414 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION 



successful poultry-keepers. Sometimes the chicks are started 

 from the very first on prepared chick feeds, made from finely 

 cracked grains, and when they can have plenty of outdoor 

 exercise they will do well on such a ration. They should be 

 fed five times a day at the start. Milk is especially good for 

 little chicks, but plenty of clean water must also be provided, 

 for milk will not take its place. A little lettuce or a tender 

 cabbage leaf may be given each day from the first. No better 

 green food can be supplied young chicks than short, tender 

 grass on the sod. 



Cleanliness, plenty of pure air, warmth, protection from 

 chilling winds and lots of sunlight are essential to the well being 

 of the little chicks. 



The Artificial Method. If incubators are used, the chicks 

 should remain in the incubator until they are from twenty- 

 four to thirty-six hours old. They should then be removed 

 to the brooder, which should occupy a well-lighted, clean 

 room where there is plenty of sun. The hover should pre- 

 viously have been warmed to a temperature of about ninety 

 degrees. After the chicks are in, their animal heat will raise 

 the temperature under the house from ninety to about ninety- 

 five degrees. 



It is advisable to keep the youngsters under the hover most 

 of the time during the first twenty-four hours, letting them 

 out at frequent intervals to become accustomed to the brooder, 

 and to drink a little water and eat a little food. After the 

 first day they may be allowed to go in and out at will, unless 

 they are found to crowd in the corners, when they must be 

 returned to the hover until warm again, for crowding in out- 

 side corners always means that they are chilly. The same 

 food that was recommended for chicks with hens will prove 

 equally satisfactory for chicks in brooders. (H. A. N.) 



