CHICK BOOK 



With this characteristic well established, it remains 

 only to maintain good health and normal condition of flesh 

 to produce eggs that will bring forth chicks that live, thrive 

 and make a profit. In this connection it is safe to remember 

 that appearance, although a good indicator of health, is not 

 infallible, for a bird may seem to be in the best of condition, 

 when it is unable to produce a fertile egg. Supply the food 

 and conditions required and trust to nothing less, whatever 

 the appearances, to bring about the desired results. 



Every effort should be made to conserve the energy and 

 maintain the strength during the winter, when conditions 

 are largely artificial. This does not mean that all profit 

 from the birds in a practical way must be lost or that hens 

 may not lay well during the winter and produce fertile eggs 

 in the spring. The best rule to follow is this: Provide as 

 nearly as possible the exercise, fresh air and foods that the 

 hen would get if allowed her freedom on a grass range in 

 summer. 



We cannot lay down a rule for feeding. What will pro- 

 duce good results in one yard will not always do so in an- 

 other, because of different conditions. Suflacient informa- 

 tion upon the feeding values of all commercial foods and 

 their effects upon birds under various conditions is available, 

 so that a little experience and intelligent observation will 

 enable any one to compound the ration best adapted to the 

 needs of his flock. 



Incubating the Eggs , 



That the up-to-date hatchers can be depended upon to 

 do their full share toward making the poultryman independ- 

 ent requires no argument. Good eggs and proper handling 

 by the operator will assure good hatches of vigorous chicks. 

 An understanding of the machine and how to control it, with 

 some knowledge of how to treat eggs during the period of 

 incubation and of the essentials of correct environment, 

 constitutes the wisdom required for successful hatching. 



We find incubators operating in dark cellars, where 

 there is no light except that of burning kerosene; where good 

 air enters by chance and not from intention, and the atmos- 

 phere is damp and laden with germs of decay and disease. 

 Again we find them located in rooms above ground, in houses 

 built for the purpose, in dwellings and in rooms partitioned 

 off in the barn, poultry house and shed where the air, though 

 dry, is seldom renewed and light from the sun is rigidly 

 excluded that a more even temperature may be maintained. 



A strong man could not stay in one of these places an 

 hour and the flame that heats, the incubator frequently has 

 difficulty in collecting enough oxygen for perfect combustion. 

 To expect to develop so delicate an organism as an embryo 

 chick under such conditions, is nothing less than folly; yet 

 some people attempt it and, failing, denounce the machine 

 and artificial incubation. How to provide the proper en- 

 vironment and successfully operate the machines is plainly 

 told in succeeding pages. 



Brooding the Chicks 



There are good brooders and brooding systems, and good 

 foods ready to feed. These ready made factors in success 

 are easily obtained, but for their efficiency they depend upon 

 the discriminating mind of one skilled in the work. In no 

 other branch of the business is the effect of level thinking and 



well directed effort more noticeable. Five minutes in a 

 brooding house will frequently enable the intelligent observer 

 to estimate correctly the ability of the man in charge; for 

 the appearance of the chicks is the best possible evidence and 

 no flock of chicks is healthy and vigorous that does not look so. 

 It is of primary importance that every aid to good health 

 be supplied, for enfeebled constitutions are as frequently 

 caused by bad housing, brooding and care as by improper 

 feeding. Cleanliness, good ventilation and exercise exert 

 more influence than the novice is prone to believe. As the 

 blacksmith's arm grows strong by constant use, the physical 

 structure of the chicks grows strong and is kept in trim by 

 running about and scratching in clean quarters, where fresh 

 air supplies the material for myriads of life-giving blood cor- 

 puscles and the digestive organs are made capable of con- 

 verting to the body's use all the nutriment the food contains. 



Hatching and Raising With Hens 



The usefulness of the broody hen is by no means a 

 thing of the past. The breeder with a sitting of eggs 

 from a favorite hen to be hatched and the chicks reared 

 by themselves, the owner of the farm yard flock and the 

 village poultryman with a dozen hens find biddy up-to-date 

 and sufficient for their needs. 



So much latter-day intelligence has been applied to 

 chicken culture that sometimes it becomes too great a bur- 

 den and the hen is divested alike of her natural responsi- 

 bilities and of her opportunities. Our fore fathers allowed 

 the old hen to have pretty much her owji way and she, tak- 

 ing advantage of the good things that nature provides, not 

 alone hatched and raised the chicks at less cost, but presented 

 better chicks. Nature's ways are more resultful than the 

 made-to-order methods sometimes recommended. The hen 

 that is allowed to run with her chicks in the daytime, search- 

 ing for the nutritious worm and balancing the supplied ration 

 by the food selected from field and swamp, will raise a brood 

 that is a credit to the breeder and that will stand him in good 

 stead the following winter. The successful raisers approxi- 

 mate these conditions as closely as the circumstances permit. 



Maturing the Flock 



A chick well started is half raised; but it must be wel 

 cared for, or it will not win in the show room, or command 

 a premium in the market. Good care does not mean that 

 manner of feeding and housing which pampers the birds, 

 but the care that supplies them with plenty of good food 

 and an environment conducive to their physical welfare. 

 The plan of colonizing the youngsters in roomy, open front 

 roosting coops, works wonders toward the production of 

 sturdy stock and hopper feeding not alone reduces the labor 

 involved, but in many cases seems to hasten growth faster 

 than the time honored system of three meals a day. 



The Value of Common Sense 



This is an age of practical things in poultry culture and 

 the application of common sense to all its problems is fast 

 clearing it of much of the theory which has been "thrust 

 upon" it. It is the person who goes at the wo;-k with sleeves 

 rolled up whose success can be counted in big round dollars 

 and whose advice is worth all it costs to every earnest worker. 



The experience of such men, and women, too, is given 

 in detail in this book. 



