208 THE SCIENTIFIC FEEDING OF ANIMALS 



so much feed should be given at a time as will be picked up clean. Young 

 chicks should be fed every two or three hours until a few weeks old, 

 then four times a day. 



Hulled millet seed, oatmeal or cracked buckwheat should be fed mixed 

 or alternated with the soft feed. Sand and charcoal should at all times 

 be accessible to the little chicks. 



Beginning with the third week the cracked grains are gradually dis- 

 placed with wheat bran, the fresh milk with sour, and the quantity of 

 curd is increased. Cracked or broken rice, barley, wheat and corn are 

 suitable at this stage. 



When the chicks are 5 weeks old, malt sprouts and water-soaked bread 

 (with surplus water expressed), and occasionally boiled potatoes and 

 larger grains, are good. At 8 or 9 weeks the chicks may have the same 

 feed as the older fowls. 



Pure water, not too cold, should always be accessible. Many poultry 

 raisers add 3 grams of copperas to each quart of water as a preventive 

 for diarrhea. Drinking vessels should be kept clean. Automatic "foun- 

 tains" are much in use; they serve to keep the water free from dirt and 

 protect the chicks from getting wet by being immersed in larger vessels. 



Dry feed consists of ground grains of all kinds — buckwheat, oatmeal, 

 oats, barley, corn, bran, linseed meal, hulled millet, canary grass seed, etc. 

 This may be mixed with fish meal or tankage, greens, etc. Dry feeding is 

 most practicable, attended with less work than the use of soft feeds, and 

 has the advantage that the feed is less apt to spoil before being used. 



According to the age of the chicks, the grains fed may be millet, 

 cracked or broken rice, cracked corn, whole wheat, etc., in the order 

 named. The following plan has been found successful : 



For the first week or two. millet seed and oatmeal, strewn on a clean 

 board in the runs ; chaffed straw added to make the chicks scratch. 



For the third and fourth weeks, an automatic feeder containing a mix- 

 ture of 4 parts oatmeal, 2 parts cracked corn, 1 part fish meal and one- 

 half part finely chopped clover. In addition, three times a day. strewn in 

 the run, a mixture of equal parts of millet, rice and dari.* 



For the fifth and sixth weeks, a mixture of oatmeal, ground oats and 

 finely cut clover, 2 parts of each; cracked com, wheat bran and fish meal, 

 1 part of each. In addition, broken rice, dari* and cracked corn. 



For the seventh to tenth weeks, a mixed feed consisting of 4 parts 

 each of oatmeal and clover hay, finely chaffed, and 2 parts each of bran 

 and fish meal. In addition, grain feed composed of wheat and cracked 

 com. 



Later on barley and oats may be added and the quantity of wheat bran 

 increased. 



In connection with all of the above rations a supply of green stuff is 

 very desirable. In the absence of green stuff, grated carrots and kohl- 

 rabi Cturnip cabbage) are good. 



•Sorgh. tart. 



