Book 3 — A Stepmother for Incubator Chicks

The best imitation mother hen for incubator chicks that we have found, is built by attaching rag strings to the bottom of an inverted cracker, or similar, box, which accommodates 2 doz. chicks. The rag pieces are torn 1 in. wide, from coarse cloth or gunny sacking, and their loose ends just touch the floor. They are placed close together. An inlet to the mother box is cut in the edge of it. The chicks huddle in among the string rags, keeping safe and warm, whereas without such an arrangement, they may crowd together too closely, and some of them be smothered.—J. Cecil Alter, Salt Lake City, Utah.