CHAPTER IV 



THE FEEDING AND CARE OF YOUNG CHICKS 



PRACTICAL, SUGGESTIONS FOR ALL WHO RAISE CHICKS EITHER BY NATURAL OR 

 ARTIFICIAL METHODS— DRY FEED BEST BECAUSE MOST ECONOMICAL AND LABOR-SAV- 

 ING—SOME HELPFUL POINTERS ON CHICK GROWING FROM SHELL TO WEANING TIME 



p. T. WOODS, M. D. 



OT all poultrymen agree on the best 

 methods of feeding and caring for young 

 chicks, but it is a subject that interests 

 all growers of poultry. While, in this 

 article, we practically confine ourselves 

 to one method of feeding, it is only fair 

 to state that there are many plans of 

 chick feeding that prove successful and 

 give entirely satisfactory results. It 

 would be unwise, however, to incorpor- 

 ate too many methods in a brief article 

 intended more especially for beginners, 

 for fear of confusing the reader and 

 rendering him unable to decide which 

 course is the wisest for him to follow. 

 Undoubtedly the dry method of feeding, or feeding 

 chicks on a dry grain mixture of chick food, is the easiest, 

 safest and also most economical method of feeding small 

 chicks for the beginner with poultry. Feeding mashes or 

 moist dough to either young or old stock always has an 

 element of danger, the liability of throwing the digestive 

 organs out of condition and so ruining the chances of the 

 flock. Skillful feeders meet with remarkable success when 

 feeding either raw or cooked moist mashes and so-called 

 johnnycake, but the wisest course for the beginner will be 

 to confine himself strictly to the dry method, using a care- 

 fully prepared chick food made from sound, sweet grains. 

 The farm wife, whose rugged little broods are usually hatched 

 out under hens in the spring of the year when the grass is 

 green and all things favorable for chick growing, often is suc- 

 cessful in growing her brood on corn meal dough with an 

 occasional feeding of bread criimbs and curds, but where 

 this method has been attempted by others, who either do 

 not or are unable to give the chicks the same tender care 

 and motherly attention, the results are far from satisfactory. 



Vitality Must Be Inherited 



Chick rearing under what may be termed normal and 

 natural conditions should be a comparatively easy matter, 

 though oftentimes even the most careful managers meet un- 

 expected reverses and serious losses. A fact often lost sight 

 of is that everything does not depend upon the food and 

 care. It is a matter of great importance that the chick 

 should be well born, should be normally hatched from an 

 egg that is out of healthy, sound, vigorous breeding stock 

 capable of imparting an ample supply of vitality to their 

 progeny. Vitality in the chick, meaning that it possesses 

 vital force, the power which renders it capable of living, is 

 the very foundation of our chick growing. To get this 

 vitality we must begin with the breeding stock and even 

 generations back, breeding each year from only the best, 

 healthy, hardy and most vigorous specimens that we can 

 obtain. This sturdy, healthy breeding stock must be kept 

 healthy by good care and management. The vitality which 

 they impart to the eggs must be preserved by careful treat- 

 ment of the eggs while saving them for incubating purposes. 

 It is a matter of importance that the eggs should be handled 

 as little as possible while saving them for hatching. The 



daily turning of eggs so frequently recommended by some 

 authorities on artificial incubation is in our opinion a serigus- 

 error. The less handling the eggs receive," the better. While 

 being saved for hatching, the eggs must not be exposed for 

 too long a time to a warm temperature of to a very cold 

 one. The safest temperature for keeping eggs is a fairly 

 uniform one between 40° and 60° F. Prolonged exposure 

 of the eggs to a temperature above 70° or 80°, or frequent 

 warming and cooling of the eggs, is almost certain to impair 

 the vitality of the germ so that when such eggs are hatched 

 the chicks are weaklings. 



Another matter of great importance in preserving the 

 vitality handed down by healthy breeding stock is that the 

 eggs shall be properly incubated. Where eggs are incubated 

 under hens there is little or no danger from this source. 

 Where the eggs are incubated in machines there is danger 

 from the use of poorly constructed incubators, from too great 

 variations in temperature during hatching, from overheating: 

 the eggs or too long exposure to high temperatures above 104°, 

 from prolonged and frequent cooling, and sometimes chilling. 

 All of these things impair the vital force -of the little chick 

 and render it less capable of living. 



The normal chick, when properly hatched from eggs 

 that are out of sound, healthy, vigorous breeding stock, 

 comes into the world with a strong, rugged constitution and 

 the maximum vitality. It's natural tendencyas to live and 

 thrive, and such chicks if given a reasonably fair chance will 

 live and thrive. Where losses do occur they are usually 

 directly the result of careless brooding or of indigestion from 

 indifferent feeding. 



Management of Hen-Hatched Chicks 



When the Uttle brood hatched under a hen is from 3& 

 to 48 hours old, having had ample time to dry off and to get 

 digestion of the yolk remnant (which they have brought into 

 the world with them) fairly started they are ready to go to 

 their brooding quarters for their first food. The brooding 

 quarters may be a box or barrel with a slatted front, made 

 comfortable by littering with chaff, cut clover or similar 

 material. In cold weather it should not be too large because 

 of the difficulty of keeping the mother hen warm and com- 

 fortable. You do not want to oblige her to waste too much 

 of her own heat on keeping herself warm in a large cold box. 

 She needs all the heat she can spare for the comfort of her 

 brood. An ordinary flour barrel, well littered and covered 

 with canvass or some waterproof material to keep out the 

 rain, makes an admirable home for the new brood, or packing 

 boxes that are about 2 or 2^ feet cube prove a very satis- 

 factory home. 



For the first two or three days the little brood should be 

 kept confined quite close to the mother hen. After this con- 

 fine the hen and let the chicks run. Keep pure, fresh water 

 in a clean drinking fountain close to the slatted front of the 

 coop so that the hen can readily reach it. Keep a dish of 

 cracked corn and wheat also within reach of the mother hen. 

 Feed the little chicks a more expensive ration just out of 

 reach of the hen mother so that the little birds will have it 

 always before them, but the mother hen cannot reach it to 



