■;o8 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY 



day for ten or fifteen minutes. Before setting 

 the hen give her a good dusting with insect 

 powder, and again two or three days before 

 she is due to hatch ; by so doing you will save 

 many a chick from being infested with lice. In 

 the sitting-house have a large shallow box filled 

 with cinder ashes for the hens to dust in. After 

 five or six days the eggs should be tested by 

 a candle in a dark room. Hold the &^§, be- 

 tween the first finger and thumb of each hand 

 about an inch from a lighted candle. If the 

 egg is unfertile it will appear quite clear, 

 whilst if it contains the germ this will be found 

 to float and show the veins quite plainly. At 

 the end of nineteen days, if the eggs are fresh, 

 they will commence to hatch, and at this time 

 the hen should be left alone ; do not bother her 

 more than you can avoid. W'hen possible 

 always use fresh eggs for hatching ; and never 

 more than eight or ten days old, if you would 

 have strong chicks. Never set very small eggs, 

 or thin-shelled eggs, for even should they 

 hatch the chicks will be fragile little mites that 

 it is impossible to rear. 



The ne.xt important point is the feeding of 

 Bantam chicks. For the first twelve hours after 

 hatching the chick does not require any food ; 



in fact, they are better without for 

 Rearing twenty-f Our hours ; let them remain 



Chicks perfectly quiet. At the end of that 



time give them their first feed of 

 hard-boiled t^^ chopped fine and mixed with 

 stale breadcrumbs and coarse oatmeal, or what 

 is termed "pin-head oatmeal." This should be 

 their staple food for the first two days, given 

 every two hours. On the third day substitute 

 Biscuit Chicken-meal for the egg food. The 

 food must be free from condiments or spices, 

 which are harmful to Bantam chicks, however 

 good they may or may not be for stronger 

 chicks. In cold weather it is best to give the 

 food warm, mixing it with boiling water ; but 

 in warm weather I find it keeps sweeter when 

 mixed with cold water. Feed every two hours 

 until ten days old, then four or five times a day 

 until they are ten weeks old ; then three times 

 a day will suffice. When the chicks are three 

 weeks old let the last feed of the day be broken 

 groats, millet-seed, and canary-seed mixed. 

 At noon a little lean meat cut fine, or a few 

 maggots, should be given. This once a da\' ; 

 but do not give too much : and above all feed 

 your chicks regularly at a given hour each da}'. 

 If the chicks have free range on grass, water is 

 not necessary. I am not a believer in water 

 for chicks, except what they can get off the 

 grass after a heavy dew or shower. The less 

 water you give chicks the less diarrhoea and 



gapes you will have amongst them. If you 

 never give them water, they never require it ; 

 but once you start to do so you must go on to 

 the end of the chapter. Although the little 

 chick does not require water, however, the hen 

 must not be forgotten. It is best to fasten an 

 ordinary zinc drinking tin for her inside the 

 coop, about 6 or 8 inches from the ground. 

 And, of course, when the chick attains the age 

 of three or four months, when its food will be 

 principally hard corn, then water is necessar}'. 

 At this age the chickens should be separated, 

 the cockerels from the pullets. When feeding 

 the chicks in the early morning give the hen 

 a good feed of maize, otherwise she will eat 

 all the food away from the chicks. 



Keep the coops scrupulously clean, and 

 lime-washed ever\' five or six weeks, and re- 

 move to fresh ground every two or three days. 

 Examine the chicks at intervals for lice, etc., 

 and whenever infested, dust well with insect 

 powder. Following these instructions, the 

 rearing of Bantam chicks will become quite an 

 easy and pleasurable task. 



I am often asked what size of house Ban- 

 tams require. For a pen of half a dozen, the 

 house should measure 4 by 3 feet. From the 



floor to the eaves should be 2 feet. 

 Houses and ^^^ ,3 ^^ g j^^^j^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^j^^ ^.-^g^ 



of the roof. Under the floor have a 

 shelter reaching 15 or iS inches from 

 the ground, and boarded all round except the 

 front. This shelter will be very useful in bad 

 weather, and should have a plentiful suppl_\- of 

 moss litter or dry sea sand ; this will keep 

 them dry, and prevent colds when the weather 

 is bad. The run attached to the house should 

 measure 9 feet by 3 feet, 5 feet high, boarded 

 18 to 24 inches from the ground at the front, 

 the remainder of the front wire netting ; back, 

 end, and roof boarded. On the floor of the 

 run, also floor of house, use dry sea sand, and 

 rake over every alternate day, so as to keep it 

 clean and sweet. Use round perches for Game 

 Bantams, about the thickness of an ordinar_\- 

 broom-handle ; but for feather-legged varieties 

 flat perches are best, and the perches should be 

 so constructed that they can readily be taken 

 down and cleaned. Houses and runs such as 

 described can be put up for 25s. to 35s. each. 

 See that the houses are well ventilated near to 

 the roof ; this is highly important for the 

 health of the birds. 



Many a good bird is spoiled for the want of 

 proper training, which is half the battle in the 

 exhibition pen. Take a cockerel direct from his 

 run and place him in an exhibition pen, put 

 your stick inside, and endeavour to touch him, 



Runs for 

 Bantams. 



