CHICKS ON THE RANGE 291 



chicks, a not uncommon happening even with experienced 

 poultrymen. This condition is explained by the fact 

 that in order to raise chickens successfully the number 

 which is placed in a flock must be diminished as the season 

 grows later, because in any climate where the nights are 

 markedly colder than the days, it matters not what system 

 of brooding is used, the chickens crowd in the brooders and 

 trample each other to death. 



Range Raised Chicks. — It has been said that constitu- 

 tional vigor is nature's stamp of approval upon man's ef- 

 fort at animal breeding and improvement. There is no 

 surer way to foster this desirable character than by develop- 

 ing the fully feathered chicks on free range after they 

 leave the brooder. 



The excellent results obtained from range raised chicks 

 illustrate the desirability of putting into the young animal 

 solid bone and sturdy muscle that can come only from un- 

 hampered, spontaneous, and instinctive exercise, the exer- 

 cise of the young animal at play. At ten or twelve weeks 

 the sexes should be separated and the females taken to the 

 range, where they are given liberty to run over fields of 

 growing crops, or under the shade of wood pastures. The 

 cockerels should be carefully inspected for individuals that 

 give promise of developing into superior breeders, and these 

 should be either sold at once or taken to a separate range. 

 The remaining ones should be fattened and sold as broilers. 



On the range the chicks should be placed in flocks of one 

 hundred to two hundred and fifty for each range house. 

 They should be allowed to run in small temporary yards 

 for a few days until they learn to go in and out of the house. 

 After this they may range at will, the members of each flock 

 returning at night to their respective houses. 



