PO UL TR r- CRA FT. 1 73 



quite gray. Chicks of black varieties are mostly black on the backs ; canary 

 colored on the breasts. Barred Plymouth Rock chicks are gray on the backs, 

 lighter underneath, with generally a light splash on top of the head. The 

 cockerels are much lighter colored than pullets from the same matings. In 

 nearly all varieties there is more diversity in the color of the chicks when 

 hatched than when feathered. 



249. The First Feed for the Chicks need not be essentially different 

 from those which are to follow ; nor need the food given the first few weeks 

 be different in kind from that given later. The young chick needs precisely 

 the same kinds of food that the older chick and the mature fowl need ; but it 

 needs it in form adapted to smaller digestive organs, and needs food oftener. 

 The matter of feeding has been so fully covered in ^[ 137 146, special 

 rations for young chicks being given in ^[ 146, 21 28, that the same ground 

 need not be gone over here. Chicks may be fed as soon as they will eat. 

 There is not the slightest danger of their injuring themselves by eating before 

 their systems are ready for food.* 



250. Water for Young Chicks. It is possible to grow young chicks up 

 to four or five weeks of age without giving them water. Nearly all expert 

 poultry keepers are agreed, however, that the chicks ought to have water from 

 the start. They should have constant access to it, and if by any chance they 

 are deprived of it long enough to become very thirsty, they ought not to be 

 allowed to drink freely of cold water immediately. By giving the water warm 

 at first, cramps and chills are prevented. 



251. About Cooping. For the first few days the chicks are as well off 

 indoors in a box just large enough for the hen to move about comfortably. If 

 the weather is cold and wet, they should be kept in still longer ; but not in 

 too close quarters. A good plan is to confine the hens in small coops boxes 

 with slats across the fronts will do and allow the broods of several hens to 

 run on the same pen floor. When the time comes to put them outdoors, the 

 hens should still be confined. Many promising broods are ruined by the hens 

 running the chicks "off their legs," wearing them out completely. Even 

 after the chicks are strong enough to keep up with a foraging hen, it is better 

 to place the hen under restraint ; then each chick can run just as much or as 

 little as it pleases, and those that are weaker than the others yet not weak- 

 lings have a better chance than when compelled to keep the pace set by 

 the hen or the strongest chicks. 



Many hens which are themselves model mothers, are vicious toward the 



* NOTE. It is often stated that chicks are injured by being fed before the yolk 

 absorbed previous to exclusion is assimilated, and that they should not be fed until 

 twenty-four hours old. Some chicks will eat within twelve hours of being hatched, and 

 some will not eat for thirty-six hours or more, though food is frequently before them and 

 the hen inviting them to eat. 



