LESSOIvT XIII 



Feeding the Baby Chicks 

 About the time a baby chick is ready to leave its shell, it 

 draws the yolk of the egg into its body. Nature has given 

 this yolk to the chick as a sort of lunch basket which contains 

 food enough to last for several days. This is a wise provi- 

 sion on the part of Dame Xature, for the little chick is very 



• 



Fig. 4G. — Digestive organs of a baby chick; 1, crop, in which food is softened; 

 2, stomach, in which digestive juices are mixed with the lood; 3, gizzard, in which 

 the grinding is done by means of small pieces of stone, called grit; 4, intestines; 5, 

 yolk, which serves as food for the baby chick for the first few days after it comes 

 out of the shell ; 6, CcEca or l)lind pouches. Much of the digested foods enter these, 

 the nourishing parts being absorbed. 



weak for some time after leaving the egg and does not know 

 jnst what to eat nor where to find it. The yolk furnishes it 

 with food until it grows strong enough to shift for itself. 

 (Kg. 46). 



The baby chick should not be fed until it has used at 

 least a part of this yolk. It is not well, however, to wait too 

 long before feeding it. If the chick grows too hungry, it is 



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