278 POULTRY CULTURE 



As commonly constructed, the sides are of wood, paper, or metal, 

 with holes for the passage of the birds. The top is composed of 

 one or more " quilts " of lightly padded cheesecloth so adjusted that 

 the center is depressed and the little birds nestle to it instead of 

 crowding into the corners. In a heated room or brooder house, or 

 elsewhere in moderate weather, these brooders may work very well, 

 but birds in them require close attention at first, and they are not 

 adapted to low temperatures. The fireless brooder, as developed to 

 date,i is not adapted to regular use on an extended scale. Some 

 of the so-called fireless brooders are used with a hot-water jug or 

 bottle for low temperatures. 



Lamp-heated brooders. Lamps are generally used when poultry 

 is grown artificially on a small scale. Lamp brooders are of many 

 different makes, but are nearly all built on the same principle. 

 They consist of a box heated by an outside lamp, the hot air from 

 the lamp being conveyed to the upper part of the interior, and the 

 passages for the chicks being small, to prevent a circulation of air 

 which would make the temperature too low. In some brooders a 

 second compartment, partly heated by the warmer air from the first, 

 is provided. Though mostly on the same general model, brooders 

 of this type vary somewhat in construction, especially in quality of 

 materials, workmanship, and adjustments. With proper attention, 

 most of them will give very satisfactory results. As a rule, the 

 cheaper brooders require closest attention and involve greatest risk 

 of fire. In all lamp brooders the danger from fire is greater than 

 with incubators, first, because of the dust raised by the birds, and 

 next, because the lamp is more exposed. Somewhat different styles 

 of these brooders are made for indoor and for outdoor use, the out- 

 door style being built to protect the brooding compartment and 

 lamp from the weather. Poultrymen generally prefer to use the 

 indoor style in a small house or under a shed. Kerosene lamps are 

 most used for heat, but gasoline has been found satisfactor)'. A 

 small system of brooders may be heated from the same reservoir 

 of gasoline. The risk and the labor of caring for many lamps tend 

 to limit the use of individual brooders. 



Pipe brooder systems. Hot-water heaters and pipes were used 

 at an early stage of the development of artificial brooding. In the 



