54 



THE CHICK BOOK 



of August and September. The birds raise themselves, so 

 to speak, so easily up to this time that breeders are apt to 

 become careless and allow their shelter to become foul, and 

 a coop that was plenty large enough six weeks before is 

 wholly inadequate now, and they crowd and pack themselves 

 together during hot and sultry nights until some are smoth- 

 ered, and mites and lice kill many more. 



We receive some inquiries asking if one is unable to pro- 

 duce a prize winner from chicks hatched in June. To such 

 we tell what we have noticed by observation and personal 

 experience. That some of our best show birds have been 

 late hatched, and it is the personal experience of one mem- 

 ber of this firm, who Is also interested in the firm of J. M. 

 Williams & Co., that the Buff Orpington cockerel that won 

 first at Chicago in 1902 was hatched in July and weighed 

 eight and one-half pounds in the show room in January. 



These facts, together with others we might cite, if time 

 and space would allow, prove to our own satisfaction that 

 Junfe hatched chicks are just as profitable to raise as those 

 hatdhed earlier, for every purpose excspt broiler raising. 



FILLIO, WILLIAMS & CO. 



get as large as the early hatched ones. If you are feeding 

 a drove of hogs let them run with them and they will get 

 the size and will have that large bone we want. 



W. REESE PAETZEL. 



A CAUTION TO WATCH FOB, LICE AND GIVE THE 



CHICKS RANGE, AND SO MAKE WINNERS 



OF THE JUNE HATCHED BIRDS. 



Where most people have trouble in raising June hatched 

 chicks is in letting the hen run loose as soon as she gets 

 through hatching and sometimes neither she nor the chicks 

 have shelter. The little chicks should have a dry place to 

 sleep. Those who do not watch for lice find this a great 

 drawback to the June hatched chicks. You should look at 

 your chicks about every four weeks and dust them. A June 

 hatched. chick should have plenty of that good free range. 



There are prize winners hatched in June as well as in 

 the earlier months. At Indianapolis in February two of the 

 pullets in our first prize Buff Rock pen, also our third prize 

 pullet, were hatched in June and there was not a larger 

 boned pullet in the class than the third prize bird. 



When we take the hen from the nest with her chicks or 

 take them from the incubator we let them run out on a dry 

 floor and give them a fine chick grit. In about twenty-four 

 to thirty-six hours after we feed them a little chick food. 

 Do not feed too much, but just keep them hungry. We feed 

 the chick food for about four to six weeks and then we feed 

 them wheat and cracked corn till they get large enough to 

 swallow a whole grain of corn. 



We have sold on the market in January chickens that 

 were hatched in June. They weighed five to eight pounds 

 each and have showed pullets that weighed from six to seven 

 and one-half pounds and cockerels that weighed seven to 

 eight and one-half pounds. 



In raising late hatched chicks one of the main things is to 

 get them started right and then keep them on the right road. 

 I have given the method of feeding, but the main thing is to 

 fight the lice and give them plenty of range; that is what 

 makes them grow. 



Lice will take the strength from the chicks and often 

 will kill them and people say it was the cholera when it is 

 nothing but the lice. Sometimes too many chickens are 

 crowded in one house and this will give them colds and stop 

 their growth. 



If I was starting in the poultry business the month of 

 June would suit me just as well if not better than the other 

 months. I find the Buff Rock chicks have a better color in 

 June, better wings and tails than the earlier chicks and if 

 you watch the lice and give them plenty of range they will 



PROOFS THAT CORRECT CARE AND FEEDING DE- 

 VELOP JUNE HATCHED CHICKS INTO WIN- 

 NERS AND WEIGHTY SPECIMENS. 



In regard to late hatched chicks, especially those 

 hatched in June: are they profitable? I say most emphati- 

 cally: Yes! Such birds make good winter layers, especially 

 the Wyandottes, and (barring the early fall shows) make 

 excellent exhibition specimens. 



Partridge Wyandotte pullets commence to lay when 

 about six months old, and it is generally conceded that such 

 birds as a rule are in their best condition to show just after 

 having laid their first egg; therefore a pullet hatched the 

 20th day of June should commence to lay about the 20th day 

 of December, at which time she •should be in the best con- 

 dition. The majority of our largest shows are held during 

 the months of December and January, and late hatched 

 bird? have an equal chance of winning in competition with 

 many of those which were hatched much earlier. 



One season I hatched chicks as late as the first day of 

 August with good results; and it may be of interest to many 

 to know that some of the very best cockerels and pullets 

 that I raised were tiatched the 20th day of July, among them 

 being the first prize pullet at North Abington, which show 

 was held the 25th day of December. The same pullet also 

 took third prize at Madison Square Garden, New York, Jan- 

 uary 5th, and another of the same age and In fact out of 

 the same brood took fifth prize at that show. It will be 

 seen that the pullet which won first at North Abington was 

 just five months and five days old when exhibited, and the 

 two when shown at the New York show were just five and 

 one-half months old. These two birds were exactly stand- 

 ard weight when shipped to the New York show, and the 

 third prize pullet had laid her first egg. The fifth prize 

 pullet then had many chicken feathers and was not filled 

 out and finished, but was penciled all over with good open 

 penciling and gave promise of developing into one of the 

 most beautiful birds that I ever raised. The manner in 

 which this bird developed during the following month was 

 something surprising, and had she been hatched June 20th 

 instead of July 30th, she would in all probability have been 

 placed much higher at that show. She is to-day one of my 

 most valuable specimens and lays a large, brown, well- 

 shaped egg. 



I have seventeen pullets that were hatched last July, 

 that are up in weight and all are high scoring birds, and as 

 hens some of them will in all probability be a trifle over 

 weight next fall when in show condition, which rather dis- 

 counts the idea of many that late hatched birds are always 

 small and stunted. 



One of the flrst questions naturally asked is, How were 

 these birds fed? 



For the flrst three weeks they were fed entirely upon 

 a chick food, which was fed to them every two hours; for the 

 next three months they were fed upon prepared chick food, 

 beef scra-s and what little scraps I had to give them that 

 came from the kitchen. During this period they were fed 

 four times a day. After they were four months old they 

 were given a mash in the morning consisting of chick food 

 and beef scraps mixed; at noon they were given oats and 

 wheat, and at night they were given whea;t and cracked 

 corn; besides this they were often given cabbage, lettuce 



