Rearing Chicks in Brooder House--The Following Two Years’ Results
Depend Upon Success in Brooding
The Brooder House is built over the Sprouted Oats Cellar and the
Incubator Cellar. Its total length is 264 feet. 118 feet of this is 16
feet wide, and the balance is 22 feet wide.
Incubation might be termed a mechanical operation, and, as outlined in
the previous chapter, a very fair hatch is usually obtained. But after
all is said and done artificial rearing of young chicks is the most
difficult problem which a poultryman has to solve.
Chicks running with a hen will stand climatic conditions, and in fact
thrive under conditions, which, if they were being handled in a Brooder
House, would mean a tremendous mortality. The hen will feed her brood
on substances which would mean the annihilation of ones’ entire flock
of youngsters, should one attempt it, and, perhaps, the most curious
feature of the feeding part is the fact that one may give the brood,
running with the hen, food Nature never intended a small chick to eat,
and many of the brood will thrive on it, and the mortality will, in
most cases, be confined to the weak ones.
Corn Not Proper Chick Food
In past decades, wet corn meal seemed to be about the standard ration
which the chicks were fed on by the farmer’s wife, and in fact this
practice has not yet entirely gone out. Naturally, it brought about a
large mortality which everyone deplored but could not understand. Corn
in any form was never intended for a chick to eat, but when you place
it before them in the form of meal, and this made into a sloppy mass,
the wonder is, not at the largeness of the mortality, but rather that
any of them live at all.
But the advance in Poultry Culture has brought about feeding of whole
grains, to a large extent. For years the proper feeding of chicks,
even on farms with modern brooding equipment, has been a stumbling
block, causing serious loss, and, in many instances, failure, to those
attempting to raise chickens either in large or small numbers.
Follow Nature’s Teaching
In Poultry Culture, in order to succeed it is essential to study
Nature, to find out how the hen in a wild state cares for her brood,
and then bring the artificial conditions as near to Nature as possible.
In almost every chick food put on the market the main ingredient,
namely corn, was never intended for a young chick to eat. Consider for
a moment, and you will realize that the hen in a wild state could not
possibly feed corn to her young. For the sake of argument, however,
suppose that corn did ripen at a time when it would be possible for the
hen to procure it for her brood, the size of the kernel is so great
that the small chick could not possibly swallow it. Thus Nature plainly
points out that corn, for young chicks, is not the proper food.
A Balanced Food
On The Corning Egg Farm the question of chick food that could properly
be called “chick food” has been a study for years, the problem being
to procure a balanced ration containing, as closely as possible, the
ingredients intended by Nature for a young chick to eat and thrive on.
Many experiments were made with different mixtures, both with chicks
running with natural mothers and with those being reared in the Brooder
House, and it was found that in all cases where corn was fed in the
mixture the results were bad. The youngsters running with the hen did
not show the large mortality which those did in the Brooder House, but
even the broods running with the hen did not do nearly so well where
the corn was fed, as did those not having this ingredient in their food.
The great mortality in young chicks is produced by the upsetting
of their digestive organs. Corn is very heating, and as soon as
the chick’s blood is over-heated its digestive organs fail to work
properly, and what is now known as “White Diarrhœa” almost invariably
develops. It is claimed by some authorities that this difficulty comes
from a germ which is in the egg before incubation. This may be the
case, but it is certainly true that wrong feeding will bring this germ
into active life, and snuff out the existence of the chick.
Another phase, which has been a special study on The Corning Egg Farm
in the brooding of chicks, is an abundant supply of fresh air, not
only in the room itself, but also to have the oxygen fed to the chicks
properly when they are under the hovers. The use of gas for heating the
hovers was found a decided improvement over the lamp, so far as the
freshness of the air went, but, for procuring the purest hot air, to
flow up into the hovers, we are now installing a system of hot water
pipes.
[Illustration: OLD ARRANGEMENT OF BROODER HOUSE
New House not Completed in Time for Photographing]
In a dwelling house, properly constructed, the entire heating apparatus
is a hot air furnace, with a cold air box connected with outdoors
constantly bringing in a fresh supply of pure air to be heated. If it
were possible this would be the ideal way of supplying the heat to
the hover, but of course in a long Brooder House it is impossible to
do this. The nearest approach to this system of heating is a trunk
line of hot water pipes, extending beneath the hover floor, with the
pipes enclosed in a long box, standing some two inches from the floor,
and with orifices of proper size to allow the fresh air to circulate
around the pipes, and then, through the radiating devices, to flow out
underneath the hover, and thus to be diffused over the backs of the
chicks. On The Corning Egg Farm this box is constructed of galvanized
iron, and covered on the top and sides with asbestos board, with an
air space between the asbestos board and the hover floor. Through this
floor comes a thimble which connects with the radiator above. The top
of this radiator is a spiral screw, which works like a piano stool
reversed, and with a tripod device which carries the thread but allows
the hover itself to be removed without changing its position on the
screw. As the chicks grow the hover can be slowly raised away from
them, until it is finally removed entirely, and the chicks learn to do
without it for a considerable time before they are moved to the Colony
Range. The thimble is most thoroughly insulated with asbestos, so that
there is no possibility of the much dreaded heat on the hover floor,
which, when it does exist, tends to dry up the chicks’ legs.
From the hover floor there is an inclined runway down to the main floor
of the Brooder House, which is covered with a fine litter, preferably
short cut wheat straw, to a depth of about two inches.
The inclined runway is hinged to the hover floor and works with a
cord passing through a pulley on the ceiling, enabling the operator
to raise it and retain the chicks directly around the hover. The
trough surrounding the trunk line of hot water pipes is closed by a
partition corresponding to the width of the hover run, which prevents
the heat from flowing by the radiator in each section, and in this way
equalizing the heat in every hover.
Never Build a Double House
The Corning Egg Farm is much opposed to what is known as the Double
Brooder House, which is advocated by many builders of Brooder
House equipments, and, in which, in the majority of cases, the
use of concrete floors is also practiced. The advantages in the
supposed economy of this construction are more than off-set by the
disadvantages. The proper place for the windows of the Brooder House is
on the south front, and likewise the south side of the building is the
proper place for the chick runs. The roof should be a shed roof sloping
to the north, thus carrying all the water to the back and allowing none
of it to drip down into the runs. The north side of the Brooder House
should be absolutely tight, for, from this quarter, comes the great
majority of cold storms, and the tight wall means an economy in fuel.
And every item of expense must be carefully watched on a poultry farm.
In these different respects let us look at the double house. First, it
must run north and south; second, it must have windows on the east and
west, and the chick runs must go the same way; third, it must be built
with a peaked roof, the drippings from storms thus falling directly
into the yards.
Must Drain Chick Runs
In the Corning plan of Brooder House the yards are sloped toward the
south, and, as there is no possibility of dripping from the roof, in a
few moments after a hard storm the slope and the sun combined put the
yards at once into a usable condition, so that the youngsters can be
let out. All day long in this style Brooder House the yellow babies
enjoy the sunshine. In the double constructed Brooder House the yards
are bathed on the east side with sunshine for a short time, and the
west side receives the Sun for a few hours before sunset.
Concrete Floors Mean Dampness
An added menace in this double style of construction is the concrete
floor generally used. It is almost impossible, with the greatest
care and forethought, to produce a piece of concrete which does
not constantly take up and give off moisture, and one thing to be
absolutely avoided in poultry houses, little or big, is dampness.
The dollars saved in the construction of double houses are usually
dollars which would have been made ten times over by the expenditure
necessary to build a proper house.
The chick yards on The Corning Egg Farm are sloping, and are twenty
feet long, and correspond in width with the hover runs inside the
house, which vary from three to four feet in width. The diameter of
the hover varies with the size of the run, from 26 to 30 inches. The
sloping runs of the Brooder yards are covered with Anthracite Coal
ashes, which have been found to entirely eliminate the much talked of
danger of contamination of soil, the surface being constantly renewed
as the ashes are consumed by the chicks.
Each hover is numbered, and directly back, on the north wall of the
Brooder House, is a corresponding number, and a nail, on which is hung
the record card. When the chicks are carried up in baskets from the
Incubator Cellar, they are carefully examined, all weaklings being
excluded, and counted into the hover compartments. Careful selection
and the “survival of the fittest” begin at this point with the stock on
The Corning Egg Farm.
Before speaking of the number of chicks carried in the hover
compartments, it must be understood that running along the north
wall of the Brooder House is a coil of hot water pipes, capable of
maintaining a temperature of 85 degrees, three feet from the floor, and
in zero weather.
Corning Heated Brooder House
The Corning Egg Farm believes absolutely in Brooder Houses heated
beyond what is supplied by the hovers, and this is the reason it is
possible to carry such a large number of youngsters in each hover
compartment. In large hatches, when we have been crowded for room, two
hundred chicks have frequently been carried in one compartment of four
feet in width.
[Illustration: CHICKS SIX WEEKS OLD IN BROODER HOUSE RUNS]
Corning Feeds Dry Food Only
When the chicks are first placed in the hover compartment the inclined
plane is drawn up and they find two drinking cups ready--the style that
feeds itself into a small cup, into which it is not possible for the
youngsters to get. They also find waiting for them their first meal of
Corning Chick Food. For the first twenty-four hours the inclined plane
remains up, and the hovers are visited every two hours. If the amount
of Chick Food has been well cleaned up, another feeding is evenly
distributed over the boards. It must be understood that litter is never
placed on the hover floor, though it is kept two inches deep on the
floor of the pen.
Three Feeds Daily
The following morning the inclined plane is let down, about five
handfuls of Corning Chick Food to every hundred chicks is thrown into
the litter, and a little is scattered just at the top of the inclined
plane to entice the youngsters down. No more food is given until the
noon hour, when, into the litter is thrown two handfuls to every
hundred chicks, and again a small quantity is placed at the top. No
more feeding is done until four o’clock when five handfuls of Corning
Chick Food are again thrown into the litter.
For the first two or three nights, or more if necessary, the chicks are
quietly driven up to the hover, and the inclined plane pulled up after
them, it being let down the first thing in the morning.
Fresh water is supplied in the drinking cups each day, morning, noon,
and night, and, with the night filling, a brush on the plan of those
made for the cleansing of milk bottles, is used to give the cups a
proper cleaning.
On the back of the record cards, hung behind each hover, the mortality
is kept.
The hovers are raised every morning to learn the exact condition of the
entire brood after the night.
Green Food Third Day
On the third day green food is added to the ration, in the form of the
tops of Sprouted Oats. Never feed the rooty mass to the youngsters for
it is almost sure to upset them. The smallest chick has no difficulty
breaking up and getting away with Oat Sprouts from one and a half to
two inches long, and there is nothing they like so well.
Animal Food Tenth Day
The regular ration is continued with judgment, for in feeding it is to
be remembered that judgment must be exercised at all times. After the
tenth day animal food is added to the ration, commencing with a small
handful of The Corning Egg Farm Mash, thrown on top of the litter.
Where beef scraps are used to supply the animal food they may be fed
alone, and this was done at first on The Corning Egg Farm, but for
the last three years we have fed the green bone in the mash mixture.
It, however, must be fed with great care, and the bone used for this
purpose must be most carefully selected, and must be absolutely fresh.
It must be remembered that even one or two ham bones, or corned beef
bones mixed in the ration would mean the loss of a great many chicks.
Shank bones and briskets, when obtainable, are ideal for this purpose,
and during the Brooding season these are selected out and kept for what
is termed the “baby’s mash.” With the introduction on the tenth day of
the Mash, the noon-day feeding of Corning Chick Food is discontinued.
By the time the youngsters are four weeks old the hovers have been
removed entirely, and one finds that the little fellows will lie very
contentedly, spread out on the floor, so long as the temperature in the
Brooder House is kept up to 85° three feet above the floor, as before
indicated.
Avoid Moving Chicks Often
The removal of the chicks from the hover runs into the nurseries,
as formerly practiced on The Corning Egg Farm, has been entirely
discontinued. A chick in many respects resembles a flower; every time
it is moved or transplanted it receives a certain setback. For this
reason the great Brooder House has all been turned into hover runs, and
the chicks make one move from the Brooder House to the Colony House.
A moving generally represents not only a slight setback, but some
mortality through accident and the change itself.
The small chick doors into the outside runs are opened, if the weather
is propitious, about the fifth or sixth day in the early part of the
hatching season, and on the third or fourth day later on. The chicks
are never driven into the yard, any more than they are driven down the
inclined plane, but it is always our method to allow the youngsters
to seek a new field for themselves, and slowly. When they go out into
the yard they are watched, and if there is any inclination to huddle
up against the warm side of the building they are driven back into the
Brooder House.
Another great advantage of the heated Brooder House (and we speak of
this as entirely separate from the heat under the hovers) is that it
allows the chick to seek different degrees of temperature. There is one
temperature under the hover; another temperature outside of the hover,
on the hover floor; still another degree on the main floor of the
Brooder House; and, then, there is the outdoor temperature.
When the chicks are first placed under the hovers, during the first
day, we carry the temperature at 95 degrees, and then slowly decrease
this by raising the hover. Where an adjustable hover is not used this
may be accomplished by turning down the lamp.