Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 102, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 May 1918 — Heat for Brood Chicks. [ARTICLE]

Heat for Brood Chicks.

The best temperature at which to keep a brooder or hover depends upon the position of the thermometer, the Style of the hover, the age of the chickens and the weather conditions. Aim to keep the chickens comfortable. As the operator learns-by the actions of the chickens the amount of heat they require, he can discard the thermometer if he desires. When too cold the chicks will crowd together and try to get nearer the heat. It is not possible to say for each case at what temperature the brooder should be kept to raise young chickens, but It will run from 90 to 100 degrees in some cases, as some |fooj|s of -chickens seem to require toore heat than others. Average temperatures approximate 93 to 95 degrees for the first week or ten days, when the temperature is gradually reduced to 85 degrees for the following ten days, and then lowered to 70 or 75 degrees for as long as the chickens need heat. This depends somewhat on the season of the year and the number of the chickens, as it can be readily seen that the heat generated by 50 chickens would raise the temperature under the hover to, a higher degree than the heat givein ‘off by a leaser number.