CHAPTER VIII 



LATE HATCHING 



MAY is one of the best months to start the rearing 

 of chicks in an artificial way. The reason for this is 

 that weather conditions are very unsettled during the 

 early part of the season, and unless the poultry raiser 

 is fully equipped to meet such conditions the losses 

 from the early hatches are apt to be many. During 

 May the chicks can be put into an outdoor brooder 

 and given a chance to run on the ground or grass, 

 which is most beneficial to them. Chicks reared in 

 the open air from the beginning are, as a rule, more 

 hardy than those brought up like hothouse plants 

 in warm rooms and on board floors. They develop 

 quicker and are less liable to disease, two very essen- 

 tial items in profitable poultry raising. 



Pullets hatched in May will, if given the proper 

 care, feed, and attention, lay the following Novem- 

 ber, when eggs are demanding good prices, and 

 when the old hens have not as yet fully recovered 

 from the molt. The experienced breeders of Leg- 

 horns or other Mediterranean varieties as a rule 

 select the May hatched chicks for their own breed- 

 ing and laying pens. Experience has taught them 

 that pullets hatched during this month develop into 



"payers." 



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