88 MY POULTRY DAY BY DAY 
being swung aside. When seven weeks old the chickens are 
transferred to these arks in lots of forty. 
During the first week the birds are provided at frequent intervals 
with as much food as they will clear up. The food consists of 
the following mixture (by weight) :— 
Chick Feed 
Wheat (cracked) 50 per cent. Best meat meal . 10 per cent. 
Millet F 1S 3 Maize (cracked) . 5 5 
Canary seed « 8 i Rice . ; yw iG 5 
An unlimited supply of pure water is always provided, and 
grit is scattered on the floor of the brooder, and is constantly 
available throughout the whole process of rearing. 
During the second week the birds are fed in the following way :— 
At daybreak . F : ‘ . Chick feed. 
Ato A.M. ‘ . a . Hard-boiled egg, or bread and milk. 
At 12.30 P.M. . ; : : . Chick feed. 
At 6 p.m. (or half-an-hour before sun- 
set, according to the season) . . Chick feed. 
When the chickens are two weeks old they are moved to a 
brooder in the centre of the rearing field, and are confined for 
one day in a small wire run attached to the end of the brooder. 
This small run is then removed, and the chickens have access to 
the larger run in which the brooder is placed. 
Three tins containing chick feed, and fitted with wire guards 
to prevent the birds scratching out the food, are placed overnight 
in the brooder so that the first feed may be obtained at daybreak. 
These tins are removed when the birds are let out of the brooder, 
and a tin of groats is provided for them. At 9 a.m. soft food is 
given, consisting of biscuit meal with 10 per cent. of meat meal. 
The biscuit meal and meat meal are mixed with boiling water 
and dried off with equal parts of sifted barley meal and sharps. 
The mixture when prepared should be crumbly, the utmost care 
being taken to mix the ingredients thoroughly and avoid the use 
of “sloppy ” food, which is a frequent cause of trouble. At the 
same time any groats which have not been cleared up are removed, 
