50 BRIGGS' SYSTEM OF 



hatch, providing the eggs are from yearling hens or fully 

 matured pullets 



Bear in mind the most critical time of your chick's 

 life is between twenty and forty days old. This is the 

 period they must not be neglected, as they begin to 

 grow rapidly at this age. 



You must sow more liberal of your oats at this time, 

 and do not neglect your harrowing, for it takes but a 

 short time each day. 



You must also give your chicks all the processed oats 

 they will take at this time. 



In order to economize and save labor, as soon as the 

 chicks are large enough to leave the brooder, you can 

 move your pullets to your laying houses ; that is, the 

 pullets which you want to keep for your own breeding 

 stock to take the place of your yearlings. 



When you want to replace a flock of old hens with 

 pullets just put a lean-to on back end of your laying 

 houses — say 6 by 6 feet square would answer every pur- 

 pose. You can put this up with a single pitch roof 

 and a wire netting front, and put some low roosts in 

 here and shut in sixty of your finest, largest pullets for 

 three days, when you can let them run with the hens. 



Feed chicks in their own department in an open 

 trough, keeping it full of wheat screenings ; also beef 

 scraps before them all the time; also grit and charcoal. 

 They will grow fine here and mature very rapidly. 



When you sell your old hens just shut chicks out of 

 their department and they will go right in the main 

 house and never have to be changed. When they start 

 to laying, they will keep right at it, and you will gain 

 a full month's eggs under this system. 



This lean-to is also very handy for shutting up set- 

 ting hens and various other purposes. 



For earlier hatches, if you find you want to hatch very 

 early and also to have some houses to carry over some 



