18 HOW TO HATCH, BROOD, FEED AND PREVENT 



not put them back in the brooder as you will not know which chicks you 

 have watered. Now put ten or fifteen more in the box that contains the 

 fountains and do just as you did before, and so on until they have all had 

 a drink. Do this for several days until they all learn how to drink, then fix 

 more cans, about six or eight to 200 chicks, so they can all drink at once, 

 but do not let them have all they will drink. After ten days fill the cans 

 with water and leave them sit till the chicks have had all they want, then 

 you can keep water or milk by them all the time. Early in spring before 

 you can have lettuce, cut clover or blue grass is a good substitute. They 

 must have something green. Cabbage must not be fed to brooder chicks 

 till they are four weeks old: it loosens their bowels too much. After the 

 chicks are eight days old begin to feed a few bread crumbs and a little 

 cracked wheat mixed with their rice. Feed this till they are three weeks 

 old, then you can mix a little course ground meal with their feed. When 

 they are four weeks old feed anything you please and as much as you 

 please. You should feed ground bone or beef scraps three times a week 

 after the first week, not too much at a time; it takes the place of bugs, 

 worms, and grasshoppers which they would get if running with a hen. 

 Every poultry raiser should have a bone cutter; it does not cost much and 

 one can utilize every old bone and convert it into profit, which otherwise 

 would be a waste. For best results in raising brooder chicks you must 

 make the conditions as near like they were with a hen as possible. Scatter 

 timothy seed and bran in the chaff in the brooder, also over the floor of 

 the brooder house; it will keep the chicks busy and it would, take a long 

 time for them to eat enough to hurt them. The heavy breeds require 

 a little more feed than the Leghorns or Minorcas, but do not feed too much. 

 If you will heat the rice a little, the chicks do better and it will kill disease 

 germs. 



If you can keep your chicks healthy for two weeks, all danger is pas 

 so far as feed is concerned, but watch your brooder -and brooder house 

 closely for mites; if they get a start in your brooder they will soon sap the 

 life of your little chicks. 



Do not feed any sour food or moulded bread to your chicks. Do not 

 wet their food. Wet, sloppy food will cause dysentery, which is very fatal 

 to brooder chicks because it is very contagious; it is liable to go through 

 your whole flock if it once gets started. You should remove all chicks 

 that are affected in this way and clean your brooder thoroughly, then close 

 it up and burn sulphur in it. This will kill all disease germs. 



After your chicks are twelve days old you can increase their feed. To 

 200 chicks give one- half cup of rice three times a day and one cup of 

 lettuce twice a day. You can feed part rice and part wheat, ' or bread 

 crumbs. Do not feed more than they will clean up; if they leave any, miss 

 one feed. Count your chicks and measure your feed accordingly. I made 



