228 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



night before and allowed to steam; to this mixture may be added 

 chopped clover or small potatoes. At noon scatter sparingly among 

 the cut straw, wheat or buckwheat, and at night give a supply of 

 cracked corn and oats. The above bill of fare, with cabbage twice 

 a week and the liberal addition of green bone with plenty of fresh 

 water will insure a return that must foot up on the right side of the 

 balance sheet, from the sale of eggs alone. 



Ha^ing eggs from a well kept and vigorous stock, our next thought 

 is to see that they are properly Incubated. Too low or too high a 

 temperature, an excess or lack of moisture, tend to impair the con- 

 stitution of the chicks and may even prevent their hatching. We 

 must be very careful about temperature and ventilation; the latter 

 is the more important of the two, for the reason that through the 

 hen nature has provided a nearly uniform temperature, and in 

 artificial incubation the regulation of the temperature has been 

 about perfected; whereas neither nature nor man has yet succeeded 

 in giving a uniform amount of ventilation. With the hen the amount 

 of ventilation varies with the temperature of the surrounding air 

 and location of her nest; with the incubator it varies with the 

 temperature. In a recent article on care and feeding of chicks, it is 

 stated "whether our ultimate purpose is to secure broilers, roast- 

 ers or breeding stock, the first steps to be taken are the same. For 

 the first one or two days the chicks must have no food whatever 

 and for the succeeding three or four days they must be fed very 

 sparingly. Nature has provided for the sustenance of the chick 

 for twenty-four hours bv the withdrawal into the abdomen of the 

 contents of the yolk-sac remaining unabsorbed at the time of hatch- 

 ing, and feeding too early often results in digestive disturbances." 

 They may, however, from the start have free access to water and 

 sand. When uncared for and allowed to run with the hen, their sup- 

 ply of water is chiefly dew, and their first picking, gravel, sand, dirt 

 and other indigestible objects. This may be considered the natural 

 method, and we can not vary from it. The significant feature of 

 this natural method is that for the first few days, until it has gained 

 strength to forage for itself, the chick gets very little to eat." 



What we feed is not so important as the quantity given, although 

 some foods are more nourishing that others. When the chicks are 

 twenty-four hours old they should have hard boiled eggs, bread 

 crumbs soaked in milk, or perhaps what is best of all, rolled oats. 

 They should, when four days old, be taken from the hard boiled egg 

 diet, and wheat and finely cracked corn substituted. Everything 

 about the coop, if hatched by hens, or if a brooder is in use, should 

 be kept clean and sweet, and no more food thrown down than the 

 chicks will eat greedily. 



One of the secrets of success in raising poultry is feeding little 



