CHAPTER XL 



CHICKS AND THEIR CARE. 



Poultry keeping is not with me a means of livelihood, but is 

 more in the nature of a recreation. It is a matter of personal 

 pride with me, however, to make poultry keeping pay. I do not 

 at present get out my own chicks, but supply eggs to those who 

 have a knack for the business and let them hatch chicks for me 

 and keep them until they are weaned. Then I select what I want 

 in accordance with the principles laid down in Chapter VII. 

 People often wonder how I get such a growth on my chicks after 

 I take them into my hands. The reason is very simple. I select 

 only as many chicks as I have room for and I keep chicks of the 

 same age together. The average poultry keeper gets out alto- 

 gether too many chicks. There is a temptation when eggs are 

 hatching well to set every hen that is broody or to fill up the incu- 

 bator just once more. There is plenty of room for the chicks at 

 first, but as they grow older they are crowded and do not do so 

 well as they ought. Then when chicks of different ages are left 

 together, there is too much "rough house" for the younger ones 

 and they become stunted. If you want fine birds get out only as 

 many chicks as you have room for, divide them into small flocks, 

 and keep chicks of the same age by themselves. 



WHY NOT INSTALL A BROODER? 



Even where an incubator is not employed a brooder may be 

 Installed to good advantage. I know a man who gets out in the 

 neighborhood of 1,000 chicks every spring hatching them all 

 under hens and brooding them in brooders. I am as great an 

 admirer of the American hen as any other man, but I confess that 

 her conduct as a mother is often not such as to impress me with 

 an exalted opinion of her mentality. 



The best brooder, in my opinion, is one built for 

 TOO chicks, and costing about $12, just as the best incubator is 

 one built for 200 eggs or thereabouts. The out-door brooder is 

 not generally satisfactory, as it is difficult to keep chicks warm 

 enough in it when the temperature ranges low. The brooder 



