Milford chronicle., 1910-05-13

III ''9'a-s.si
KANSAS EXPERIMENT STATION BROODER
chicks are not normal and hence moi
as liyable as hen hatched chicks.
This loss of wee chicks is the most
discOuraging part of the poultry bust
ness. If this loss is much greater than
10 or 20 per cent there is something
radically wrong somewhere. and the
mistake must be found and rectiied or
failure is inevitable.
Coops For Chicks.
The coops provided for hens with
chicks should be one Of the most care
| fully constructed features of the poul-
! tryman's equipment. First of all, they
must be rat tight and rain proof. but
not air tight They must also be easily
cleaned. These points are best OBJ
tanned by building a platform and set
ting upon it "a fOOrless coop. The
! shape Of the coop is not important. but
it should have an open front protected
by a projecting hood, so the rain can
not beat in, and covered with wire net
ting or in cool weather netting cloth.
The coop itself if built of cheap lum-
Der must be covered with roofing pa
per
From twenty to forty chicks may be
placed with each hen, the number de
pending upon the severity of the
weather The greatest source Of the
loss of chicks with hens is from the
hungry hen leading the little ones
around in the wet grass after rain or
heavy dew. The best way to over
come this loss is to keep the hen shut
in, opening the coop sufficiently for the
chicks to come out and exercise. The
hen if provided with corn and water
within reach need not be given her lib
erty for several days after the chicks
are hatched and should be shut in for
several weeks when the grass IS wet
Brooders for chicks have until with
in the last few years been heated with
kerosene lamps Lately a great fad
has arisen in poultrydom for fireless |
brOoders. These freless brooders are
simply boxes arranged for slow venu- |
lation. The chicks are kept warm by 1
lowering under a cloth arranged in |
such a fashion as to represent the |
feathered body Of the mother hen.
Chicks can be raised in fireless brood
ers. and in warm climates the method
is all right In the colder seasons and
however, freless brooders
have not been found practical by the
majority OF poultrymen.
Lamp Breeders Best.
Lamp brOOderS holding from 30 10
100 chicks have been successfully used
for many years and are considered the
best means yet devised for handling
young chicks on a large scale Steam
lr hot water heated brooder houses
have never proved very successful.
md as they are expensive. to start
with, l should advise the poultryman
o be very sure he knows what he is
iOlng before investing money in
liant of this kind.
The brooIer should be large, having
lot less than nine square feet OF floor
HtANN. AE greatest AAouule VIII
,roOders in operation is the uncertain
Y Of the lamp. The brooder lamp
hould have sufficient oil capacity and
large wick. BroOder lamps are often
exposed to the wind, and If cheaply
INSTRUCTED or poorly inclosed the re-
ult viii be a chilled brood OF chicks
r perhaps a fire.
In a lamp heated brooder one must
ee that the heat is provided in such
way that the chicks in attempting to ,
ct warm will not crowd in corners
nd trample each other to death. The
est brooder heater or hover consists ,
tin drum, inside Of which clrcu- I
ties the hot fumes from the lamp. $
eneath this drum the chicks hover. I
he best form for the heating drum is I
disk with hole In the center, some c