September, 1911 AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS ! AUG12 1985 
FEEDING THE YOUNG CHICKS 
By IDA D. BENNETT 
HERE is no better food for the 
young chicks during the first days 
of their downy chickenhood than 
hard-boiled eggs minced fine, with plenty 
of scalded milk to drink; in a few days 
this may be supplemented with bread 
crumbs which have been soaked in milk 
or water until they crumble freely, and 
squeezed dry and crumbly—never wet 
bread with hot water or try to crumble 
it until sufficiently soaked; it should be 
crumbly and not soggy or over-wet, and 
only as much should be fed at a time as 
will be eaten up clean. To the bread 
crumbs and hard-boiled eggs may also 
be added corn-meal baked in a johnny- 
cake and then dipped in water or milk 
and crumbled; this is greatly relished by 
the little chicks and forms one of the 
best of foods. 
After the chicks are a couple of 
weeks old less soft feed should be given 
and the main dependence placed upon 
grain of various kind—oats hulled or 
cracked, cracked corn and whole wheat 
making an excellent diet. If the hen has 
her liberty on a grass range and access 
to some bare ground she will pick up 
the greater part of the feed for the chicks, 
and that of a kind well calculated to aid 
their growth and digestion, but do not 
think that she can find all that they will 
require; they will need generous feed at 
least four times a day after they have 
passed the downy stage, and at least 
three times a day after they feather out. 
The water-supply is very important 
for all fowls and especially for young 
chicks. The practice of supplying water 
in old tin cans cannot be too strongly 
condemned. Rusty tin produces oxide 
of tin—a poison for the fowls and one 
which induces laxity; most of the cases 
of so-called chicken cholera can be traced 
to rusty tin drinking vessels; iron vessels, 
on the contrary, are beneficial, as the iron 
given off in the form of rust is an excel- 
lent tonic for the fowls. The drinking 
fountains improvised from a flower-pot 
and saucer answer every requirement of 
the small chick, and larger pots may 
be adapted to the needs of the larger 
fowls. Anything large enough to drown 
a chicken or to wet its body, should it get 
into it, should not be allowed where there 
are young chicks. A little chick will 
get into a dish of water which barely 
reaches above its legs and will be so 
chilled that it cannot get out and will 
die from the exposure as surely as 
though drowned. The drinking-vessels 
need frequent emptying, cleaning and re- 
filling, and it is a good plan to keep a 
wire or whisk brush at hand for the pur- 
pose, as these will remove the scum 
which adheres to the sides much more 
thoroughly and quickly than a cloth. 
Unless chickens are intended for broil- 
ers, too fattening food should be avoided, 
and those grains rich in bone, muscle and 
nerve production should be fed. Wheat, 
oats, ground beans—all are excellent food 
for the growing chick, building up a 
framework on which future layers of 
flesh and fat may be placed to advantage. 
But where chickens are to be fattened 
at an early age for market, then the prin- 
cipal reliance must be placed on corn, 
feeding freely of the cracked grain and 
supplementing this with the baked 
johnny-cake. 
But grain alone will not be sufficient 
for the growing chick; it must have a 
a Y Ls y 
It is now Ll? 
customary at afternoon 
teas and luncheons to serve } | 
NABISCO 
Sugar Wafers 
as the crowning touch—with 4 
a] tea or chocolate. 
YY) 
in ten cent tins 
Also in twenty-five cent tins 
NATIONAL 
BISCUIT COMPANY 
The Scientific American Boy 
By A. RUSSELL BOND —————————————- 
12mo. :: Three Hundred and Twenty Pages :: Three Hundred and Forty Illustrations :: Price, $2.00, Postpaid 
A STORY OF OUTDOOR BOY LIFE, suggesting a large number of 
diversions which, aside from affording entertainment, will stimulate in 
boys the creative spirit. Complete practical instructions are given 
for building the various articles. The book contains a large number of mis- 
cellaneous devices, such as Scows, Canoes, Windmills, Water Wheels, Etc. 
: MUNN & CO., Inc., osceniablisherschicany 361 Broadway, New York 
VACUUM CLEANERS 
Broomell’s Victory Stationary 
We manufacture Electric Stationary Cleaners for buildings of any size or kind. 
We make a specialty of residence work; and our machines can be installed in old or new 
houses without expert help. 
We manufacture a Stationary for use with Gasoline Engine or other power, especially 
adapted to country homes, 
The VICTOR Electric Portable is a very powerful handsomely finished machine. ‘‘’ 77s 
the finest in the land.’’ 
Send for printed matter. Buy direct from the manufacturer and save money. 
VICTOR CLEANER COMPANY, YORK, PA. 
