248 POULTRY PRODUCTION 



for the brooder, where it is well shaded and where there is a 

 good sod. 



Indoor brooders should be located only in buildings which 

 meet the requirements of a good poultry house. These 

 requirements, which are fully discussed in Chapter VI, are 

 (1) dryness, (2) good ventilation without drafts, (3) plenty 

 of sunlight, (4) ease of cleaning and disinfection, (5) plenty 

 of scratching room for the chicks, and (6) protection against 

 their enemies. 



Preparing for the Chicks. — A brooder which has ever, at 

 any time, been used, should be carefully cleaned and thor- 

 oughly disinfected in every part, including the thermometer, 

 drinking fountains, and feed troughs, before attempting to 

 brood a new group of chicks. The house in which it is 

 located (in the case of an indoor brooder) should receive 

 the same treatment. 



It should then be leveled and the heater started. A new 

 machine, or one with which the operator is not familiar, 

 should be required to hold a fairly uniform temperature 

 of 100° for at least two days before trusting chicks to it. 



The floor beneath and surrounding the hover should be 

 covered with a fine litter of some such digestible material as 

 fine-cut alfalfa or clover. Where indigestible material is 

 used, such as' chaff, cut straw, sand, and the like, there is 

 always danger of the chicks filling themselves on this mate- 

 rial, thereby causing impaction and a resulting high death 

 rate. This may be replaced by a less expensive litter after 

 the chicks are three or four days old. 



Some such arrangement as is shown in Figs. 128 or 129 

 should be made, which will prevent the chicks from wander- 

 ing too far from the hover at first. They are particularly 

 prone to being attracted by "sun spots" (i. e., the bright 

 places where the sun strikes the floor), and, feeling the 

 warmth of the sun, to camp there. When the spot moves on 

 or disappears, the chicks will remain and become chilled. 



As soon as they all learn to go under the hover at night 

 without assistance, the arrangement may be removed. 



The drinking fountain should always be located some little 

 distance from the hover so that any water that is spilled will 



