The Wilmington morning star., 1940-05-20
BR00DER'
PROGRAM IS SOUND.
Jones Asserts System Is Eco.
nomical, Convenient, Safe
And Sure

It's economical, convenient, safe,
sure, and practical. That's what
D E.. Jones, rural identification
specialist of the State College Ex-
tension Service, says about electric
brooding of chicks. He has helped
conduct, and has observed, a score
or more of electric brooding de-
m~onstrations in the State during
the 1939-40 brooding season, and
his report is: Electric brooding
has definitely established itself as
n O fthe ways in which electricity
can be economically used on the
farm"
In spite of the extreme cold wea-
Their during the winter just past,
tbs electric breeders performed
100 percent satisfactorily, Jones
declared. He said that he visited
a number of demonstrations dur
ing January, when it was neces-
sary to wade through snow almost
knee deep to reach the poultry
houses, and in every case the cleo
trio brooder was found to be
working perfectly and protecting
the chicks from the wintry blasts.
The Extension specialist quotes
j. A. Rowland of Stanly County as
follows on the practicability of this
comparatively new type of equip
ment: There is no comparison
between the electric brooder and
any other method. The electric
brooder cuts out 80 percent of any
work in chopping wood and firing
a woodworking brooder, besides
eliminating the necessity for visit
ing the brooder several times a
day and during the night. My OBJ
%servation is that the chicks brood
ed with electrical equipment seem
to feather a little better and grow
eff more uniformly
Unusually Good Luck
Jones says that Mr.. Rowland
started a brood of 568 Barred
Rock chicks on March l this year,
and has had unusually good luck
with them. He used a commercial
electric brooder and during the
entire time that heat was neces-
sary, the brooder used $50 kilowatt
hours of electricity. Mr.. Rowland
figures his fuel cost at slightly
more than l cent per chick for
the entire brooding season.
This is considered a very NOM
inal cost for the severe weather
of the past winter and early
spring. Jones declared, land we
have found that where current can
be bought for three cents per Kill
owatt hour Or less, electric brood
ing is economical. However, in
considering an electric brooder,
the farmer would not confuse the
rate he pays for the first block of
current with the rate that may be
available for brooding. Generally,
the electric rate schedule is so
set up that a farmer will use the
high priced current in his house
for lighting and the operation of
small appliances. AS this current
will be used regardless of whether
or not he has farm equipment
operating with electricity, he can
only charge against his brooder
the lower rate"
But economy is not the only
point of electric b%rooding, the State
College man pointed out. Conven-
fences and ease of operation are
among its more attractive featur-
es. Once the equipment is installed
and regulated to the proper tenn
perature, it requires no more at
tention. 1t is not necessary to get
up at night and check on the fire.
A thermostat maintains a uniform
temperature under the hover con-
stantly.
Has Portable Feature
The electric brooder usually is
rather light and easy to move
about and adjust. In order to fac
ilitate raising the hover for clean
ing, the poultryman uses a coun-
ter-balance weight, with a rope
attached to the hover, suspended
through two pulleys in the roof,
and a weight attached to the free
end.
While reliable electric breeders
are on the market at comparative
ly low cost, Jones says that any
farmer can build a homemade
electric brooder without much trou-
BILE. He has prepared detailed di-
rections on such construction,
which he offers to send free to any
person writing to him at N. c.
State College, Raleigh.
These homemade breeders use
a commercial heating and fan unit.
\ -o HI Il