The progressive farmer., 1902-04-08
The Poultry Yard.
MANAGEMENT OF YOUNG CHICKENS.

emerging from the eggs, the hens
should not be disturbed unneces-
sarily. If the hens are quiet-and
no others should be allowed to set,
it is we'll TO examine the nest once
or twice, after some of the young
are out of the eggs, and remove the
empty egg shells, as they some times
slip over eggs that contain young
ones, which will inevitably cause
them 80 perish in the eggs unless the
shells are removed. They should be
allowed to remain in the nest until
they are from 36 TO 48 hours old,
when they should be removed TO a
coop. The coop should be open on
one side only the other sides and
| top should be boarded tight. They
should be placed in a dry situation,
on the south side of some building,
or close fence, or some other shelter
from the cold winds. The coop must
also have a bottom or be placed on
loose boards. The chicks should not
be allowed TO step on the cold, damp
ground, or they will become feeble
and die. Bottoms of boards in the
coop are indispensable to success in
raising early young chickens,
Matched between the beginning of
March and April. If they have a
dry, sheltered situation, where the
sun shines nearly the whole day,
and the bottom boards of the coops
are cleaned occasionally, young
chickens Matched in any month will
do very we'll, and comparatively few
will die. Later in the season, when
the ground has become dry and
warm, the bottom boards are not
necessary. Then the coops must be
frequently moved, as the bottom be-
comes filthy and unhealthy, causing
fee bleness and the gapes. But the
sunshine is always necessary. If de-
sirsble, after the young ones are q
few weeks old, the hens may be
allowed the run of the place during
the middle of the warm days after
the beginning of May, but not be
fore, and they must be always oooped
at night. The manner of feeding
and the kind of food are also of i'm.
pOrtRnce.
Besides plenty of food, they should
always have pure water in clean,
earthen vessels. This is of more
Importance than many suppose. We
frequently see the water put into
vessels half full of mud and the ex-
crements of the chickens. This will
invariably produce disease. Young
chickens should be fed at least three
times day five times is better for
quite young ones. Their capacity
for receiving food is very small when
quite young, and as they grow rap
idly, they require a considerable
quantity of food, hence they must be
fed frequently. The kind of food
must also be considered. We are
recommended by fowl fanoiers, and
in poultry books, to feed during Thea
first few days, the yolks of hard
boiled eggs, as the food most natural.
This is too expensive, except for
young chickens that sell for fancy
prices; besides we tried it when
breeding high-prioed fowls some
years ago, and could not see any
superiority in either hardness or
rapidity of growth, over those not
fed 80. We feed nothing but corn
from the time they are placed in the
coop until fit for the table. We
claim that this is a preventive of the
gapes We have been feeding moth
ing but corn for the last four years
TO young chickens and have not lost
single one from the gapes in that
time. We claim this discovery TO
be original with us, having never
se5n it in print. A great deal has
of late years been said in our agri
cultural journals and newspapers
upon this subject and it is generally
erted that the removal of the lit
tie red worms which are found in
the wind pipe, and which cause the
gaping, is an effective cure; but our
experience is that, although it
always gives temporary, and some
times, but not always, permanent
relief, it is an operation that is at
tended by considerable difficulty, and
must be performed with great care,
other wise more chickens will be
killed than cured. A great deal has
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