ARTIFICIAL INCUBATING AND BROODING 



control. At the end of the twenty-first day, after the hatch 

 is done, open the incubator and remove the trays with the 

 shells, unhatched eggs and dead chicks, if any; next open wide 

 all ventilators and run the heat down to 98 or 100 degrees, 

 leaving the chicks in without food or water until the next 

 day. The brooders well littered with dry sand or finely 

 cut straw in run and hover, should now show 95 to 100 

 degrees of heat under the hover. The chicks will now 

 be strong, lively and in good condition to transfer to the 

 brooder hover, which should be done without chiUing them. 



Feed very little the first day and give water with the chill 

 off, using a good chick fountain. Be sure the chicks have some 

 fine, hard, sharp grit with the first feed and always thereafter. 

 What to feed is largely a matter of circumstances. We use 

 a good commercial chick food exclusively for the first 

 three or four weeks, and find it very satisfactory. After 

 this we work in a little whole wheat and cracked corn, grad- 

 ually leaving out the chick food. 



BROODING AND FEEDING THE CHICKS 



We use indoor brooders early in the season while yet cold, 

 but later, when mild, use outdoor brooders. As soon as the 

 chicks are strong enough and the weather is suitable, they 

 should be got out doors on the grass in a little yard first, but 

 when old enough, they should have free range all summer and 

 until snow comes in fall. When chicks are about eight weeks 

 old, we begin feeding once a day a mash of ground grain in 

 which we mix a very little high-grade beef scrap, gradually in- 

 creasing the quantity of meat. 



Always keep fresh water in shade where the chicks can 

 help themselves to it at any time. 



We believe in the colony house plan for both chicks and 

 old fowls, and free range for breeding stock so far as possible. 

 We have colony houses for chicks near our corn fields and one 

 near a half-acre blackberry patch, and find the shade and protec- 

 tion afforded by these crops very valuable to our growing chicks, 

 and the crops and soil are also benefited by the foraging birds. 



One line of our breeding birds has houses in a small wood- 

 ed valley through which flows a brook, making a typical place 

 for the birds to roam at will. From stock kept in such a man- 

 ner, you will not fail to get strongly fertile eggs and chickens 

 of sturdy frame and robust constitution. 



The cull pullets and hens can be confined in large yards, 

 planted with fruit trees of any kind or blackberry bushes, of 

 which we find "Snyders" the best all-round variety. We annu- 



ally gather good crops of blackberries and tree fruits from our 

 poultry yards, while the trees and bushes make the yards seem 

 more Uke free range and the confined fowls do much better than 

 in the ordinary small, bare yards. 



The best mangel wurzels are the Golden Giant Intermedi- 

 ate, and we grow them as follows: Select a clean piece of 

 ground and plow under a heavy dressing of stable or hen man- 

 ure, harrow very thoroughly and remove all rubbish, broad- 

 cast on a good dressing of commercial fertilizer and harrow in. 

 Mark out rows three feet apart, sow seed in drills, about twelve 

 pounds to the acre, and cover about one inch. Soon as the 

 plants are large enough (about one inch high) thin out to a foot 

 apart in the row, then cultivate, hoe and keep clean. The roots 

 should be gathered before any hard freezing and stored in bins 

 or piles in a cool cellar. 



We never store the hen manure as it is a costly job to "fix" 

 the nitrogen and pulverize the manure. It is drawn directly 

 from the poultry houses to the fields and spread, winter and 

 summer, and gives grand results with all crops except potatoes, 

 which it is liable to scab. 



BEFORE WINTER CLOSES IN 



When snow comes our chickens are taken from the colony 

 houses in the field and put in warmer winter quarters. During 

 fall and early winter we dispose of a large share of our hens 

 for breeding, laying or exhibition, thus making room for the 

 pullets. 



The cockerels .are separated from the pullets about August 

 and given free range on another part of the farm. They are 

 kept in warm houses in winter that no combs may be frozen. 

 Our best cockerels go in our own breeding pens or are sold for 

 breeding or exhibition, and a great many of our pullets are sold 

 and shipped all over the country. Sales of eggs for hatching 

 also help swell the income. Market eggs was our first object 

 and our plant was built up largely from the profits on their 

 sale. When producing in large quantities we Went to New 

 York City and after some difficulty succeeding in placing our 

 output at a good margin above regular market prices. Every 

 egg must be new-laid, clean, of good size, neatly and securely 

 packed to hold such trade, and you must have eggs in fall and 

 winter. 



Nothing desirable comes without earnest endeavor, and the 

 poultryman must expect to work hard and have for his motto, 

 "Eternal vigilance is the price of success." 



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