1912. 
THIS RURAL NEW-YORKER 
411' 
EXPERIENCE WITH FIRELESS BROODERS. 
By fireless brooding is meant the arti¬ 
ficial rearing of chicks without the use 
of heated brooders, the necessary 
warmth being obtained by conserving 
the animal heat from the bodies of the 
chickens themselves. The principle is 
simple and the apparatus needed far 
from complicated, the latter in its 
simplest form consisting of a shelter 
for the chicks and a cloth covered 
frame or hover under which they may 
go for warmth and comfort. This 
hover may be of any shape and size 
adapted to the number of chicks which 
it is to shelter, and should be covered 
with one or more layers of cloth as 
outside weather conditions require; less 
covering is needed, however, than 
might be supposed by one familiar with 
this method of brooding. 
This idea of making young chickens 
supply their own heat seemed so much 
in principle like the efforts of a man 
to raise himself by his bootstraps that 
it was at first received with considerable 
incredulity upon the part of poultry- 
men, most of whom have taxed their 
ingenuity to the utmost to devise a 
suitable temperature for young chicks 
without at the same time producing 
other conditions deleterious to their 
welfare. There is no violation of 
natural laws in this method, however, as 
the poultryman really supplies his young 
charges with heat in the form of food, 
a portion of the stored energy of which 
is transformed into heat during the pro¬ 
cess of digestion and assimilation. As 
there is considerable interest in this 
new way of rearing poultry, a descrip¬ 
tion of the method by which the writer 
and his wife raised approximately 
1,000 chicks out of a hatch of 1,300 in 
the season of 1911, without the use 
of artificial heat in the brooders, may 
be of value to others. 
Our chicks when taken from the 
incubators or from under hens—a few 
having been hatched in the natural way 
—were placed in large drygoods boxes 
mounted upon legs and kept in the 
farmhouse kitchen. The bottoms of 
these boxes were covered to the depth 
of about an inch with barn chaff made 
up largely of clover leaves and small 
drinking fountains kept constantly 
filled with clean water were so fas¬ 
tened in the boxes that the chicks could 
not crowd into them and drown. Here 
they remained in a warm light room 
for from one to three weeks, the 
length of time depending upon weather 
conditions outside and our convenience. 
During the day they had no cover other 
than a window screen placed over the 
box to prevent their flying out, but as 
night approached and they commenced 
to huddle together the mistress of the 
kitchen would place a bran sack or 
other light blanket over them, and they 
would cuddle down with that croon¬ 
ing peep which in a chicken denotes per¬ 
fect comfort and sleepy happiness. 
They were fed five times daily, and 
they saw to it that their mistress did 
not forget them, much as she would at 
times have liked to do so. As a re¬ 
minder of one’s duties there is nothing 
inferior to the chorus from the throats 
of several hundred lusty young chicks. 
During this period of their lives 
it would not be fair to say that they 
did not have the advantage of artificial 
heat, but all that they had was the 
warmth of an ordinary farm kitchen 
through the day. It was to this prelim¬ 
inary period of house life, however, 
packed closely as they were in boxes so 
as to prevent any but the most limited 
exercise, that we attributed much of 
their subsequent health and strength. 
The outdoor brooders to which the 
different hatches were transferred after 
varying periods of house life were of 
two standard types, three of them be¬ 
ing of the Cornell colony house style, 
eight feet square upon the ground, and 
three of the small type, three by six 
feet in size. About 150 chicks were 
placed in each of the small brooders, 
and about 325 in each of the large ones; 
this of course necessitated the dividing 
up and doubling up of various hatches, 
but an effort was made not to place 
chickens together that differed more 
than a week or two in age. All heating 
apparatus was removed from the brood¬ 
ers, and for the small ones light frames 
about two feet square were made and 
covered with one thickness of cloth; 
these mounted upon legs about three 
inches high constituted the hovers, 
which, as night approached, were placed 
in the brooders and the chicks shooed 
beneath them. Bran sacks were then 
laid over the edges to insure that the 
chicks would remain under cover until 
released in the morning. In the large 
brooders a similar frame, about two by 
eight feet in size, was placed in the I 
rear of the building and was supported 
at varying heights above the floor by 
movable cleats. During the day this 
was turned back against the wall, but 
as soon as the chicks began to manifest 
a desire to go to bed it was turned 
down into place and the chicks were 
driven beneath it, after which sacks 
were placed over the free edge to con¬ 
fine them. 
It need hardly be mentioned that the 
brooder floors were kept well covered 
with chaff and the space beneath the 
hovers particularly well filled to make 
a soft bed for the youngsters. Care 
was also observed to fill the brooder 
corners with straw so that the chicks 
could not crowd into them. It is im¬ 
portant that when first placed in a 
brooder chickens should not be allowed 
through cold or fright to huddle into 
some corner instead of going beneath 
the hover; having once done this and 
having found warmth in contact with 
their fellows it will be found very dif¬ 
ficult to prevent their repeating the per¬ 
formance to their owner’s sorrow when¬ 
ever they become too cold for comfort. 
As the chicks increased in size the 
hovers were gradually raised from the 
floor and when the weather became 
warmer they were left open in front, 
until finally late in the Summer they 
were removed entirely and perches put 
in their place. By this time all surviv¬ 
ing chickens had been placed in the col¬ 
ony brooders and enjoyed free range, 
I may say here that these chicks in 
rapidity of development and in general 
thrift were probably superior to any 
that we had ever before raised in an 
experience of nearly 10 years. We were 
favored, however, last year in having an 
exceptionally warm and dry April and 
May. The advantages of fireless brood¬ 
ing seem to lie in lessened expense for 
heating apparatus and for fuel, in free¬ 
dom from danger of overheating, and 
from air vitiated by lamp fumes, and in 
safety from brooder fires. Its disad¬ 
vantage lies in the necessity for almost 
constant supervision upon the part of 
the attendant. Through the middle of 
the day when the air is warm little at¬ 
tention other than that given at the reg¬ 
ular feeding times is required, but as 
night approaches or sudden showers 
come up failure on the part of the care¬ 
taker to be on his job means disaster. 
A delay of twenty minutes in giving 
needed attention may easily result in the 
loss of dozens of chicks. This is meas¬ 
urably true, however, in any system of 
rearing chicks upon a large scale, and 
the user of a fireless brooder has the 
satisfaction of going to bed at night in 
full confidence that barring molestation 
from outside his charges are absolutely 
safe until he releases them from under 
their hover in the morning. 
Notwithstanding the success which at¬ 
tended his efforts last year and which 
he will endeavor to duplicate this sea¬ 
son, the writer advises no one to adopt 
the fireless brooding method upon a 
large scale unless he can be “Johnny 
on the spot” at all times, and he fur¬ 
ther suggests that anyone’s likelihood of 
success will be greatly enhanced if there 
is also a Jenny on the spot. 
Tioga Co., N. Y. m. b. dean. 
Why not buy roofing that is fully guaranteed by the maker— 
there is such a roofing—it costs NO MORE and is known as 
Certain - teed Roofing 
put up in rolls or shingles—guaranteed for fifteen years 
Certain-teed Roofing has stood the test of 
years on home and farm buildings. You run absolutely no 
risk in buying Certain - teed Ready Roofing —millions of 
rolls now in use on the best homes and farm 
buildings in every State in the universe—and 
without exception it is standing the test of 
time and giving absolute satisfaction. This 
is the roofing that is saving the users thou* 
sands upon thousands of dollars each year. 
And just so surely as others have saved 
money by using Certain-teed Roofing— 
just so surely can you do the same if you 
will but give it atrial. 
Highest Grade Roofing at 
Lowest Prices 
Shingles and other styles of roofing cost 
more and do not last as long. In the 
years gone by it is true that shingles and 
metal were the most generally used roof cov¬ 
ering you could buy—but the one big objec¬ 
tion has been the high cost. Today you can 
buy a better roofing for less money—a 
weather-proof roofing that is easier applied 
and will last longer— Certain - teed Roofing 
—backed by a fifteen-year guarantee made 
by a manufacturer who actually owns and 
operates three separate mills, each mill 
valued at over $1,000,000. Look for the 
Certain - teed label on emery roll. It is for 
your protection. 
GENERAL ROOFING MFG. CO. 
York, Pa. Marseilles, III. E. St. Louis, III. 
Minneapolis, Minn. San Francisco, Gal. 
Beware of long guarantees made by irrespon¬ 
sible parties. When you put on a roof you don’t expect to 
replace it every year or two. So the material you select to cover 
your roof is important and you should by 
all means investigate carefully before buying. 
There is one and only one safe way to follow 
in selecting roofing—and that is to be sure it 
is fully guaranteed by a responsible manufac¬ 
turer. And above all, beware of long “guar¬ 
antees” made by irresponsible parties. By 
followingthis plan you will save money, time 
and inconvenience in the years to come. 
At Least Investigate 
Your local dealer will sell you Certain - 
teed Roofing, which is responsibly guaran¬ 
teed for 15 years —at reasonably low prices. 
Be sure that the Certain-teed Label is on 
each roll. 
General Roofing, U. S. A.’a 
Largest Manufacturer of Roofing and 
Building Papers. 
And be sure to writ 
for our free book. 
i Send This 
Free Book Coupon 
today 
: olea 
send me your book, J-3 “Howto 
Build for LESS Money,” and I will read it. This 
book is to be sent to me postpaid and absolutely free. 
Name „ 
