404 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



the flock every chick that fails to grow properly, and so lags 

 behind the rest in development. But it is a very rare thing 

 to find a poultry keeper who will do this. The usual prac- 

 tice is to let everything liv<^ until it is marketable, — or dies 

 from natural causes. 



And it is just this that is responsible for more than half 

 of the troubles people have in growing chickens. It is on 

 the weak and puny chick, that has not life and strength 

 enough to dust itself, that lice increase, until they become 

 numerous enough to worry the stroi.g chicks. It is the 

 weak chick that develops distem})ers and diarrha-as, and 

 poisons the air for the others with its fetid breath, and 

 makes the coop or brooder foul with its slimy discharges. 

 It is after the weak chicks that one must be constantly 

 cleaning up ; their presence in a flock is always adding to 

 the poultry keeper's burden. I never could luiderstand why 

 people should be so reluctant to kill a fowl or animal which 

 they knew was not fit to live, and probably would not live 

 to meet the use for which it had been produced. 



When we plant seed, we plant enough to allow for the 

 failure of a great many seeds to grow, and still give a great 

 many more jdants than can 4De properh^ gro^vn on the 

 allotted ground. Then, as the plants grow, they are thinned 

 out, all the weak and unthrifty ones being uprooted like 

 weeds, and no more of the thrifty spared than can make 

 good growth. The same thing should be done with the 

 chickens. Xo unthrifty ones should be alloAved on the 

 premises, and the tlirift}^ and vigorous should not be over- 

 croAvded. If they are, they do not long remain vigorous 

 and thrifty. 



Besides being a constant menace to the welfare of the 

 flock and a burden to the caretaker, the weakly and runty 

 chickens are rather costly property. It takes a great deal 

 more food to make meat on them than on strong and thrifty 

 chickens. No scientific experiment is needed to demon- 

 strate this. Any one who has weakly chickens in his flock 

 can demonstrate the matter for himself by separating them, 

 by taking an equal number of healthy chicks of the same 

 age, and noting how the two lots eat and how they grow. 



