SUCCESS WITH POtJLTfeY 



e? 



dishes are picked up, taken into the kitchen or cook room 

 and washed. 



Again at 1 and 3 o'clock we feed the mash and if we 

 have used good judgment we have had a hungry mob each 

 feeding. If we have been liberal, we find they have left 

 something each time and are not ready for their feed. When 

 this is so just scant them until they clean up each time and 

 do it quickly, taking care you have enough for all. You will 

 find the number of plates will have to be increased, as the 

 chicks increase in size, in order that each may have a chance. 

 At 5 o'clock or before dark throw down a liberal feed of 

 cracked corn. 



We follow this bill of fare for about four weeks. As we 

 have crowded the chicks pretty well, by putting one hundred 

 in a pen we must take extra precautions against filth. At 

 about four weeks of age a day's droppings is considerable on 

 the floor of the pen so the floor is now raked over each day 

 and the collections wheeled out. For this we must use a 

 loop toothed rake. 



We have by this time found our fountains small and eas- 

 ily tipped over by the chicks, so we have adopted new ones 

 holding nearly two quarts, made of galvanized iion and 

 cone-shaped on top, to keep the youngsters from roosting on 

 them, and instead of the saucer we use a small deep agate 

 pan, only a tr,ifle larger than the fount. This we find to be 

 very satisfactory as the chicks can not put their feet in it. 



CHIOKS NOW SIX TO EIGHT WEEKS OLD. 



To come back to the six to eight-weeks old chicks. We 

 must now think of finishing them off. We examine them, 

 weigh a few, calculate how much flesh can be made on them 

 in about ten days, for as broilers Boston has no use for any- 

 thing over four pounds to the pair. -We have fed so much 

 bran that as we lay back the feathers on the breast we say, 

 "They ought to have more color." How can we get it? We 

 cast about for a way to get this. We know corn will do it, 

 but we lose time if we drop off froih soft feed to hard. The 

 ehieks won 't grow as fast and we must turn them off as soon 

 as possible to get the most profit from them. So we put into 

 the mash all the cottoii seed meal we can stir in and not 

 make it "salvy" or "puddingy," as we call it.^ With a lit- 

 tle treacle added we have accpmplished the result. 



We now have a fine J^ellow skin if we have not foolishly 

 chosen a blue blooded carcass, but any yellow-legged variety 

 will respond to the treatment. I would caution you against 

 trying to feed this for too long a time, say more than two 



weeks, as the chicks will get cloyed by it and you cannot 

 hold their flesh, to say nothing of making any, unless you 

 keep their appetites "up to the clip." This being such a 

 high feed, it seems to become nauseous to them. One would 

 find it difficult to keep them on their legs if it were fed 

 from the first. 



We have now "forced" the birds for eight weeks and 

 have obtained what we set out for, viz: Two-pound broilers 

 at eight weeks. 



This has been successfully accomplished on our farm 

 with White Wyandottes. We have not done quite as well 

 with any other variety. As I stated in my last paper, they 

 will stand on their legs where Plymoijth Eocks would be 

 rolling on their sides with the same feed. 



We put up two pens of 110 each, and at eight weeks they 

 weighed two pounds each, and a portion two and one-quarter 

 pounds each under this system of feedinjg and almost the 

 same treatment. By continuing the regular feed we have 

 made five and five-eights-pound roasters at fifteen weeks 

 old. 



One thing more before closing: If you ship your poul- 

 try to market alive, and it travels twenty to thirty miles on 

 the railroad, feed the night before, not to heavy, but some, 

 as the birds will empty themselves in the night and on the 

 journey. Give them all the water they will drink before 

 they start on their funeral ride. You will thus save a por- 

 tion of your shrinkage to nobody's injury, but to their gain, 

 I believe, as you help retain the juiciness of the flesh. 



Some of these hints have been gained in the expensive 

 School of experience, but if any earliest, honest p'oultryman 

 can get anything of, assistance from them he is welcome. 

 As one word of caution, do not attempt to raise your breed- 

 ing females under such hot-house methods, because you will 

 sacrifice your size through early maturity, as after a period 

 of forcing as giyfen above it is no uncommon thing for pullets 

 to lay at sixteen weeks, and we all know that is enough to 

 stop growth. You may start your breeders in the brooder, 

 holding off forcing fods, but get them out as quickly as 

 possible. 



The summing up of the discussiou is, breed, feed and 

 care. Let us not disdain to use the breed because it may be 

 bred to "fancy points," as the fancy has given us our best 

 and most practical varieties, and the nearer a typical bird 

 we have, of almost any breed, the better carcass we have. 



CARE OF B ROODE R CHICKS 



The Brooder Chick from Egg to Maturity — Ventilation, JWoisturc, Temperature and Floor Space 



Discussed by Breeders who Know the Requirements of Brooder Chicks — Brooding 



Houses and Coops — Foods and Feeding — General Advice on Management. 



(This symposium (the third on the Care of "young Fowls) is devoted to brooder chicks exclusively. To hatch chicks in an incubator 

 is comparatively easy, and may Ije done by a novice, but to raise chicks after they are removed to the brooder requires a knowledge 

 which does not stop at a thorough understanding of brooder operation. - The movements and appearance of the chicks Inform an experi- 

 enced observer what is necessary for their well-being. To obtain the greatest growth in the shortest time, chicks must be healthy, com- 

 fortable and always on the jump for food. Improper conditions result in death. It is from men who are competent to raise brooder 

 chicks with the lowest possible mortality that we have obtained the following useful information for our readers. Editor.) 



Advantages of Brooder Raised Chicks— Rations and Care. 



One of the most necessary appliances connected with 

 the poultry industry is an A No. 1 brooder, even though a 

 hatcher is not in use. It is an easy matter to find a number 

 of sitting hens, and by placing in the brooder the chicks 

 hatched by them, you avoid feeding the chick's food to the 

 hens, and they will sqon begin laying. The chicks can be 



cared for and reared safely, no matter what weather pre- 

 vails outside the brooder. They are free from vejmin and if 

 the broder is kept clean they will not be troubled with lice. 

 There is no need of losing a chick if properly cared for. 

 They will be much more tame and easier handled than those 

 reared by hens. 



For from fifty to Seventy-five chicks a run of twenty 



