12 
Colorado Experiment Station 
tlie little chicks. The following ration will be found to answer all pur¬ 
poses and can be modified or supplemented according to circumstances : 
For a scratch feed: 
lo lbs. cracked corn 
5 lbs. oatmeal 
lo lbs. cracked wheat 
For a mash feed: 
lo lbs. bran, 
lo lbs. middlings 
10 lbs. fine corn chop 
A johnny cake made from the above mash mixture mixed with 
milk, and scraps from the table, will help to add variety to the ration. 
But what is considered the most important food for little chicks is milk, 
sour or sweet, but milk every day of the chick’s life, from the egg to 
the table. With plenty of heat, plenty of grains and milk and a clean 
body, the chick will thrive. 
DISEASES 
Carelessness and neglect are usually the forerunners of disease in 
the flock. A spoonful of epsom salts in the mash for every 3 or 4 
grown fowls, every week during the late fall and early winter months, 
is worth more than any dope for curing. Enough permanganate of 
potassium to give the water a rich wine color, during the same time, 
will help greatly to prevent diseases that often follow colds. Fowls 
should not be turned out when the ground is cold and wet; until the 
sun has warmed things up, they should be kept confined, busy hunting 
in the litter. Keep the flock thinned out to the capacity of the build¬ 
ings. Weaklings should be removed. Lice and mites must be kept 
down. Just a little lard or vaseline smeared on the baby chick’s head 
will kill the lice there; a vigorous fowl will look after itself in the 
“earth” bath. 
The most dangerous enemy we have in roup. It attacks all sizes 
of chicks and fowls, and usually starts in with its deadly work in the 
autumn. Chickens should be removed from the small coops before the 
nights get sharp; the new quarters should be clean and roomy; they 
should be kept in during stormy weather; if weaklings have been elimin¬ 
ated, there is little danger of infection. If roup appears, the in¬ 
fected fowls should be isolated at once; bad cases should 
be killed and buried; those slightly affected should be sprinkled with 
insect powder to kill the body lice; their heads should be immersed 
in a 5% solution of some disinfectant, such as zenoleum or creolin, and 
for a few days they should be fed lightly. Fowls are subject to bron^ 
chitis, pneumonia, tuberculosis, chicken-pox, and liver troubles; they 
have bumble foot and scaly legs, and are sometimes crop bound, and 
have almost as many disorders as people. If we tried to cure all their 
ailment, we would have but little time for anything else. After trying 
many remedies, experience usually teaches that prevention is about the 
only cure worth while with a fowl. The Veterinary Department of 
the College will be glad to handle a limited number of “cases”. Please 
write to Dr. I. E. Newsom, care Colorado Agricultural College, who 
will tell you how to ship sick or dead fowls. 
