THE CHICK BOOK 



15 



Inclosing them in a little space of six square rods, inside a 

 wire fence one foot high. I think I have never suffered so 

 small a mortality in all my experience with chicks, losing 

 but three of the whole number and one of those killed by a 

 ' dog. Those chicks commenced growing from the first and 

 in three weeks' time began to hop over the wire. I hastily 

 placed a four-foot wire around the pen. Intending to move 

 them to different quarters when convenient, but they made 

 such a remarkable growth and seemed so healthy, I thought 

 I would see how long they could be kept growing in that 

 limited space. I attended them myself. The yard was 

 swept every day with scrupulous care and the excrements 

 removed. The birds were fed systematically and always 

 kept a little hungry. They never left that yard till they 

 went to market, then weighing from five to six pounds each, 

 dressed, and there was not a cull In the lot. Their plumage 



In fact nothing came amiss; they greedily devoured every- 

 thing I gave them and appeared to have every confidence in 

 my judgment. They brought thirty cents per pound in Bos- 

 ton market, aggregating nearly six hundred dollars, thus 

 paying me for all food consumed and nearly five dollars an 

 hour for all time In caring for them and had they been 

 hatched two weeks earlier they would have brought thirty- 

 five cents per pound. With one exception, this was my 

 most successful experience with chickens. 



JAMES RANKIN. 



BAISISTG CHICKS IN' BBOODEBS. 

 We use both indoor piped sectional and outdoor hot-air 

 brooders. To begin with, our chicks are well hatched and 

 como out strong, plump and active. Very early in the sea- 

 son, when the weather is still cold and frosty and no grass 



View Showing the Location ot Hovers and Other Interior Fixtures In a New Jersey Brooding House. 



was glossy and fine. The birds were gentle and could be 

 taken up at will. 



When a little over four months old and about ready for 

 market, I notified Mr. Hunter, then of Parih Poultry, that 

 I had a show for him. He came out the next day and when 

 he saw those chicks be would not believe that they had been 

 grown in that yard, as there appeared to be but little more 

 than standing room for them. He asked my men if I was 

 not hoaxing with him, and he finally acknowledged that 

 they were the finest lot of chicks he ever saw together. 



They were fed four times per day till a month old, after 

 that three times. They were started in with bread crumbs 

 and hard boiled eggs chopped fine. One part egg to five 

 parts crumbs and plenty of grit mixed in. After three days 

 their food was equal quantities of wheat bran and cornmeal 

 with a little fine beef scraps, and I gave them one feed each 

 day of rolled oats and cracked corn. As they grew older 

 they had a bucket of clotted milk each day, boiled potatoes 

 and green grass. Toward the last, one feed of whole com 

 and over one-half bushel of finely cut corn fodder per day. 



growing, we use the indoor brooders. These machines are 

 set up, thoroughly warmed and tested before the chicks are 

 put in. The brooder floors are sanded and the house floor 

 covered with chaff or cut straw. During the first few weeks 

 we keep the hovers very warm and if the chicks are too 

 warm they crawl out where it is cooler. At night In par- 

 ticular we are careful to have a good surplus of heat, so 

 that the chicks lie partly outside the hovers, as from mid- 

 night to morning the temperature of the room will lower 

 considerably, so the chicks will go under the hover and be 

 very comfortable. Were it not for this surplus of heat 

 when left at night the chicks might be chilled before morn- 

 ing and then bowel trouble would make its appearance and 

 many chicks die. Each room is sixteen by twenty feet and 

 not usually over four hundred chicks to each brooder. 



The first few days the chicks are fed granulated oat- 

 meal only, with clean water (not too cold) for drink, and 

 some good, sharp grit before them constantly. The first 

 week we feed four times dally and but little at a meal. We 

 then begin gradually working them on to a diet of cake, 



