THE CHICK BOOK 



55 



and dainty bits of anything that I was able to get which I 

 thought would induce them to grow. 



There are many reasons why we should recommend the 

 setting of eggs all through the month of June, and especially 

 to those who are just starting in the business of raising 

 poultry. My experience has been that during the month of 

 June eggs as a rule are very fertile, and a large percentage 

 of them hatch, In many instances, every egg put under a 

 hen. Weather conditions during this time of the year are 

 generally such that both eggs and chicks will stand more 

 hardship and neglect than is the case during the early 

 hatching season. Fanciers (myself among them) who ad- 

 vertise to replace all infertile eggs occasionally have to 

 replace many that were shipped during the early part of 

 the season, even when we know by repeated tests that at 

 least 85 per cent of them were fertile. Such conditions prove 

 to my mind that the manner and place where eggs are set 

 (especially early ones) and the way hens sit upon them, or 

 the manner in which they may be manipulated in an incu- 

 bator, combined with weather conditions, cause many poor 

 hatches, which not only is a loss to the fancier to the ex- 

 tent of the infertile eggs returned, but often discourages 

 customers who have had but little, if any, experience in the 

 business. If an equal number of eggs had been ordered 

 later in the season a greater number of chicks would have 

 been hatched and both parties would have been better 

 satisfied. 



It is also claimed that a larger per cent of late hatched 

 chicks are pullets, which is desirable to most purchasers. 



The main question to be considered in raising late 

 hatched chicks is to get them far enough advanced before 



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Movable House to Serve as a Roosting Coop or to Protect Small 

 Chicks In Bad Weather. 



the cold weather sets in, that they will not be stunted there- 

 by. I have proved to my own satisfaction that it can be 

 done, and birds raised to full standard weight from eggs 

 that were set the last days of June. J. B. HADAWAY. 



FEEDING YOUNG CHICKENS, 



Dry Feeding and Unlimited Range, Muhe Large, Healthy Chicks, 



By C. B. Bristol. 



D HATCH all chicks with hens, but as soon as they are 

 hatched I take them from the hens and put them In 

 brooders, which I believe is the only way to rear chicks 

 satisifaotorily. You have them where you can watch 

 them at all times. I use indoor brooders and believe them 

 to be far superior to outdoor niachines that are used with- 

 out shelter. The ouitdoor brooder works well and is fairly 

 convenient to use when the weather is fair, but when it is 

 storms', or there is a high wind, it is. neither convenient nor 

 agreeable to attend to the lamp. When it rains hard, it is 

 almost impossible to open and clean the brooder and the 

 chicks suffer from being confined in very small quarters and 

 from breathing the impure air of a dirty brocVder. 



If the brooder is in a building, the chicks can have the 

 run of the floor, when the weather is not fit far them to be 

 outside. An open shed built over an outdoor brooder tor 

 shade and protection from ra:in and heavy winds is consid- 

 erable advantage, for it protects one wlien he fills and trims 

 the lamp, or adjusts the fi'ame, and when he feeds and cares 

 for the chicks. If such a shed Is provided with a muslin 

 curtain to be let down in front when the weather requires 

 It, it makes a good exercising room for the chicks, when 

 they would otherwise have to be confined in the brooder. 



I do not feed anything until the chicks are twenty-four 

 hours old; then I feed hard boiled eggs. For the first week 

 I feed corn meal breiad that is baked until it will crumble. 

 This i feed as often as they eat it up clean. After the first 

 week I feed cracker crumbs and stale bread which can be 

 purchased of bakers very cheaply. As soon as the chicks 

 will eat whole wheat and cracked corn I feed it. I also feed 

 beef scraps twice a week, and keep plenty of grit in the 

 brooder. This is very necessary, as it aids digestion. 



I am aware that some poultrymen, who have reason to 

 know, advise against the use of hard boiled eggs, but I 

 have never found anything equal to it for the first meal. 

 The corn bread is an exceillent food, but must not be de- 

 pended upon after the first week, because it is too much 

 trouble to bake it and because it is not by any means a 

 complete and well balanced ration. 



I keep the chicks in the brooder until they are a week 

 old before I let them out in the brooder house. After they 

 are four weeks old I have small coops, which are set In 

 different parts of the place, so they will be by themselves, 

 and all of the same age then are together. The smaller 

 ones are not crowded by the larger ones. 



This Is a point worth noting and acting upon, for if 

 small chicks crowd into the same coop with larger ones, 

 the former are frequently overheated at night and pre- 

 vented from getting their fair share of food in the day tima 

 This prevents growth and arres'ts development, and the 

 chick never makes so good a fowl as it Would if it had a 

 better chance. Those of one ago should be fed separate 

 from the other flacks, or the younger ones will be crowded 

 away from the food 'by their largei- brothers, and will not 

 get enough to properly nour'ish their bodies. 



My chicks have unlimited range at all times. I breed 

 Barred Plymouth Rocks and the above mode o€ feeding and 

 caring for them has been very satisfactory to me, as I 

 hardly ever have a sick chicken and I have pullets hatched 

 late last year that weigh eight pounds. I feed grain entirely 

 to all my fowls, and no ground feed except cracked corn. 

 My first hatch this season, the 15th of March, was ten chicks 

 from thirteen eggs; from eggs laid in February, the coldest 

 month we had this year. C. B. BRISTOL. 



