1 82 POULTRT- CRAFT. 



style shown in Fig. 46. In these they can be colonized until the time comes 

 for putting them into winter quarters. When removed to these coops, they 

 should be confined to, and fed in them, for a few days, until they will return 

 to them when let out. Directions for feeding are giving in ^146, 21 28. 

 Beyond keeping the coops clean, supplying food and water regularly, clos- 

 ing the coops at night, and opening them in the morning, the chicks now 

 should need no care even the closing and opening of coops may be 

 omitted if there is no danger of their being molested at night. 



264. Teaching Chicks to Roost. Chicks of Leghorn and other light 

 weight breeds will begin roosting of their own accord when six or eight weeks 

 old. Chicks of the heavier breeds often do not roost until taught to do so by 

 the keeper. The general practice is to keep chicks of medium sized breeds on 

 the floor until about three months old, and chicks of the largest breeds for a 

 month or two longer. Unless the floor is kept clean and the chicks well 

 bedded, it is better to teach all to roost early. If suitable wide roosts are used 

 there is no more danger of crooked breasts than on the floor, and many poul- 

 trymen think the general advantages of getting the youngsters on the roosts 

 where they cannot crowd and huddle in corners, and are not soiled by their 

 own and each other's droppings, more than compensate for what keel bones 

 are twisted. 



Often chicks can be taught to roost by putting in low roosts and placing 

 with them one or two old hens or chicks that are in the habit of roosting. If 

 this plan cannot be tried, or does not work, a wide board should be placed 

 close to the wall, about a foot from the ground, and the chicks placed on it 

 after dark, night after night, until they will go to it of their own accord. 

 After that, a wide roost the regulation distance from the wall, may be substi- 

 tuted for the board. 



265. Separating the Sexes. When the chicks are weaned the cock- 

 erels and pullets of the more precocious breeds should be separated. The 

 slow maturing breeds may be allowed to run together for four or five months 

 if it is not convenient to keep them apart ; but in any case the separation 

 should be made at a relatively early age before the cockerels begin to annoy 

 the pullets. If the young males can be put where they never see a fowl of 

 the opposite sex, they live together more peaceably, and develop better. There 

 is not often any difficulty in distinguishing the sexes when the time comes for 

 separating them. Once in a while there is a cockerel which looks more like 

 a female than a male at that age ; but such a bird is not likely to annoy the 

 pullets, and if put with the cockerels may be buffeted about a great deal. 



266. Rearing Chicks in Confinement. Chicks reared specially for 

 market are always kept quite closely confined, that all food eaten may go to 

 the production of flesh ; but there is a feeling among poultry raisers that stock 



