FEEDING AND MANAGEMENT OF CHICKS 



A warm dry day should be selected for the purpose of 

 transference, and when a number are hatched simultaneously, 

 they may be all put together and equally divided amongst 

 their foster-parents in the coops. No food will be required 

 for at least twelve hours, and each of the coops should be 

 so arranged that they are neither exposed to cold winds nor 

 to excessive heat. If the coops have been placed out in dry 

 weather and the grass is short, the author believes that no 

 flooring of any kind is necessary, though some keepers use 

 mats, others chaff, wooden floors, and so forth, but from 

 a hygienic point of view, the best material for the floor of 

 a coop is cork, it having three distinct advantages over any 

 other material, viz., that it is damp-proof, porous, and easier 

 to clean than any other form of flooring. 



Cork squares, exactly the size of the coop, can be obtained, 

 though of course must not be permanently fixed to the coop, 

 otherwise such will become insanitary. 



Give each hen a full brood, and if mats are used they 

 must be removed and cleansed daily. When the chicks are 

 first put in the coop, say in the morning, it is a wise plan to 

 close the shutter of the coop until the evening, as this 

 facilitates the mother and chicks settling down. In passing 

 it is worthy of mention that coops are manufactured in a 

 variety of forms. The simplest ones and those most gener- 

 ally in use have bars at the front, with either a sliding or a 

 drop front, so as to shut up the chicks at night and protect 

 them against nocturnal depredations. 



Some coops have a small wire run attached, and there is 

 no doubt that these are much healthier for the chicks than 

 the coops so commonly in use ; moreover, they are protective, 

 the chief objection to them being the expense. Useful forms 

 of keeper's coops, with sliding roofs and shutters, can be 

 obtained for about ^3 per dozen. A coop should be 



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