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Poultry Feeding. 



Chicks. 



With all birds, young ones especially, the greatest care must 

 be taken to keep all coops, brooders, houses, food and water 

 vessels perfectly clean and sweet, or the birds will become weak 

 and ill. With young birds it is well to put a little camphor in 

 their drinking water, as this prevents them catching cold. 

 Should any birds, young or old, die, the carcases should at once 

 be burned or deeply buried. It is a great mistake to leave dead 

 birds lying about. Both chicks and young turkeys will do best 

 if fed for their first month on dry food ; they will grow faster, 

 do better, and be far hardier than if given soft food, however 

 carefully it may be mixed. 



If the owner has no means of making ordinary mixed dry 

 chick food, about which more will be said later, he will find that 

 canary and millet seeds, groats, cracked peas, and a little hemp 

 seed will be all that is necessary to begin with. 



Do not, even in very cold weather, give much maize to young 

 birds, and be very sparing in the use of rice. 



The feeding of dry food will be found very economical, for it 

 saves labour, and birds like it and do particularly well upon it. 

 Though newly-hatched birds require little food at a time they 

 should be fed as often as possible, certainly not less than five 

 times a day, for the first few weeks. A little dry food should be 

 put near them last thing at night (but without waking them) so 

 that when they come out in the morning they may find it for 

 themselves. After this early meal they usually go back into 

 their brooders or under their mothers for further warmth and 

 sleep. 



It is not possible to say how much food is required by newly- 

 hatched chicks or turkeys, but chicks generally eat about 3 lb. 

 of dry food each during their first eight weeks. 



If the weather be very cold and stormy do not let young birds 

 run about in the wet — a sack supported on sticks will give them 

 .sufficient room for exercise, though a thatched hurdle will be still 

 better. Put a little chaff, in which seed has been scattered, on 

 the ground under their shelter that they may scratch about and 

 so keep themselves warm. 



Their litter should be turned over with a stick every day or 

 two to freshen it and to allow the chicks to find any food which 



