warm body, 

 adds : " There is a good and sufficient reason why the chick 

 warms itself this way, rather than by jumping on the 

 hen's back and sticking its feet down among the feathers. 

 The reason is this : A chick's lungs are very poorly 



