FEEDING PRACTICES AND APPLIANCES 385 



floor, keep a shovelful or several shovelfuls of clean soil on 

 a portion of the brooder or hover floor so the chicks may 

 scratch in this. 



"When the chicks have reached the age of six weeks we 

 then place a dry mash before them composed of 2 parts 

 bran, 1 part shorts, and 1 part corn meal. This is placed 

 in a hopper. It is also a good idea to mix a little fine charcoal 

 in this ground feed, also a half-pound of fine salt to every 

 100 pounds of the mixture. This mash is used until they 

 are fully matured. From the time the chicks are six weeks 

 old until maturity, you can feed them equal parts of cracked 

 corn and wheat, fed in hoppers. If you cannot furnish 

 your chicks with the sour milk or buttermilk, it may be 

 necessary for you to add one-half part high-grade dry-beef 

 scraps to the dry mash." 



Schoppe^ recommends as a first feed a mixture of 2 parts 

 wheat bran and 1 part rolled oats fed in shallow tin pans, 

 the bottoms of which have been sprinkled with fine chick 

 grit. The chicks are allowed to pick at this for about ten 

 minutes and then it-is removed. For the first few days they 

 are fed five times a day, very sparingly. During the first 

 week the mash is gradually changed until it contains equal 

 parts of bran and rolled oats. 



On the second day a little fine-cracked grain is sprinkled 

 into the litter. This may be made up as follows: 



Parts by weight. 



Fine-cracked wheat . . 15 



Pinhead oats ... 10 



Fine-screened cracked corn 15 



Fine-cracked peas . 3 



Broken rice . 2 



Chick grit flimcstone) 5 



Fine charcoal (chick size) . . 2 



This grain mixture should be fed during the first three 

 weeks, then gradually changed during the fourth week so 

 that at the end of the week it will contain: 



Parts by weight 

 Cracked corn . . . 4 



Cracked wheat . . 2 



Pinhead oata ... .... ... 1 



' Montana Agricultural College, In Poultry Life, March, 1913. 

 25 



