MAPES THE HEN MAN COMES BACK WITH 
A NEW HEN STORY. 
On June 10, 1910, you published an article by Mr. 
Mapes; also gave illustration of brooding house. What 
success did Mr. Mapes have in brooding such a large num¬ 
ber of chicks in one house? I have been waiting patiently 
for him to say something. I should think he would have 
plenty of trouble at feeding time. Please see if you can 
waken him. w. h. c. 
Pocomoke, Md. 
I can report that while my open-end house is a 
decided success as a home for laying hens, it is still 
they were three weeks old, and then trouble began. 
They began dying at the rate of six to 10 a day, 
having all the symptoms of my old epidemic which I 
have called white diarrheea. This was soon after the 
picture was taken_that was reproduced in The R. 
N.-Y. This ran along for four or five weeks, after 
which the survivors did nearly as well as the other 
flock. There were 220 pullets left from this flock at 
the close of the season. By arrangement with Prof. 
Rice a number of the dead specimens were sent to 
Cornell, packed in ice, where a careful examination 
temperature of 90 to 100 degrees Fall, as mine did. 
I was fortunate enough to escape a conflagration, but 
had some frights from smoke. I have since experi¬ 
mented with both gasoline and denatured alcohol with 
poor satisfaction. On account of a press of other 
work last season I did not get ready to try that 
experiment of 1,000 all in one flock. I have four 
incubators running at this writing, with a new house, 
24x36 feet, about ready for the hatch, be it 1,000 more 
or less. The brooding compartment in this house is 
12x22 feet, and it will be warmed with hot water 
HENS BUSY IN HOUSE BUILT FROM PROCEEDS FROM TWO HUNDRED HENS-FORTY DAYS. Fig. 203. 
INTERIOR OF THE FORTY-DAY HOUSE-WARMING CURTAIN IN PLACE. Fig. 204. 
in the experimental stage as a mammoth brooder. My 
first hatch of 605 chicks got through in good shape 
without any appearance of the old epidemic which 
I Have called white diarrhoea for want of any other 
name. They were thrifty throughout the season, and 
I had no trouble with crowding at feeding time, or, in 
fact, at any time. The cockerels were removed as fast 
as they got heavy enough for squab broilers, without 
keeping count of them. Of this lot 260 pullets lived, 
and 200 of them were left in the House in order to see 
if they would “make good.” They have never known 
any other home since leaving the incubator. 
The other lot of 650 chicks did equally as well until 
was made by the Department of Pathology and Bac¬ 
teriology, with special reference to the germs of 
coccidiosis and baccillary white diarrheea. Dr. Jones 
reported that they could find no germs of either dis¬ 
ease or of any other known disease. It is certain, 
however, that the flock was thrifty for the first three 
weeks, that about 200 of them were then diseased 
enough to die, and that for the remainder of the sea¬ 
son there were practically no deaths. My present 
private belief is that the disease is something akin to 
epidemic roup in older birds. 
Kerosene is not an ideal source of heat for a 
brooder, particularly when the fount must sit in a 
from a coal fire. I expect this will eliminate the 
danger from both fire and bad air. 
Are the 200 hens left in the 40-day house “making 
good”? 
It will be remembered that this first house was 
built with the proceeds of the sale of eggs laid by 200 
hens, at market rates, in 40 days, hence the name of 
a 40-day house. It is reproduced at Fig. 208. The 
heating apparatus was removed from the brooding 
compartment in the rear end of the house as soon as 
chicks were old enough to get along without artificial 
heat, and perches installed as shown in Fig. 203, which 
is an interior view of the house taken during the day, 
