FEEDING FOR GROWTH 245 



them continually for the first two weeks, in shallow open 

 pans or small baby chick hoppers. After this time a change 

 should be made, and the following dry mash substituted for 

 the wheat bran, feeding it in hoppers, and keeping it before 

 them all the time. When the change is made, the feeding 

 of the scratching ration can be reduced to three times daily. 

 The following is the chick dry mash: 



Chick Dry Mash 

 Kind of Feed Amount 



Wheat bran 50 pounds 



Gluten feed 10 pounds 



Corn meal 10 pounds 



Ground oats 10 pounds 



Beef scrap 10 pounds 



Granulated bone 10 pounds 



Total 100 pounds 



There are two miscellaneous brooder feeds which can be 

 used to advantage. Hard boiled eggs in considerable quan- 

 tities can be given to the chicks after they are a week old. 

 The eggs should be boiled thirty minutes, and only as much 

 given as the chicks can clean up quickly. If any is left in the 

 litter to become sour and moldy it is very injurious. Infertile 

 eggs from the incubator can be largely used for this purpose. 



Sprouted oats and vegetable tops, or young green grass 

 should be given during the early brooding period. Out-door 

 runs to the brooder house, covered with alfalfa or clover, 

 are quite a necessity. 



Cost of Feeding a Young Chick up to Eight Weeks of 

 Age. The cost of feeding a chick in the brooder house during 

 the brooder period varies considerably; on the average it is 

 from six to eight cents, but during the winter it costs a little 

 more than this. 



THE GROWING PERIOD 



In addition to the feed, the requirements for the growing 

 period are detailed in Chapter XIII. The method of 

 feeding there recommended applies equally well to cock- 



