38 METHODS OF POULTRY MANAGEMENT. 



Several of the prepared, drj^, commercial chick feeds may be 

 substituted for the broken grains. They are satisfactory when 

 made of good, clean, broken grains and seeds, but they contain 

 no secret properties that make them more desirable than the 

 home-mixed broken grains mentioned above. Their use is 

 simply a matter of convenience. When only a few chicks are 

 raised, it is generally more convenient, and probably not more 

 expensive, to buy the prepared feed, but when many are raised 

 it is less expensive to use the home-mixed feeds. 



Sharp grit, fine charcoal, and clean water are always before 

 the chicks. At 9 o'clock the rolled oats and egg mixture is fed 

 in tin plates with low rims. After they have had the feed be- 

 fore them five minutes the dishes are removed and they have 

 nothing to lunch on. At 12.30 o'clock the hard-grain mixture 

 is fed again, as in the morning, and at 4.30 or 5 o'clock they 

 are fed all they will eat in half an hour of the rolled oats and 

 egg mixture. 



When they are about 3 weeks old the rolled oats and egg 

 mixture is gradually displaced by a mixture having the follow- 

 ing composition : 



Parts by weight. 



Wheat bran (clean) 2 



Corn meal 4 



"Daisy flour' (or other low grade flour) 2 



Linseed meal i ' 



Screened beef scrap 2 



This mixture is moistened with water just enough so that it is 

 not sticky, but will crumble when a handful is squeezed and then 

 released. The birds are developed far enough by this time so 

 that the tin plates are discarded for light troughs with low 

 sides. Young chicks Hke the moist mash better than that not 

 moistened, and will eat more of it in a short time. There is no 

 danger from the free use of the properly made mash twice a 

 day', and since it is already ground the young birds can eat and 

 digest more of it than when the feed is all coarse. This is a 

 very important fact, and should be taken advantage of at the 

 time when the young chicks are most susceptible to rapid 

 growth, but the development must be moderate during the first 

 few weeks. The digestive organs must be kept in normal condi- 



