CHAPTER EIGHT 



SUCCESSFUL CHICK GROWING 



THE CARE OF GROWING CHICKS 



NECESSITY OF PROPER WEANING OF NATURAL AND ARTIFICIALLY RAISED CHICKS— HOUSING AND 

 FEEDING SUGGESTIONS— IMPORTANCE OF SUNSHINE AND FRESH AIR— ANOTHER SYMPOSIUM 



'EANING time is a critical period in the life o. 

 small chicks, particularly those which are 

 grown by artificial means. It is at this time 

 and in the failure to properly lead up to it that 

 many beginners make fatal mistakes in care and 

 management. 



When brooder chicks are from six to eight 

 weeks old depending on the season, the weather, and the develop- 

 ment of the chicks, they should be ready to leave the brooder 

 for colony coops, except in the case of midwinter chickens which 

 of necessity must be kept in buildings warmed by artificial heat. 

 Unless chickens are properly handled at weaning time there is 

 liable to be a cessation of growth which means loss of time and 

 may mean that the chick wiU fail to develop properly. Stunted 

 imperfect chicks and even increased mortality may result from 

 errors at this time. If intended for breeders or profitable market 

 stock, chicks must be kept growing all the time from the start, 

 and there must be no setbacks like "standing still" with no ap- 

 parent gain or temporary stops in growth. With a healthy 

 normal chick you should be able to almost see it grow, so con- 

 tinuous and rapid is the development. 



WEANING HEN-REARED CHICKS 



The weaning of hen-reared chicks is a comparatively simple 

 matter. Usually when the little birds are from a month to six 

 weeks old the hen mother has already given evidence of her 

 desire to leave them, and has been laying for some little time. 

 As a rule it is best to let the chicks occupy the brood coop or 

 house which they have become familiar ivith, and the hen mother 

 may be retmrned to the laying pens. Keep a plentiful supply 

 of dry grain food, grit, charcoal and pure water always before 

 them, see that they are safely shut up at night so that they can- 

 not be injured by prowling vermin, give them liberal range, 

 shelters for protection from sunshine and from stormy weather, 

 and they will usually thrive and prosper. If they grow too large 

 for their small houses, remove them to a colony coop and there- 

 after handle in the same manner as you would brooder chicks. 



GRADUALLY HARDEN THE CHICKS 



Lead up to weaning naturally and gradually. Let the 

 change be a constant and almost imperceptible one from the 

 start and there will be no trouble at weaning time. Begin, 

 when the chicks are a few days old, to air out the hover chamber 

 at frequent intervals and expose the under side of the hover to 

 direct sunlight. Reduce the heat under the hover very gradu- 

 ally, but keep it warm enough to make the chicks comfortable. 

 When operating a brooder in cold weather, keep the hoVer space 

 warm enough so the chicks can warm up quickly. If you do 

 this and care for the chicks properly, you will seldom find them 

 under the hover in the day time. They run in out of the cold 



to warm up a bit and then run out again to scratch- in the litter 

 or play with their mates. Like all young things, healthy chick 

 are playful and get a liberal amount of exercise in this manner. 

 If you doubt this, watch a flock of brooder chicks running with 

 a bit of wood or othei" non-edible substance, watch them jump 

 about and flap their tiny wings, and race in and out of the brooder 

 in the sheer joy of a happy existence. If you keep your eyes 

 open you will cease to be a "doubting Thomas" and find small 

 chicks quite as playful as young kittens or other frisky young 

 creatures. 



OUTDOOR RUN NECESSARY 



Provide an outdoor run early, it will do them good even in 

 winter to have a run outside on every fair day for a little while 

 when the sun shines. On days when it is stormy, keep the 

 chicks indoors, but supply an abundance of fresh air by opening 

 the house windows and by keeping the brooder vents open. 

 Never wholly close the ventilators of your brooders. Close, 

 dead air will kill more chicks than any other one cause. Fresh 

 air is a life giver and a hfe saver, don't forget this. On windy 

 or stormy days it may be necessary to close the vent on the 

 windward side, but keep the opposite or lee side vent open. 

 Whatever you do, air but the whole brooder daily, if only for a 

 few minutes. Don't use a brooder which has a fixed or ipunov- 

 able hover. Sunlight under the hover kills germs and prevents 

 sickness. The only way to get sunlight under the hover is to 

 remove the hover board or metal and expose its under side and 

 the inner side of the felts to sunshine and fresh air. If this is 

 done every time the chicks are fed it wiU benefit the chicks and 

 there will be no danger of chilling them. 



IMPORTANCE OF SUNSHINE AND FRESH AIR 



As long ago as in 1889 the Rhode Island State Agricultural 

 Experiment Station issued the statement in its Bulletin No. 61 

 on the "Mortality of Brooder Chicks,'' that: "Sunlight is the 

 best and cheapest germicide for the tubercle bacillus. We 

 found that the 'simple expedient of removing the hovers and 

 setting them out of doors in the full sun all day reduced the 

 evidence of tuberculosis in the post-mortem examinations from 

 nearly 50 per cent to only 3 per cent." 



If fresh air and sunlight will work this wonderful change 

 in a fatal malady like tubercular disease, it certainly can be 

 counted on to prevent diseases of a less mahgnant nature. When 

 brooding in cold weather we cannot always keep the hovers out 

 all day. We can remove them for a little sunning and airing 

 while feeding the chicks several times a day, and gradually work 

 up to keeping them out all day as the chicks become gradually 

 hardened, older, stronger and better able to do without artificial 

 heat. What ever else you may neglect, do not fail to supply 



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