REARING ■ ■' l8r^ 



give hopper feeding till chicks are 

 at least six weeks old, and when they 

 are put out on range. The first two 

 weeks is the critical period. If one 

 has no milk for them, beef scraps, 

 curds or cottage cheese may be used. 

 The colony system and individual 

 brooder out of doors is the best proc- 

 ess of raising chicks. If one cannot 

 raise chicks in this way there is no 

 hope for him. 



After a few feeds of cut grass 

 give small amounts of the prepared 

 nursery chick feeds to take the place 

 of the seeds Nature supplies. A little 

 later let the chicks have access to a 

 shallow tray containing a mixture of 

 high-grade dried beef scrap and bran, 

 using loo pounds of beef scrap, 50 

 pounds of coarse wheat bran and 15 

 pounds granulated charcoal. It will 

 take the chicks some days to become 

 accustomed to eating this mixture, 

 and by the time they learn it, it is 

 safe to keep it before them at all 

 times. The grain and seeds compos- 

 ing the chick feeds may be thrown 

 into finely cut corn stover, hay or 

 other loose material after the chicks be^ween^toys'^of 

 are four or five days old, so they may ^^J^Jfg ^^^^"^^^ 

 get the fun and exercise of scratching 

 it out. There is not much danger of overfeeding after 

 the chicks are 12 days old. From that time on it 

 should be the object to have them eat the largest 

 possible amount of proper feed. They grow rapidly 



