POULTRY KEEPING 571 



last meals of the day for the first two weeks, and is fed on shallow 

 troughs or on plates. At the morning meal care should be taken that 

 the chicks do not eat too much. They should be left somewhat hun- 

 gry at this meal so that they will exercise during the middle of the 

 day by scratching for the hard grain which is scattered in the litter. 

 At the evening meal they may be fed more liberally on the egg and 

 rolled oats mixture. The hard grain consists of a mixture of cracked 

 corn, cracked wheat, oatmeal, millet seed, broken rice, etc. For small 

 chicks the grains should be cracked fine, the pieces of corn not being 

 larger than one-half of a kernel of wheat. At times the prepared 

 chick foods for scratching material have been found most satisfac- 

 tory. The fine cracked grains should be scattered in the litter as 

 often as convenient so that the chicks may be kept busily engaged all 

 day long hunting for the grain, and care should be exercised that 

 they do not find it too easily. 



After two or three weeks cracked wheat and cracked corn are 

 gradually substituted for the prepared chick food, and a mash com- 

 posed of corn meal, wheat bran, wheat middlings and 'beef scrap is 

 substituted for the egg and rolled oats. Excellent results have been 

 secured in feeding little chicks according to the method advocated 

 by the Maine Experiment Station. Briefly this method is as follows: 

 A mixture of three parts of corn meal, one part wheat bran, and one 

 part wheat middlings or flour is used from which to make bread. This 

 is mixed very stiff with skim milk or water and salted as usual for 

 bread. It is baked in a slow oven, and when done the loaves are 

 split open and returned to the oven where it remains until the bread 

 is thoroughly dry. The crusts are then pounded until they are 

 pulverized. The infertile eggs are hard boiled and ground shell and 

 all in a sausage mill. One part ground egg and four parts bread 

 crumbs are then mixed together and the mixture run through the 

 sausage mill or food chopper. 



The chicks are fed in the morning and at night on the bread 

 and egg mixture, and during the middle of the day they scratch 

 in the litter for the dry cracked grain or chick food which is pro- 

 vided for them. The egg mixture is used for about two weeks, 

 and although it is expensive when infertile eggs are not available 

 yet it makes the chicks thrive wonderfully well. Grit and charcoal 

 must be freely provided and after the chicks are a few days old 

 green food in some form becomes a practical necessity. (W. Va. 

 B. 98.) 



Frequency of Feeding. Young chicks should be fed a little at 

 a time and often. They should be fed early in the morning and 

 just before going to bed at night, and not less than three times in the 

 intervening period. For the first two weeks they may be fed three 

 meals of soft feed and two of hard, and after that ago two of soft and 

 three of hard, feeding loss soft food as they grow older. No more 

 moistened soft feed should be given at one time than they will eat 

 up clean. If any is left it should be removed, for nothing causes 

 more bowel looseness and dysentery among young chicks than sour 

 feed. The finely cracked grains may be safely used from the start, 



