232 POULTRY PRODUCTION 



advised. It concentrates the many small flocks into a few 

 larger ones, thereby reducing the care. The great advantage 

 of artificial brooding is the possibility of raising chicks past 

 weaning, absolutely louse-free. 



Principles of Artificial Brooding. — The principles of brooding 

 are essentially those of housing, with the addition of a tem- 

 perature requirement. A complete brooder is simply a 

 special form of house designed for the purpose of keeping 

 chicks comfortable. The most recent developments in com- 

 mercial brooders are the portable hover and the large colony 

 brooder. The portable hover is a small compartment con- 

 taining its own heater, in which the temperature may be 

 controlled and which may be placed in any ordinary poultry 

 house, thereby rendering it habitable for chicks. The large 

 colony brooder is usually heated by a stove burning either 

 coal or oil. 



The conditions necessary for successful brooding are (1) 

 a compartment in which the temperature is under control 

 and which has (2) a constant supply of fresh air; (3) at least 

 one compartment having a cooler temperature to which the 

 chicks can always escape; (4) dryness; (5) adequate space; 

 (6) the admission of sunlight, (7) ease of disinfection; (8) 

 protection against chick enemies; (9) safety from fire. 



Parts of a Brooder. — The essential parts of a brooder are a 

 heater, a warm-air compartment usually called a hover, 

 a cool-air compartment, and a ventilating system. A 

 regulator is frequently employed on the hover, but is not 

 so necessary as in the case of an incubator. 



The Heater. — ^The heater should be of such size and 

 capacity that it can carry a temperature of 110° under the 

 hover with the ventilators open in the severest weather. 

 It is the brooder that can be depended upon in an emergency 

 that is of real value. The lamp should have a fortified 

 bottom and a hole for the escape of gas, and be in every way 

 as eflficient as an incubator lamp. It should also have a 

 bowl large enough to hold two days' supply of oil. Nearly 

 every season brings days when it is blowing and storming, 

 so that it is unwise to try to clean and relight the lamp 

 of an outdoor brooder, or one whose heater is situated out- 



