HOME MADE BROODER

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 August 1938, Page 3

HOME MADE BROODER

SAWDUST BURNERS. Sawdust-burning brooders are used for hardening off chicks by Mr C. Bode, of Research, Vic,, N.S.W., according to “Poultry of New South Wales.” One filling of sawdust burns for 24 hours, and since sawdust can be bought at sixpence a bag, which lasts for four days, they are certainly economical. The brooder is made from an 8-gai-lon oil drum, a length of downpiping, and a sheet of galvanised iron. The lid is removed from the oil drum and the rough edges hammered down; in the centre of the bottom of the drum a hole about lJin in diameter is bored to allow a draught of air to pass through. A lid to fit over the top of the drum is made from a scrap piece of iron, and a hole about Jin in diameter drilled in it near the outer edge. A circular hover is built from the sheet of galvanised iron, and a concrete base is used to stand the drum on so that the draught is not obstructed. The method of operating is to place a length of pipe down the centre of the drum and through the hole in the bottom; with this pipe still in position, the drum is then filled with sawdust, which is carefully rammed down until it is a perfectly compact mass and the pipe can be withdrawn, leaving a hollow down the centre. Paraffin is poured down this gap and a match applied to it; as soon as the sawdust catches the lid is placed on, the hover is placed over the lid, and the length of downpipe passing through a hole at one side of the hover is fitted over the small hole in the lid of the drum, so as to draw the fire and carry off the smoke. A damper regulates the burning of the sawdust; it is made from an old piece of iron placed part way across the hole in the lid, the size of which it regulates, on the principle that the larger the opening the quicker is the burning and the greater the heat.