Money in Broilers and Squahs. 37 



floor cold. All warmth should come over the chicks. They feel 

 the warmth on the backs with more satisfaction than on any other 

 portion of the body. 



A smgle night may ruin all. Never let the brooder become 

 cold for an hour. Once the chicks get chilled they never fully re- 

 cover. 



When the chicks seem to be continually crying it means more 

 warmth needed. The warmth is more important than the food. 



If the chicks are stupid, drowsy, continually cry, or have fits, 

 look on the heads and necks, and under the wings for the large lice. 

 Also examine for the little red mites. 



Hatching should begin in October and end in April or May. 

 The best prizes are obtained in April and May. 



It costs five cents in food to raise one pound of chick. The cost 

 of eggs, labor, buildings, etc., are extra. The heaviest cost is in 

 the eggs, (which are high in winter) as they often fail to hatch. 



Hens are better than pullets for producing broilers. The males 

 should not be less than ten months old. 



Eggs from fat hens, moulting hens, immature pullets, or from 

 hens in the yard with cocks having frosted combs, chilled eggs, 

 very small eggs, will not give good results. 



In a majority of cases the failure is due to the eggs and not 

 the incubator. 



Never try to save work. One-half the failures occur from par- 

 ties desiring the incubator to work without attention. Too much 

 faith in the regulator is dangerous. You must always be "on deck." 



If rightly managed an incubator will pay for itself the first 

 hatch, but there is more in the man than in the incubator. Brains 

 make an important factor. Learn all you can by observation. 



R. W. Davison, Glendola, N. J., says the most important step 

 is first-class incubators, and he adds : 



"I always like an abundance of ventilation. Too much ventila- 

 tion is not desirable, but after the chicks are nearly all out of the 

 shell then we want plenty. I am led to this remark from the fact 

 that I have owned machines that were lacking in this respect; 

 consequently the chicks had all they could do to keep alive, as they 

 use up a great deal of air. Twenty-four hours after hatching they 

 should be placed in the brooders. The brooder is the most im- 

 portant part of the whole thing outside of the laying stock. I prefer 

 a brooder with a good regulator, and, in fact, could not get along 

 without one. I am using (on my coal stove and hot water pipe 

 system) the regulator made by the Prairie State Incubator Co., 

 only I connect the. lever bar with a check draught on stove pipe, 

 instead of with the stove lid, as they do. There are individual 

 brooders also with regulators. The best plan is to have individual 

 brooders in a nursery, and regulate the outside temperature with a 

 small coal stove (in winter). After the chicks have been in here 

 about ten days then remove to the regular brooding pens. 



"For the first twelve hours run the brooders at ninety-eight 

 degrees, and then for the next ten days run at ninety-four degrees. 



