PRAIRIE FARMER'S POULTRY BOOK 



are not perfect, but if you give them a fair trial you will not be 

 disappointed. 



Feeding the Baby Chick 



F'eed nothing until the third day after the chick is hatched. 

 Just before the chick is ready to break the shell the yolk of 

 the egg is absorbed into the abdomen. This is a provision of 

 nature to furnish nourishment for the chick during the first 

 few days of its growing life. During these few days the yolk 

 is absorbed into the circulation and assimilated. • 



If the chick is fed before that process is completed, which 

 requires about 72 hours, the process of absorption is checked 

 and the yolk remains in the abdomen, a menace to its health 

 and growth. Man}^ chicks that perish, if examined, would be 

 found to contain the unabsorbed yolk. At the end of this 

 period, or at the close of the third day, give a light feed of 

 rolled oats and give sweet milk for drink. 



The feed should be very simple for the first two days, 

 nothing but rolled oats, with milk in the forenoon and water 

 in the afternoon. If the plan of removing the milk at noon, 

 cleansing the vessels, and replacing with water in the after- 

 noon is followed throughout the feeding period, there will be 

 little danger of harm from putrid milk. We advise sweet 

 milk because it is just as valuable as sour milk and is available 

 at all seasons. 



After the second day of feeding, place the chicks on Ration 

 No. 1, found on page 46. Rolled oats or pinhead oats con- 

 stitute the scratch ration, and should be thrown in shallow 

 litter to induce exercise. A feeding box about three inches 

 deep and three feet square would answer well for 100 chicks. 

 This could be removed, cleaned and supplied with fresh litter 

 as required. The mash portion of the ration should be 

 placed in a hopper upon an elevated platform so as to keep it 

 clean. Self feeders for this purpose can be purchased at trifl- 

 ing cost. Near the mash feeder should be placed a hopper with 

 three compartments containing grit, charcoal, and granulated 

 bone. 



At the end of the second week change gradually to Ration 

 No. II (page 46). This means a change from rolled or pin- 

 head oats to whole wheat as the scratch feed, and the change 

 can be made by adding a little wheat to the oats, then increas- 

 ing the wheat until the oats can be omitted. 



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