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POULTRY PRODUCTION 



While it is exceedingly desirable to get the chicks on a 

 self-sustaining basis with regard to the maintenance of body 

 temperature, it is always best to err on the side of too much 

 heat than too little. This is particularly true in cold weather, 

 wheft a high hover temperature is necessary to warm chicks 

 up quickly when they get cold. It does not hurt chicks to 

 run out in quite cold weather, provided they can get warm 

 quickly whenever they desire.. Even after all artificial heat 

 has been done away with, and the chicks well feathered, the 

 brooding apparatus should be held in readiness against 



Showing the result of chilling. (Courtesy of Purdue Experiment Station.) 



unusually cool nights, which are likely to produce crowding 

 if a little extra heat is not supplied. 



The thermometers used should be carefully tested at the 

 beginning of each season, if they are to be relied upon, just 

 as in the case of incubators. 



Effect of Chilling. — A little chick compelled to remain in 

 the cold after he begins to feel chilly, soon becomes helpless. 

 This is apparently caused by the paralysis of the breathing 

 apparatus. The lungs are located on either side of the 

 median line of the back at the circumference of the body 

 cavity. Lobes of the lungs extend between the ribs and are 

 protected from the outside temperature only by a thin 



