The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1908-05-28
ROCKING The cHIcKLET CRADLE.


for two. When it's triplets, with an
air of becoming importance, order fit
for three. But when it's chicklets you
generally order chick kid cradle for
100 or one to fit the incubator capac-
ity. 1t is then the chicken furniture
man often violates his guarantee and
sends a cradle that is too small for
those bouncing baby boys and girls,
and there come sad days to chick baby
dom. The undertaken gets busy. You
become parents to 100 chicklets. You
cuddle them to sleep In brooder era
die that should rock only seventy-fve.
The next morning twenty-five lie out
side the cradle in the cold. The sew
enty-hve left is the capacity Of the
cradle, and you should lose 20 per cent
naturally, but they have been weak
ened by overcrOwding, overheating and
bad air. and In few days most of
your chIcklets will decease. You are
ready to hang the murderer Of your
pretty fluffy birds, but take the lesson
that all must learn-neVer crowd chicks
under hens or hOvers.
We gave hen forty peeps. She
raised thrty-nine. Gave her the same
number the second season. She raised
six. Tell US why. "Womans contrari-
ness?" No. Too much family. First
season was warm and dry; second sea
son, cold aud wet The old hens heart
was big enough. but her white wings
nd iuP n
cradle them all.
Chicks need air under hover Room
needed. They develop rapidly. More
room still. Fill the cradle at the start;
In week 1t is one and quarter full
and the next week worse. You may be
able to carry that much. but chick
cradle can't. II you're bound to hatch
more than your cradle capacity, let
your wife bring the surplus up Oh the
bottle. The next spring she will glad
ly give you all her Easter hat money
for more brooders and sympathize
more when you brood.
A brooder run In Il brOOder house
uses less oil, and chicks generate heat.
Keep thermometer in your house and
watch the one on your hover. but be
sure they are true. We taper down
the heat in the incubator nursery to
80 degrees After thirty hours we re-
move them to the hover. The first
week bTOoders should be run from 85
to l05 degrees. or according to the
height of the hover and the position
of the thermometer. After that taper
down. Follow the brOoder rules unless
you find them impractical. and use
your own think. Watch the thermome-
ter, but watch the chicks. IL they pile
in heap, not sufficient warmth. II
they stand up with their mouths open,
too hot If they huddle outside in
corner the hover is too hot or not
warm enough to be inviting. If they
lie down like lambs with their bright
eyes peeping out from beneath the
hover, it's about perfect. Ii they are
lively as crickets at the dawn. you are
master. but If dumpy and not ready
for breakfast the ventilation Is not
right, there Is SCOT under the hover or
they had too much supper or got
chilled.
Important Pointer.-Put ten-day-
old louseess chick In with the new
hatch and he will adopt them, teach
them to eat and drink and put them to
bed. High. reund. drumless hOvers, with
lamp box and chimney outside the
brooder, are best. Hot water brOoders
are hot water breeders. If lamp goes
out easily and often or continually
smokes, discard machine.
Ventiate the brooder according to
rules, but use your own think. Keep
the smoke vents open. Brooders with
lamp underneath sometimes have hot
floors. Prevent with thick layer Of
dry loamy sand Use this until chicks
know what not to eat; then run dry
wheat straw through the clover cut
ter for bedding and scratch floor. But
be sure sand and straw bedding are
warm and dry. Set in u box of moist
earth for playground to relieve dry
ness of shanks and feet that comes
from brooder heat. When chicks pa
rade to sun parlOr, change water vessel
to keep cool If SCOT leaks up into
hover, turn brooder over on side. brush
off and cover joints with stove cement.
Keeping chicks on Il board scratching
floor for two weeks will prevent gapes.
We have scratching playground for a
thousand They are all white. When
they tumble into that wonderful
scratching stunt for their breakfast
they are the prettiest and liveliest
moving picture ever.