70 



CHICK BOOK 



Sewell's idea in taking 



tte pictures at Fishel- 



tjjn and in jotting down 



aotes during our pleas- 

 ant interview. 

 ' "With us the chicks 



are taken from the 



brooder house when 



they attain the age of 



from three to five weeks; 



they are then placed in 



outdoor brooders. These 

 brooders, twenty one in 



number, are located in 



a yard fourteen rods 



long by seven rods 



wide. This yard or tract 



of land is enclosed by 



a 6J foot wire fence. 

 ' For the bottom of the 



fence we use one-inch 



wire netting, eighteen inches high. Above this we use five 



feet of two-inch wire mesh, thus giving us a fence through 



which small chicks cannot pass — that is, chicks three to 



five weeks old and older. 



"The yard is well shaded during the warm weather of 

 May and June. But little shade is needed during March and 

 April as sunshine then is what the chicks need more than 

 shade. Our main chick yard as here described is divided up 

 into twenty-one small yards, the division fences being made 

 of one-inch mesh two feet high. Each one of these twenty- 

 one yards contains a Standard Outdoor Brooder. In each 

 case the brooder is placed in one corner of the yard as shown 

 in the photographs taken by Mr. Sewell. 



"The idea of placing the brooder in one corner of the 

 yard is so that by use of a little folding device that we have, 

 the attendant can set this device in front of the brooder, ex- 

 tending over to the fence and then when caring for the chicks 

 he can drive the entire brood belonging to that brooder in 

 behind the brooder. The chicks will go between the brooder 

 and the fence, also in front of the brooder next to the fence, 

 and then the folding device is drawn up to the other side of 

 the brooder, thus holding the chicks immediately in front 

 of the brooder where they can be readily driven into it. By 

 this means one man, when he sees a storm approaching, can 

 easily get into the brooders one thousand to two thousand 

 chicks without harming any of them. We know, because we 

 often have done it. (See illustration). 



"The folding device above mentioned is made of one 



GRASS RANGE AND SHADE AT FISHELTON 

 It was such scenes as these that caught the eye of Mr. Sewell and sug- 

 gested to him the idea of reproducing them in these pages. Compare this 

 method of raising chicks with the efEort to raise healthy, vigorous stock _ on 

 bare ground, in close confinement. Constitutional vigor is of utmost im- 



gortance in the successful rearing of poultry, both for market and for ex- 

 ibition purposes. 



inch square light lum- 

 ber, making three 

 frames each thirty in- 

 ches long by two fe©t 

 wide and covered wfflh 

 one-inch wire netting. 

 The frames are attached 

 together with heavy 

 leather straps, which 

 make it possible to fold 

 the frames closely to- 

 gether. We find that 

 this simple little device 

 saves lots of work and 

 it has been the means 

 of saving many a val- 

 uable chick for us when 

 our helpers have had to 

 work" quickly on ac- 

 count of a heavy storm 

 coining up suddenly. 

 Often we have been compelled to put up our chicks, that is, 

 drive them into the brooders, as many as twelve times in 

 a single day. 



"After awhile, as they grow older, the chicks learn to go 

 into the brooders without being driven. As soon as they do 

 this they are taken from the brooders and placed in small 

 colony coops, located in an acre lot that adjoins the brooder 

 lot. Mr. Sewell took a picture of two of these colony coops. 

 They are well ventilated and the chicks are protected from 

 night prowlers. Our chicks are permitted to remain in these 

 coops until they are moved out on the farm range. On the 

 farm range we keep them in large colony houses, many of 

 which are made of piano boxes. We sometimes keep them 

 in these well ventilated piano boxes, equipped with roosts, 

 until they are selected, sold and shipped to all parts of the 

 world. In this way all Fisheltpn White Rocks are farm 

 reared, so to speak. From the age of three weeks up until 

 the time they are sold our chicks have free range. They 

 practically live out of doors. This means health, steady 

 growth and constitutional vigor. 



Feeding the Chicks 



"After the chicks are placed in the small colony houses 

 we begin hopper feeding, using a three-apartment hopper. 

 In one apartment is a mixture of grit and oyster shell, in a 

 second apartment is a mixed ration consisting of wheat bran, 

 eight parts, charcoal, one part, meat meal, one part. In 

 the third apartment is a mixed dry grain food of wheat, oats, 

 corn, sorghum seed, sunflower seed, etc. 



