Success in hatching and rearing the chicks is absolutely necessary for profitable poultry keeping. The fancier, the egg farmer and the market poulterer must produce every year a certain greater or less number of chickens. The fancier must have cockerels and pullets for exhibition and sale, the egg man must have pullets to lay, the poulterer must have tender broilers and roasters for his trade and all must replace the stock sold, or aged beyond its useful ness; This young stock is required to be good or it will not satisfactorily and profitably serve its various purposes; the mere fact that it has been brought from the shell and made to live until it is time to market it, or to maturity, as the case may be, is no guaranty that it will sooner or later return a fair rate of interest on its cost. Thousands of chicks are hatched each year and placed in brooders, which, either because of weakness in the parent stock or improper incubation, are practically worthless, so far as their ability to make good growth and development is con cerned. Other thousands which leave the shell strong and healthy are spoiled in the rearing, so that they reach the profit-turning age in such condition that they are unfit for the purposes of their owners.
