324 NATURAL INCUBATION AND BROODING 
in a short time. Where skim-milk is available, it is well to give 
the chicks all of it they wish to drink. Unless they have access 
to green grass (Fig. 154) in the runs, a little chopped lettuce or 
other green feed should be furnished. In the absence of any fine 
sand or gravel on the floor of the coop, chick grit should be supplied. 
After the first few weeks the ration can be gradually simplified 
and made less expensive. Cracked corn or wheat should serve as 
its basis, in addition to which the chicks should be given animal 
and green feed, also grit. The feeding of young stock naturally 
hatched is a much more simple proposition than the feeding of 
artificially hatched chicks in the brooder; for, in the first case, the 
hen sees to their welfare to a great extent. (For principles and 
methods of chick feeding see 
Chapter X XI.) 
Chick Ration —A good ra- 
tion for the first week for chicks 
brooded by the hen contains 
equal parts of cracked corn, 
crushed wheat, and oatmeal. 
Put the feed where the hen 
cannot reach it, she being given 
three times daily a grain ration 
of equal parts of corn and 
CA gapwa = wheat. During the second and 
Fi. 154.—An average-sized flock by nat- succeeding weeks gradually 
ele ana (Photo by Kellerstrass Farm, eliminate the oatmeal, and as 
the chicks grow larger substi- 
tute whole wheat for the crushed. After the first week begin to 
give them dry mash similar to that used in artificial brooding. 
Parasites.—One great evil to which naturally hatched chicks 
are prone is the presence of lice, notably head lice, which if in 
great numbers sap the vitality, weaken the constitution, and stunt 
the growth. The best means of ridding chicks of lice is to grease 
the head with lard or carbolized vaseline; this will not only drive 
the lice away, but tend to keep others from coming. Unless the 
parent is kept well dusted, chicks are also infested at an early age 
by body lice, and, for this reason, it is well to dust the hen at 
regular intervals of about two weeks until the chicks are weaned. 
Weaning and Separation of Sexes.—As soon as the chicks are 
old enough to look out for themselves, the hen should be removed, 
for two reasons: Because if put back in the pen-she will soon begin 
