STARTING THE CHICKS 



DO NOT FEED TOO SOON— DRY FOOD ENDORSED— NOT TOO MUCH AT A TIME 

 —TWO GOOD JOHNNY CAKES— FEED A VARIETY— VALUE OF PROPER HEAT AND 

 GOOD SANITATION— GIVE THE CHICKS FRESH AIR-AVOID ALL OVERCROWDING 



A. F. HUNTER 



LL experienced poultryman are aware that there 

 is a large amount of bungling work done with 

 chicks. Some feed too soon, some feed too 

 much, some overheat in the brooders, some chili 

 the chicks in the brooders or brooder house, in 

 fact, there are very many ways by which 

 chicken work is bungled. — and bungling work 

 costs heavily in chick mortality. At a recent 

 gathering poultrymen were discussing chicken experiences, and 

 they quite generally agreed that the right starting of the chicks 

 was the keynote to better success with their work. The good 

 work done by incubators is not supported by good work in 

 brooding and feeding the chicks, and while some were inclined 

 to thing the fault was in the brooding, others were strongly of 

 the opinion that the careless or bungling work of the brooder 

 operators, especially in the feeding, was chiefly to blame for the 

 heavy losses. 



EXERCISE CARE IN FEEDING 



It is certain that much bungling is done in the feeding, 

 and by not a few the bungling consists in feeding too soon, al- 

 though with many it consists in overfeeding, feeding unsuitable 

 foods, etc., etc. Take' the point of feeding too soon, and if 

 one studies the literature touching upon the subject he will 

 find that there is great diversity of opinion among supposed 

 authorities. If is generally conceded that the chicks ought not 

 to be fed during the first twenty-four hours, and many maintain 

 that they will do still better if not fed until they have been out 

 of the shell at least forty-eight hours, and there are still other 

 writers who stoutly maintain that still better results will be 

 gotten if sixty to seventy-two hours elapse before the chicks are 

 given any food. 



We all know that the tiny chicks are well supplied with a 

 nourishing food at the time of exclusion, as the balance of the 

 yolk of the egg is absorbed into the chick's abdomen just before 

 that period, which is nature's way of providing sustenance until 

 supplies can, be found, the absorbed yolk giving strength for the 

 search. Common sense should teach us that they ought not to 

 be fed until they have had a chance to digest and assimilate 

 the absorbed egg yolk, and experienced chicken raisers are 

 coming to believe that a very serious mistake is made by feed- 

 ing before the chicks are forty-eight hours old. It is better 

 that they get to be a little hungry before they are fed than that 

 they be tempted to eat before they are really ready to digest 

 food. If the chicks are "well hatched," they should be left in the 

 incubator until the morning of the second day, and then removed 

 to a well warmed brooder, which has chaff or finely chopped 

 clover, etc., scattered over the floor, and a little dry chick-size 

 grit and water given them. 



DRY FEEDING ENDORSED 



We say "feed some dry food" advisedly, because the con- 

 sensus of opinion among experienced chicken raisers is coming 

 ,to be that dry food, especially the first week or two, is the best. 

 Among the advantages of feeding a dry food is that it does not 

 sour if not eaten immediately, as does wet food; also the chicks 

 will not overeat of it. When fed a wet (or moistened) food 

 there is danger of their eating more than their tiny digestive 



organs can take care of; and another important advantage is 

 that this dry food can be scattered in the litter and the chicks 

 made to exercise for it from the first. That common term, made 

 to exercise, does not really express the idea. It is "natural" 

 for a chick to exercise, that is, to scratch and seach for seeds, 

 grains, insects, etc., for its food, hence the inducing of exercise 

 is simply feeding in nature's way. To secure this advantage 

 and do away with the wide-spread dissatisfaction with present 

 methods of feeding, many prepared chick foods have been put 

 upon the market and are coming to be very generally used. 

 These preparations furnish "balanced rations," that is, they 

 are so blended (or compounded) of several different seeds and 

 grains, rightly proportioned, that all the bodily wants are sup- 

 plied; and the use of them has given most satisfactory results. 

 Certain it is that the systematic feeding of these "balanced" 

 foods gives complete immunity from bowel trouble, leg weak- 



49— A THREE COMPARTMENT FOOD HOPPER 

 The hopper is made from a biscuit box as shown in the illustration. 



ness, brooder sickness, etc., and users of them claim that with a 

 right temperature in the brooder the mortality in little chicks 

 can be reduced to a minimum, and the most happy result of 

 increased profit will be the reward. 



LITTLE AND OFTEN 



Whatever kind orfood is fed the good old rule, "Feed only 

 a little at a time and feed often," should be rigidly adhered to; 

 it is the veritable keynote to successful chicken raising. A 

 most successful broiler raiser of our acquaintance says that over- 

 feeding, especially of too concentrated soft foods, is the cause of 

 very much of the infant mortality with chicks. Of course, if 

 one does not feed the soft foods to little chicks, he does not incur 

 the risk of overfeeding them, and as we said before, that i4 one 

 of the great advantages of the dry foods consisting largely of 

 seeds and grains, that the chicks will not over eat of them; an- 



63 



