REARING CHICKS IN BROODER HOUSE 125 



inches from the floor, and with orifices of proper size 

 to allow the fresh air to circulate around the pipes, 

 and then, through the radiating devices, to flow out 

 underneath the hover, and thus to be diffused over the 

 backs of the chicks. On The Corning Egg Farm this 

 box is constructed of galvanized iron, and covered on 

 the top and sides with asbestos board, with an air 

 space between the asbestos board and the hover floor. 

 Through this floor comes a thimble which connects 

 with the radiator above. The top of this radiator is 

 a spiral screw, which works like a piano stool re- 

 versed, and with a tripod device which carries the 

 thread but allows the hover itself to be removed with- 

 out changing its position on the screw. As the chicks 

 grow the hover can be slowly raised away from them, 

 until it is finally removed entirely, and the chicks learn 

 to do without it for a considerable time before they 

 are moved to the Colony Range. The thimble is 

 most thoroughly insulated with asbestos, so that there 

 is no possibility of the much dreaded heat on the 

 hover floor, which, when it does exist, tends to dry up 

 the chicks' legs. 



From the hover floor there is an inclined runway 

 down to the main floor of the Brooder House, which 

 is covered with a fine litter, preferably short cut wheat 

 straw, to a depth of about two inches. 



The inclined runway is hinged to the hover floor 

 and works with a cord passing through a pulley on 

 the ceiling, enabling the operator to raise it and retain 



