July 1, 1907 
As to feeding, there are as many systems 
as there are breeds, and every breeder 
swears by his own system, I think it 
does not matter so much about any par- 
ticular system so long as some system is 
used. A great mistake is made by be- 
ginners in chopping and changing their 
methods of feeding at the bidding of 
every passer-by. When you get on to a 
good system, stick to it. Personally, L 
am a great believer in the dry system of 
feeding. This applies to both brooder 
chicks and those running with the hen. 
In this method all foods are given in a 
dry state, and all sloppy or moist foods 
are avoided, the idea being to let the 
chicks do the mixing. By this method 
the food can be scattered in the litter, 
and the little birds can pick up the 
rushed grain, getting by this means 
plenty of exercise while scratching for 
their food. A simple plan, if a small lot 
are being raised, is to purchase a prepared 
chick food, put up by a reputable dealer, 
or avery good mixture can be made at 
home of the following :— 
6 lb cracked wheat, 
2 lb fine cracked corn, 
1 Ib rolled oats, 
1 lb millet seed 
3 1b broken rice, b 
21b fine beef scrap or 1 1b dried blood, 
3 lb fine cracked bone, 
6 lb sharp grit. 
This can be fed either in a self feeding 
hopper or in the litter every two hours 
for the first three days. H'rom the third 
to tenth day, every three hours. 
In quantity, for the first three days, a 
large handful to fifty chicks every two 
hours, gradually increasing the amount. 
The hopper will do away with all the 
trouble of feeding if sufficient of the 
mixture is placed in to fill it. This will 
keep tho birds going according to the size 
of the hopper and the number of chicks. 
Fresh water, kept in the shade, and 
plenty of crushed charcoal in a shallow 
box should be supplied. 
Brooper CHIoKs, 
In the case of chickens to be raised in 
a brooder or foster-mother, great care 
has to be taken that the birds get all 
their needs supplied. The first of these 
is warmth, On being removed from the 
incubator after being thoroughly dry. 
they are often’ left in the brooder for 
fifteen or twenty hours; the brooder 
should be heated in readiness for the 
birds. The general rule is to run the 
brooder for the first week or so at about 
90 degs. Fahr., and gradually lower the 
temperature to 70 degs. in the third 
week. : 
STYLES OF BRoopERs. — 
There are numerous makes on the 
market, and most of those made by reput- 
able firms are doing good work. Any 
handy man, however, can construct a 
satisfactory brooder at a small cost. A 
very simple and effective brooder can be 
made by cutting an ordinary box about 
2 feet 6 inches square, and placing a false 
bottom in the box, and on the floor thus « 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
9 
Le SSS 
made, in the centre of the box, cut a hole 
large enough to allow, say, a small biscuit 
tin to go partly through, and place the 
lamp inside the tin, Punch a few holes 
to allow the heat to escape. Chicks will 
nestle aroun | the tin and be quite happy 
If too hot, the tin may be covered. The 
sides of the box must be ventilated. 
Very successful brooders are used with- 
out any lamp, aud have only wool strips 
cut and tacked across the top of the 
brooder, aud just long enough to nestle 
down ou the backs of the chicks. I have 
also seen a sheepskin tacked down, and 
the chickens cuddled under it perfectly 
happy. 
RuNNING THE BRooDER. 
The floor of the brooder should haye a 
layer of sand covered with chaff as bed- 
ding. This also makes splendid scratching 
material for the first few days. 
FEEpine, 
The same formula can be used as 
directed above. Everything must be 
kept within reach of the chicks —viz., 
crushed charcoal, grit, water, etc. 
Numper or Birps To 4 Brooper. 
It is never advisable to run more than 
forty or fifty chicks, as allowance must 
always be made for their growth. The 
brooder that is just large enough to hold 
sixty chicks a week old will not be nearly 
large enough in three weeks, Breeders 
often overlook that fact, 
Generat Norges FOR EITHER THE 
Fosrer-mMorHer or Hen, 
Chicks should be kept growing from 
the shell up ‘There should be no check 
to their growth, and time lost at the 
beginning is never caught up. It is the 
first few weeks’ care that decides the 
future condition of your birds. Be regular 
in feeding, particularly with brooder 
chicks. If you cannot give the birds 
regular attention, use a_ self-feeding 
hopper and a drinking fountain ; the 
Birds will then be ablo to help them- 
selves. 
The whole success of your venture 
depends on the handling of the young 
stock, 
Cleanliness is absolutely necessary in 
coops and brooders; they must be cleaned 
regularly and often. 
A Farm Yard Detective, 
What the Trap-nest Does 
Tt shows just what each hen is doing, 
Perhaps a few hens of the flock-lay most 
of the eggs. It picks these out and iden- 
tifies the 300-egg hen, the 200-egg, the 
100-egg, the 50-egg, and the drone, and 
- thus enables the poultryman to choose 
his stock and build up a good laying 
strain in a verz short time, Feeding the 
drones is one of the greatest leaks with 
the poultrymaa., 
It picks out the winter layers. A hen 
may lay well in the spring and summer, 
but stop when winter comes. With the 
trap-nest a good strain of winter layers — 
may be built up. 
It enables one to get acquainted with 
each individual hen. The frequent hand- 
ling in removing the hen from the nest 
tames her, and it is the tame hen that is 
the paying hen, By frequent handling, 
the bréeder will know when anything 
goes wrong with the hen, and remedy it. 
It prevents egg-eating, as the egg-eater 
is easily detected and killed. The infre- 
quent handling and removing from the 
nest discourages broodiness. : 
It picks out the hen that lays the white 
egg, the yellow egg, the unfertile egg. 
It may be that two or three hens of a 
flock lay most of the unfertile eggs, as 
has been proved by the trap-nest. 
It picks out the hen that raises the 
best chicks. Not always the highest- 
scoring hen raises the winning chicks. 
With the trap-nest a breeder can study 
the results of his matings with each hen. 
He may have a pen of ten hens; and all 
the advantages of a pen of one hen, The 
trap-nest is the only practical way that a 
breeder can pedigres his stock. The day 
is surely coming when poultry will be 
pedigreed as is other thoroughbred stock. 
While most breeders prefer the incu- 
bator to the sitting hen, the trap-nest 
comes as a boon to him who has the care 
of sitting hens, They may-be placed in 
a building or yard away from the laying 
hens, removed once a day for feed and 
water, and when they return to the nest 
they shut themselves in and the other 
hens out, so they cannot crowd on and 
break the eggs. 
Trap-nests have come to stay. They 
have been tested, and their value demon- 
strated. The progressive breeder is wel- 
coming them with delight as a most 
valuable aid in improving ihs flock, and 
the time is not far distant when he who 
does not use-them will have very little 
demand for his stock, 
Half the failures in incubating dusk 
eggs are caused by insufficient airing. 
Tvo many amateurs are afraid to keep 
the egzs out a minute after turning. As 
a matter of fact, in normal seasons, the 
eggs can be aired twice daily, for a quarter 
of an hour the first week, twenty to thirty 
minutes the second, thirty to forty the 
third and fourth weeks till the twenty- 
fifth day, Put in your moisture at this. 
this stage, and keep the machine closed 
till they start to chip, Replenish the 
water quickly, and close up again.—‘ New 
Zealand Farmers’ Weekly,’ 
Egg-eating Dogs. 
To cure a dog of eating eggs, draw the 
contents of two or three eggs by making 
holes in both ends, and fill in with a 
paste of some kind containing a little red 
pepper. Do not practise cruelty on the 
young brute by using a large quantity of 
pepper—a very little will suffice to give 
him a poor opinion of eggs as diet fora 
dog. Another good plan is to draw the con- 
tents of the egg, pat some strong liquid 
ammonia into it, and close hermetically. 
The dog who cracks this egg will never 
crack another. The dose, moreover, wlil 
do him no harm, d 
