80 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



and what they will eat up clean. When they are about thirty- 

 six hours old, they will drink water or milk ; we give milk to 

 drink, and mix our cakes with new milk. We increase our 

 egg-feed, putting two yolks to a gill in course of a week, and 

 six egg-yolks to a pint at one and one-half weeks, and begin 

 to feed cracked and whole wheat once or twice a day. At 

 two weeks old, we begin to feed boiled meat, and drop our 

 egg- feed, but continue our pounded cake once or twice a day 

 till the chicks are four weeks old, then use cracked corn as 

 the bulk of our feed after chicks are four weeks old, — feeding 

 boiled meat two or three times a day, in moderate quantities. 

 We riddle cracked corn, feeding the coarse part dry, mixed 

 with wheat, in the afternoon, and the fine, mixed with coarse 

 shorts, scalded together, in the morning ; change once in a 

 while, if chicks tire of the regular feed. We feed a good 

 many boiled potatoes, with corn-meal and wheat middlings 

 mixed, by mashing the potatoes, meal, etc., together, while 

 the potatoes are hot. We find boiled rice a cheap and very 

 desirable feed to change with. One pound of rice will take 

 in six pounds of water, and makes a good feed for fifty hens. 



We use large boxes or small movable houses for the chick- 

 ens to roost in and run into in rainy weather, and keep these 

 roosting-rooms cleau and well littered, making the chickens 

 sit on the ground, or wide roosts, till they are four months 

 old, as roosting on small sticks will crook their breast-bones. 

 After chickens are two or three weeks old, they will begin to 

 eat green food, grass, oats, clover, cabbage (green globe 

 Savoy is the best variety), raw mashed mangold wurtzels, 

 onions, potatoes, etc. Our great study is to make them 

 comfortable, and furnish them some exercise to keep their 

 appetites good. 



Chickens grown and cared for in the above manner will 

 weigh as much at three months old, as they would at six 

 months old if running about. Pullets will begin to lay at 

 three or four months old, raised in this way. You will under- 

 stand that I am speaking of Brown Leghorns. I do not 

 think that White Leghorns or Light Brahmas could stand the 

 confinement. 



Question. How would you exterminate the red spider 

 (coop lice) and other vermin? 



