The Florida agriculturist., 1908-03-01
Management of Young Chicks.
By C.. H. Lane.

gives us COnQ1C1OnS lot successfully
Matching and raising chicks; advan-
tages not possessed by Our Northern
friends, who are yet in winter quarters,
while here the warm, bright sunshine
Of January, February, March and
April makes these months ideal, in
starting the baby chicks on life's jour
ney.
It is the early Matched that are most
profitable Some do not realize the ad-
vantages gained by Matching early.
To these, we might say: Instead OF
the early bird catching the worm," It
is the ''early bird that catches the mon
ey, for its owners"
The chicks attain a good size before
the hot months come They mature
and lay in early fall when eggs COM
mence to go upward in price. The
pullets by fall are fully developed. The
cockerels are also at their best for
showing" and ready to mate.
Several prominent breeders of the
North, realizing the advantages of an
early start, are utilizing some of Our
abundant sunshine, by sending some
hundreds of their high-priced eggs to
be Matched and returned to them as
chicks when ten to fifteen weeks old.
Florida, with its climate, room, sandy
soil, and nearly always green food at
hand, should become one of the great
est producing states for poultry and
eggs.
During the past three months we
have Matched over a thousand chicks,
with comparatively no losses, and the
different punches Of healthy, hustling
chicks are very pretty sight.
[ have had many letters asking my
method of feeding and caring for the
little ones, which I am pleased to
answer in the columns of the Agri-
culturist, although there has been SO
much written on this subject, little re-
mains to be told. It is work full Of
detail which must not be neglected.
We must provide against the "1eaks,"
or losses will take the profits. These
same small '1eaks" cause many to be-
come disheartened with the poultry
business, and say there is no money in
it. They may do the Matching success
fully, but the great ttumbling-block
them the first few weeks. They droop
of a promising lot. Then the hen
comes trailing in with one short, etc.
Don't think [ haven't lost my share
in the past. I recall one afternoon
shower when I lost 10 from one lot,
and half an hour later, another shower
took Is more from the same lot.
Then, again, one night 200 little ones
were drowned by high water These
losses do not occur now, as I know
how to provide against them.
There may be "knack" of starting
chicks right. If so, it is easily ac-
quired with a little good judgment and
attention to details. If you hatch with
the hen, dust her we'll, place her away
from others, and after Matching, con-
fine her with chicks in a small yard
for the first two or three weeks. We
use A-shaped coops with slat fronts.
Hen and chicks are kept in bare sandy
pens at first, TOXIC feet. Later they
are given larger grass runs, with
shelters for protection against hawks.
The hen, controlled this way, will
raise them all, usually, and it will de-
pend on the fresh water and feed given,
how good they are. With broooers
the work is even less. Ours are out
door brooders, having a covered run
attached, sides open, with inch mesh
wire This shelter is about seven feet
long and width of brooder, the floor
being equal in height with the brooder
floor In this chicks spend their
first few days, and also bad rainy days.
Attached to this run is long yard
with inclosure to ground, half-length
lath being used for fencing and top
covered by two-inch mesh wire, to
protect against hawks.