ON A TOWN LOT. 25 



their best times and flourisli. When the coclierels are two or three 

 pounds in weight I sell off the culls to the market and the balance 

 are kept in these colony houses until the late fall, when they are 

 taken to their Winter quarters. After the pullets are four months 

 old they are put in their Winter quarters, in order that they will 

 not be disturbed when they are getting ready to lay. 



Feeding the Young Chicks 



From the beginning the chicks should be taught to work by 

 feeding them in litter, and it should be continued as long as they 

 live. On the third day I feed them hard-boiled eggs (boiled twenty 

 minutes) mixed with bread crumbs thoroughly dried, or corn bread 

 will make a good substitute. 



At the beginning it is a good plan to mix the chick feed in lake 

 or any other coarse sand. This will teach them industry, and as they 

 scratch for their living it develops the muscles in their legs and 

 bodies and naturally makes them stronger chicks. For the first day 

 or two chicks should be fed every two or three hours. For the next 

 week, four times daily is suiflcient, and then three times daily. It is 

 very important that the chicks are not overfed. When away from 

 home I found it a difficult matter to get anyone to feed the chicks 

 without overdoing it. It is better to underfeed them than to overfeed. 

 There is not so much danger of overfeeding when the chick feed is 

 mixed in the sand where they have to work for it. It is not necessary 

 to overfeed nor underfeed, if you will notice to give your chicks or 

 fowls all they can eat up clean. After they are a week old a hopper 

 should be placed before them containing beef scrap, bran, fine char- 

 coal and grit, a section for each. After the chick is two or three 

 months old a few handfuls of wheat can be added to the chick feed, 

 and the wheat can be increased by adding more every v/eek until 

 they become accustomed to the whole grains. If cracked corn and 

 kaflr corji can be obtained, feed a mixture of three parts wheat, two 

 parts cracked corn, and one pa,rt of kafir corn. This will make 

 excellent growing feed for them until they arc four months old, when 

 any other grains may be added that can be secured in the market, 

 such as buckwheat, oats, barley and any other gr.ains that the chickens 

 will eat. A good formula to go by is to use about 50 per cent wheat 

 where three kinds of grain are fed and 40 per cent where more than 

 three kinds are used. The wheat can be easily secured in most 

 places. The grain is small, easily digested, and is rich in protein 

 and mineral matter. Corn when fed alone has not enough protein 

 and too much fat. Buckwheat and barley are also rich in fat. During 

 the Winter months corn ought to be fed in larger proportions and 



