Feeding Young Chickens . 1953 



as soon as all have had opportunity to eat. The latter should be given in 

 small quantities in order to prevent waste, and any food that becomes 

 soiled or soured should be thrown away at once. 



When the chicks are four or five days old, they should be able to 

 scratch for food in light litter, and the cracked grain fed in this litter 

 should be cleaned up once a day. When dry mash is fed, this is always 

 accessible to the chicks, but it should be given in such quantity that it 

 will be eaten in one day. Any dry mash remaining in the tray should be 

 removed if it becomes soiled. 



Training the chicks. — Incubator chicks have no knowledge of what 

 to eat or of where to find food. They will pick up one thing as readily 

 as they will another if it is of convenient size; for this reason, great care 

 is necessary as to any materials left in the brooder. If sawdust is used 

 as Htter, the chicks may eat enough of it to cause high mortality. The 

 use of bran as litter is objectionable on the same ground, although in a 

 lower degree; it contains a large proportion of indigestible fiber, and may 

 be eaten instead of more nutritious food. Bright, clean straw, cut an inch 

 or two in length, makes the best litter. 



In order to teach chicks what to eat and where to find it, some signal 

 is necessary. From the first, chicks recognize the call of the mother 

 hen. They will come almost as quickly in answer to a sound of tapping, 

 running directly to the source of the sound and following it from place to 

 place. This signal is very useful in teaching them to find food and drink. 

 When the chicks are called to the food dishes their attention should be 

 directed to the food by picking up a small quantity and scattering it 

 before them, dropping some bits on their down. Repeated tapping on 

 the trays and scattering of the food among the chicks seems to awaken 

 their curiosity, and they soon begin to pick the particles from one an- 

 other's backs and from the food trays. Chicks quickly imitate one 

 another, and when a few begin eating, their example is followed by others. 



The majority of the chicks should eat a little when first fed, although 

 a few of the youngest may not be hungry. The latter may safely wait 

 until the next meal. It may be necessary to push the chicks back 

 under the hover after the first feedings, because they are not yet wise 

 enough to return to a warm place and may become chilled if left outside 

 the hover. In the morning of the second day the hover should be raised, 

 and all the chicks should be forced out to the food dishes. By this 

 time the greater proportion will know where to find food and drink; 

 the backward ones should be encouraged, otherwise some of them may 

 starve. A small quantity of cracked grain may now be scattered in light 

 litter, the attention of the chicks being attracted to this action. If 

 some of the grains strike the chicks in falling, the food is more quickly seen. 

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