Heritage Advice

Author and poultry fancier Myra V. Norys wrote Pocket Money Poultry in 1899. Much of her advice is still relevant today. (Read the entire book for free at Google Books: https://bit.ly/2ohknch.) “There are two chief methods of ‘mothering’ chicks — the more common including the aid of the natural mother; the other, the tender mercies of the wooden box known as a brooder,” Norys wrote. “The hen has instinct and warmth to commend her; the brooder lacks instinct but also lacks many of the annoying, cranky ways of the hen. And it also furnishes the heat required for the broods at all times, which no solicitation or shrewdness on the part of the owner can induce the hen to do. As the chicks are so very dependent on warmth, this is a strong point in favor of the mechanical ‘mother.’”