REARING WITH HENS 73 



' first feed. Some people "do not give water for a fe\ir days, 

 but we believe in giving it from the start. 



For the first week or so we keep our chicks in the loft of 

 our barn, in a warm dry place with plenty of light, where 

 they are free from drafts and cold and can scratch in chaff 

 to their hearts content. At the end of the week, or ten 

 days if early in the season, we move them to their outside 

 quarters; we gather them up and place them in a box that 

 has a sliding cover perforated with holes to give ventilation 

 and as soon as all are in the box we give them a good dusting 

 with good insect powder. We also give the mother hen a 

 good dusting before returning the chicks to her; this treat- 



1 ment is necessary in order to keep the chicks rid of lice. 

 The Coop and its Location. 

 A brood coop for hen and chicks should be so constructed 

 as to afford ample protection from storms, the hot rays of 

 the summer sun, the destructive rat, skunk or weasel and 

 with a double door at front and back, the inner one of fine 

 wire mesh and the outer one of boards. The outer doors 

 will serve as shelter from rain and sun, and the inner doors 

 when closed down at night will keep out rats, etc. Where 

 coops are located in grass runs. the chicks will have plenty 

 of green food, but where the runs are without grass the fan- 

 cier must provide it for his chicks. For young chicks the 

 grass must be cut up in short lengths and they should have 

 .what they will eat at least once a day. Where grass is 

 very scarce, vegetables, chopped fine, will answer; it is 

 simply a matter of keeping as near to nature as possible. 

 Where the chicks have free range, where grass and vegetation 

 is plenty, it requires less attention from the fancier than 

 where the range is devoid of vegetation, as animal life in 

 the way of bugs, insects, worms, etc., is found in greater 

 abundance on good grass land than on land devoid of vegeta- 

 tion and chicks confined to bare runs depend upon their 

 owner for their animal and vegetable food. Brood coops 

 should never be placed in yards in which mature fowls are 

 kept as the old fowls will make life miserable for the chicks 

 and interfere materially with their growth and development. 

 A fair sized hen will take care of twenty chicks, if not too 

 early in the season, and it is a good plan where several hens are 



