106 The Truth About the Poultry Business 



Be very sure to give the chicks plenty of heat until they 

 are fully feathered. If the brooder is too hot they will move 

 outside, but if it is cold they will huddle together and sweat; 

 this stunts their growth. Chicks are only babies and all 

 babies need warmth. You save money by using plenty of 

 heat by the chick growing very fast. Use no fireless brood- 

 ers, as the chick needs a warm place and the moment you 

 confine their heat they may sweat and this weakens them. 



Some chick-feeds contain a large amount of oats, which 

 cause a pasty white-diarrhoea when improperly fed and that 

 is one reason you must not over-feed chick-feed. 



Oats used in many rations are very constipating, although 

 writers for poultry papers claim them to be laxative, but you 

 will notice that they cause a small, tight dropping, but with 

 some rations they cause watery droppings. 



A hen's instinct is governed entirely by her cravings and 

 when the ration is high in protein or laxative or where much 

 bran is used she will eat corn in preference to wheat. There 

 are wonderful things to be learned from the hen's instinct, 

 but they are very hard to understand where we do not under- 

 stand the variations in grains. 



A hen may over-eat on corn where a very laxative ration 

 is used just as it is possible for her to do on a ration that is 

 very high in protein. In the future we will understand the 

 cravings of the hen far better than we do today and may be 

 able to take advantage of them. 



It is very hard to give a method that will cover every con- 

 dition and especially when some flocks are in a very bad 

 condition. 



The kind of grain fed with a ration should be used more 

 on account of the constipating qualities and the amount of 

 protein it contains than the season of the year. 



