THE BANTAM FOWt. 



63 



CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF BANTAMS, 



The following circular came to hand with no name 

 signed to it, but we consider it worthy of a place in our 

 book: 



"May and June are the beat months to haitch Bantams. 

 April, July and August are not bad, and September is all 

 right if you have an extra nice place to keep the chicks in 

 during winter. 



You can set 'the eggs under Bantams or large hens. A 



FIG. 5— HOUSE WITH MOVABLE RUN AND DKOP LID. VENTILATOR ABOVE DROP, 



large hen that will sit on her own eggs without breaking 

 them can do the same with Bantam eggs, as they do not 

 break any easier than ordinary eggs. The only objection to 

 using large hens as mothers is that they are apt to kill a 

 great many chicks by stepping on them. 



"In the care of the chicks the most important thing is to 

 keep them absolutely free from lice. Rememiber the lice on 

 Bantams are the same size as those that infest ordinary 

 chickens, itherefcre the Bantams will succumb sooner than 

 the ordinary chicks. I use the utmost precaution against 

 lice, but if I find a brood is not doing well I examine them 

 carefully for lice. If I find any I dust them with insect pow- 

 der; if I do not find any I dust them just the same. It takes 

 sharp eyes to discover lice, but with experience you will be 

 able to tell when your chicks are lousy by their general 

 appearance. 



FOOD AND WATER. 



"Keep clean water before your chicks all the time, also 

 plenty of grit, and for the first week or two finely broken 

 egg shells, and after that oyster shells. 

 Give all food dry. Bread crumbs make 

 an excellent food for the first twoi 

 weeks. Oats, wheat and corn are my 

 prin'cipal standbys. 



"Oats I use in the form of oatmeal. 

 •This Is just the r'ight size for the first 

 few days. Then I give cracked wheat, 

 and as soon as they will eat it, finely 

 cracked corn. By the end of the third 

 week they can usually eat whole 

 wheat. I depend upon these three 

 grains all through the growth of 

 the ch'ick, simply using the differ- 

 ent forms to accommodate the size of 

 the chick. 



"A newly hatched Bantam will swallow only a tery 

 small particle. Give finely chopped, cooked meat twice a 

 week. See that they have an abundance of green food all 

 the time, and the more bugs and worms the better. Vary 

 your diet as much as possible by using waste from the table, 

 but be sure to feed everything dry. Wet or even moist food 

 comes next to lice on the list of chicken destroyers. Feed 

 five dr six times a day at regular intervals for the first week 

 or two, after that gradually lessen the number of feeds until 

 by the time they are fully feathered two or three >times a 

 day will he found quite sufficient. 



"There is a common idea that Bantam chicks must be 

 starved to keep them small. If you wish even a moderate 

 amount of success in raising them give up this, idea at once. 

 Until they are fully feathered feed them just as if you ex- 

 pected to make roasters of them. After they are feathered 

 you may let up a little, but keep them growing, and when 

 you pick one up it should feel plump and not as if its breast- 

 bone would cut through the skin. 



"By this method you will undoubtedly get some over- 

 grown birds, while by starving them you will get a great 

 many worthless and mlsmarked ones, and the best you will 

 get win not be equal to the best obtained in the other way, 

 in .either plumage, shape or vigor. Keep your Bantams small 

 by selecting the smallest to breed from, and keep them 

 healthy by good care and enough to eat. Nothing has done 

 more to hurt the popularity of the Bantam than this idea 

 that it must be starved to keep It down to standard size. 



"Keep your chickens free from lice, give them clean, 

 dry quarters, dry food in abundance, and you have the three 

 main props in raising Bantams." 



FEEDING DRY GRAIN FOOD. 



The experience of five years past has fully satisfied the 

 writer that Bantam chicks will do the best on a dry grain 

 ration; have used nothing but prepared chick food for four 

 seasons, and with this a little clean sweet meat scraps of the 

 very best quality. As we rear all our Bantams with hens 

 we trust to them to pick out for themselves all the larger 

 pieces of both grain and meat. This dry grain ration pre- 

 vents all manner of bowel trouble, and being their natural 

 food it must suit them best. Those who can not buy the 

 prepared chick food for their Bantam chicks can have a 

 coffee mill through which they can grind some cracked corn, 

 wheat, hulled o.ats, beans and peas. To this add some very 

 small chick grit and a little meat scraps and charcoal and 

 you have a nice healthy food for them. 



Again, we are not fn a hurry to force water on the 

 young Bantam chick; it must be old enough and strong 

 enough to look about for water and find it before it has a 

 drink. No water is pushed up against it to run into. It is 

 placed at a safe distance so when they begin to run about 



FIG. 6— HOCS^FOR WINTER AND EARLY SPRING, 5x6 PEET;[rUNS SAME SIZE. 



they can have it at their pleasure. While we do not advocate 

 the no water system (have grown some beautiful Bantams 

 that never had water till over a week old), it is our practice 

 to have two or even three broods with hens in coops or 

 small low down houses that are four or five feet square. All 

 live together in these houses. When old enough hens and 

 chicks have their freedom. Usually these hens drop off one 

 at a time till finally the whole lot follow the one hen. By 

 this method some one of the hens will usually stay with 

 the chicks for eight or nine weeks. We much prefer Cochin 

 Bantams for mothers for all Bantams. 



