The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1908-04-03
Brooder Chicks.


thoroughly good brooder is necessary,
and to get this you must pay good
price-$12 to SIS. There are cheap
err ones, of course, but they are mere
| death traps, and it is false economy
| to buy them. Then, again, you brood
er (if an outdoor one) must be set
where the sun can have access to it.
Place it facing south to secure this.
Rats are a source of great loss to
poultry raisers, and to keep them out
| of the brooder is next to impossible
| IL the brooder sets fiat on the ground.
Costly experience has taught me that
the brooder must be raised at least a
! foot from the ground on legs; this
| gives the rats no chance, and also
makes it more convenient to attend to
the brooder lamp. If your brooder
| has not bottom (and most of them do
mott nail thin boards use ceiling
across the bottom to make it alright,
and then nail legs to it. Matched
stuff (what carpenters call tongue and
groove) should be used to shut out
lamp, but cause roup among the
chicks.
Having placed your brooder prop
er1y put clover hay, cut short, in it.
for the chicks to scratch in; this also.
gives them seed to eat. Sand is also
a good covering for the brooder floor,
but it has the disadvantage of acquir-
ing and holding dampness, and this is
one Of the great causes Of death to
little chicks. The brooder should be
heated up at least three days before
the chicks, are put into it,. so, as to
dry it thoroughly. .
Another point: Do not crowd too
many chicks into brooder. If you
are running a 120-egg incubator get.a
20O-chick brooder; run two incuba-
tors and have five brooders. Fifty to
sixty chicks in a. 200-chfck brooder is
q. life insurance policy for the little
fellows !,
Get the best oil you cannot the
most expensive, necessarily, but an oil
which will not smoke. Keep the lamp
wick cleaned by scraping off the
charred portion every day when. you
will fill the lamp Put new wick in
II once a week-wieks are cheap and
good deal depends on them.
Now you are ready to transfer: your
chicks from the incubator to, the.
'brooder. After they are thoroughly,
dry take each one in your hand and
pinch off the, hard crust which is at.
taehed to the end of each ones beak.
Have basket at hand filed with
straw, and covered with a cloth, and
as you pinch its beak place each one
Ia the basket and keep the cloth over
them. The brooder should be ready
for them now-and now place your
chicks in it, being careful not to ex-
pose them to cold or draft while MAX
ing the transfer. NJ
They now get their first meal For
the first two days feed them hard
boiled eggs and cracker crumbs mixed
dry-do not wet the mixture. E'keep
the infertile eggs from the incubator
for this very purpose. Feed them.
this four times day, giving them just
enough water to satisfy them while
they eat, and then remove the water.
Do not give them water in a saucer or
any vessel into which they can put
their feet; if they get wet they will
die sure. Keep up this method of
feeding for three days; on the morn
ing of the fourth day give them chick
teed-a mixture specially prepared
for this very purpose, which can be
bought at stores which deal in poultry
supplies. Keep plenty of fine grit
before them all the time now, also
fine charcoal (the latter prevents that
most prevalent disease, bowel trou-
BILE, which kills more chicks than all
others combined). Feed them also
little cut alfalfa, and also a little
lettuce or young onions, top and all,
chopped fine. This method of feed
ing will carry them along till they
are three weeks. old, when give them
also little beef scraps three or four
times a week, but be, careful not to
give them more than they will eat up
clean, else bowel trouble and death
will result.
Clean the brooder out thoroughly
every other day, and put in fresh
clover or the. sweepings from the barn
loft where clover or alfalfa is stored
If your brooder has a Wire front
you can open the outer door during
the warmest part OF the day, as Gods
blessed sunshine is good for all
things, and especially for little chick.
ens., Keep them in the brooder until
they are two months old. and then
they may be allowed to run out in the
brooder yard--nnt with grown chick