MANAGEMENT OF FOWLS 



97 



FIG. 93. Coop for hen and chicks, 

 to be used without run 



putting them in a flannel wrapping in a warm place. Unless, how- 

 ever, the conditions are bad, it is better to leave them with the 

 hen. Hens with little chicks should be left in the nests until 



all the eggs that will hatch have 

 hatched and the chicks are dry 

 and begin to show an inclina- 

 tion to run about. Then, if the 

 weather is fine, the hen and her 

 brood may be taken at once to 

 a coop out of doors, but if it is 

 cold or stormy, the little chicks 

 are better indoors. 



Coops for broods. The coop 

 for a hen and chickens should 



be so constructed that they will have plenty of fresh air at night. 



There should be a small run attached to it, to which the hen 



can be confined while the chickens run about or come to her 



to be brooded, as they may wish. It is not a good plan to let a 



hen run with her brood while 



the chicks are very small. The 



chickens do much better if the 



mother is confined and gives 



more attention to keeping them 



warm than to feeding them. 



The coops should not be placed 



in the same spot year after year, 



nor should they be on land upon 



which the old fowls run during 



any considerable portion of the 



year. Sod ground is best. 



Feeding young chickens. From early times in America the 



most common food for young chickens has been corn meal mois- 

 tened with water. When fresh this is a good food for chickens 



that run about and eat a great deal of green food, insects, worms, 



FIG. 94. Coop to be used with runs, 

 as in Fig. 95 



