PROGRESSIVE POULTRY RAISING 



always well to furnish plenty of heat for if the chicks 

 are too warm, they will move out from under the hover. 

 If on the other hand, they are too cold, they are likely 

 to bunch and pile up resulting in the smothering of some 

 chicks and more or less injury to all. A chick that has 

 been thoroughly chilled probably never regains its full 

 thrift and vitality. 



The secret of the successful feeding 

 Feeding of little chicks insofar as there is 



Chicks anv secret lies in four things. The 



first is in not feeding too soon. The 

 second is to feed sparingly, giving a little at a time and 

 often; the third is to feed only grains which are abso- 

 lutely free of must and mold, and the fourth is to furnish 

 those ingredients which supply their growing needs. 



Chicks should not be removed from the incubator until 

 they show by their actions that they are quite hungry. 

 This is never sooner than thirty-six hours after hatching 

 and is frequently forty-eight or even seventy-two. The 

 reason for this is that when the chicks are fed before 

 all of the yolk material which is taken into the digestive 

 tract just before hatching is fully absorbed and digested, 

 it sours and causes scours, usually followed by a loss of 

 chicks. 



It must be remembered that when the little chicks 

 are put in brooders, they are left largely to their own 

 resources. There is no mother hen to keep them alert 

 and interested in picking up their food a bit at a time. 

 The tendency, particularly with the beginner, is usually 

 to overfeed rendering the chicks dull, listless and highly 

 susceptible to the many ills to which they are heir. For 

 the first two weeks after they come from the incubator 

 the chicks should be fed at least five times a day, and 

 never more at one time than they will clean up fairly 

 readily. 



The grains used must be sweet. Whenever a new 

 supply is gotten, either by purchase, or from a bin, it 



Page Twenty-Two 



