62 



rain from blowing in. In tlie front there is a door twelve 

 inches wide. Thers is a bottom made by nailing boards to- 

 gether on two cleats, made so that the coop will slip down 

 over the floor onto the ground. This prevents the rain from 

 blowing under and wetting the floor. The cleats keep the 

 bottom from resting flat on the ground. The coop should 

 be given two coats of paint. 



This kind of a roosting place is very easily cleaned or 

 whitewashed by lifting it off the floor. When the ground is 

 dry and warm the floor is not necessary, simply move the 

 coop to a new spot when it begins to get foul. Twenty-flve 

 or thirty chicks cim, without being crowded, roost in a 

 place of this kind until they are three or four months old. 

 When the chicks are raised in a brooder I prefer a roosting 

 coop large enough to accommodate fifty. This number is as 

 many as should be put in one flock until three or four 

 months old. I then move them to a large roosting house, 

 where they continue to roost on a floor until five or six 

 months old. Sometimes I put as many as one hundred in a 

 place of this kind. From here they go to their permanent 

 roosting place, which is on perches made of two-by-four- 

 inch scantling, with the top rounded a little. Whatever 

 kind of place chicks have to roost in, it should be kept 

 clean arid free from mites. Unless you do this you will 

 surely fail. 



I have no mechanical arrangement or fixed method for 

 feeding chicks. I always feed what I think the time and 

 occasion demand. I believe that as much dependsi on the 

 way food is prepared and manner of feeding, as on the ma- 

 terial. For the morning meal I Usually give a light feed of 

 cornbread baked just the same as for table use, or a mash 

 composed of bran and middlings. They will still be a little 

 hungry, and Will start out hunting what they can find to 

 pick up. Along toward noon I scatter wheat among the 

 leaves and litter in a large part of their range. This gives 

 them something to do that greatly interests them unUl 

 along in the afternoon. When the sun is about one hour 

 high I scatter cracked corn, and perhaps some millet seed 

 or wheat in some litter. This will keep them busy until 

 about sundown, and by this time their crops are full, they 

 have done a good day's work and are ready to go to their 

 coop and enjoy a good night's rest. 



There is always plenty of fresh water^and grit where 

 they can go to it whenever they choose. " " •"".,.» 



THE CHICK BOOK 



ened about the center for the purpose of forming a hood to 

 the coop, which can be set at iWerent angles by placing 

 screw eyes to the sides of the coop. This feature of the c^P 



G. B. READ. 



RAT AND STORM PBOOE BOOSTING COOP. 



The brood coop I have had most success with 

 made as follows: Length, twenty-four Inches; 

 In front, twenty inches; rear, twelve inches 

 eighteen inches (inside measurements). I 



coop 



Fig. 4— Coop with Adjustable Hood Front. 



They 



is grand, as by the hood the hot sun i 



as driving rains. „„a<=r,n 



These coops save me many chicks each season. 



The hen is kept m by a lath 



By painting these 



a long time 



When the chicks 



are rat proof and storm proof, 

 front fastened just at the edge of coop, 

 coops and storing when not in use, they last 

 land repay for their cost many times over. Whe 

 are older 1 utilize dry goods boxes, cut down to about the 

 same shape, only I make a hood of the lower eighteen inches 



REV. C. A. SMITH. 



BEADY FOB 



Fig. 5— Mr. F. E. Mow's Roosting Coop. 



is 

 height, 

 width, 

 make the 

 of matched 

 pine, with board 

 floor, the cleats 

 Ion the outside, so 

 as to raise the 

 coop off the 

 ground. The top 

 p r o j ects three 

 inches at the 

 sides and four 

 'inches at the 

 rear. I make a closed front (boards the same as the coop), 

 the front being hinged to the top, and the top and front 

 mltered, so as to close tight when down. The coop front 

 is kept in place by cleats on the inside, these cleats allow- 

 ing about seven-eighths of an inch space on both sides for 

 ventilation when the door is down. 



The front has iron strips with three or four holes fast- 



only 



BOOSTING COOP POE STOCK UNTIL 



WINTEE QUAETEES- MAKING THE MASH— 

 GEAIN POOD. 



As soon as the hen weans the chicks, (or if raised in a 

 brooder, as soon as they are large enough to take care of 

 themselves) they are removed to roosting coops made and 

 used exclusively for this purpose. These coops are scat- 

 tered a 1 o n g a 

 hedge fence fac- 

 ing a large orch- 

 ard, where they 

 can get range and 

 shade at all 

 times. The coops 

 are made from 

 cheap lumiber, 

 but are strong and tight. We h.ave them from six 

 to ten feet long, but prefer them ten feet long, two 

 feet high at back, three and one-half feet in front, the roof 

 projecting over the front to keep out rain. Ends and back 

 are boarded tight, and there is also a tight floor. Front is 

 of wire netting nailed to the frame just fltting, and hinged 

 at the top, so as to be closed at night and to shut the chicks 

 in when getting them used to new quarters. The coops have 

 roosting poles lengthwise the whole length of coop. We do 

 not find so many crooked breast bones from roosting on 

 these poles as are found by chicks roosting on the floor. The 

 coops must be kept far enough apart so the different flocks 

 will not try to crawl into one coop. If possible we put pul-" 

 lets in different quarters from the cockerels. We have kept 

 chicks in these coops until snow flies. 



We feed only three times a day when chicks are this 

 age. The morning and noon ration consists of corn meal 

 (ground flne) two parts, bran one part, middlings two parts, 

 thoroughly mixed. To this we add salt and to a peck we 

 add one quart of meat meal. This is placed in a light ves- 

 sel, boiling water poured over it and mixed to a stiff dough. 

 We use a grain sack to cover the vessel, and pack very 

 tightly to keep in all the steam. Let the mixture cook in 

 its steam and feed only when cool. They are fed all they 

 will eat up clean. At night they are fed corn, wheat and 

 oats — very little oats, however, as we have had poor success 

 with oats. The grains are fed alternately so they will not 

 get tired of either grain. F. B. MOW. 



EXCELLENT CONDITIONS FOB GBOWING HEALTHY 

 BIBDS. 



Living as we do on a farm, we have plenty of range, 

 grass and shade. We have a large apple, plum and cherry 

 orchard, also raspberry and blackberry patches, which af- 

 ford fine range for young chicks. As for food, we use only 

 such grains as we raise on the farm. When the chicks are 

 about six weeks old we put them in flocks of fifteen to twen- 

 ty-flve, each flock roosting at night in a large coop having 

 a movable bottom, so as to make it easy to clean out. There 



