Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1911-06-20
Success with Poultry.

farm visited large poultry farm for the
purpose of getting new points on tnls
branch Of agriculture. He was fortunate
in talking with the owner, man VINO
has been particularly successful In poul-
try raising on large scale. This man
said to him: Everything depends up.
on the care of the young stock, and II
poultry raising ia worth doing at all, II
is worth doing well at the beginning.
Neglect the chicks and the mature fowls
will be stunted and backward in their
growth"
The logic of this mans assertion has
been demonstrated many times over In
our own experience of poultry raising.
Any neglect of the fowls in the early
stage means just so much less in returns
at the end and so the extra trouble Is
worth while. There are many advocates
of the anti-hest system for young chicks,
but the disadvantage of this method Is
the retarding Of growth from the start.
The natural instinct Of the mother hen
is to protect her young from the cold'
and Nature can be relied upon to guide
us Alright in our course with young
chicks. That chickens have been raised
by this new method even in very cold
weather should not be taken to mean
that 1t Is the better way. There are
children living in city tenements, cold in
winter and hungry most of the time,
who grow up to be men and women, but
not so sturdy as il they bad been raised
under more favorable conditions.
One man who has observed the results
- rty,rp oh oh xx,if hnof that
they feather quite as quickly as with
heat but that his experience has been
that their gain in flesh and sinew Is
slower, and therefore he considers 1t
false economy to dispense with artificial
heat.
1t is a mistake, moreover, to econo-
mize in time in the early stages Of the
work. 1t is better to feed often and
little than to gorge the young chicks
with an oversupply when their digestive
organs are weak.
Guarding against disease is another
important consideration in profitable
poultry raising, Going over poultry
farm few years ago with the owner,
was surprised to see dead chicks lying
around in different brooders. What a
menace to the rest of the flock, and how
unconcernedly the man viewed the mat
ter! 1t was not strange that in short
time he abandoned the poultry business
with the conclusion that poultry didn't
pay.
Uuceasing watchfulness, then, is the
key to success in poultry raising. No
matter how We may start, with possibly
modern equipments of every sort, if the
details are neglected We must
expect to fail. On the other hand, with
the crudest outfit but with judicious at
tention to the work much can be done.
An almost casual glance into each brood
er each morning will give the discerning
an insight into the general
condition of his flock that will prevent
any such disaster as have cited. A
chick that is ready to die separates him
self from his mates and is easily dis
even among many. The
others will jostle him about and he will
stand weakly, with dropping head, top
pling at the slightest touch. Such a
fowl should be removed at once and
killed. In only exceptional
cases can ailing chicks be restored to
health by separation from their mates
and especial treatment. In nine cases
out of ten it does not pay to give the
time to them. They either die or swell
the number of runts in the flock.
Another point in raising young chicks
is to keep those together that are more
nearly of the same size. In every flock
some will be slower of growth and, If
left with their mates Of larger size, will
not have an equal chance to get the feed.
Notice in flock Of young chicks how
the smaller ones are crowded out.
In warm weather the greatest care
must be taken to keep fresh water be-
fore the chicks at all times. / have
been in places where chickens were fed
generously but where water dishes were
either as dry as bone or so filthy that
no self-respecting chick would want to
drink from them. Cool fresh water in
the summer helps to bring the chicks
along to vigorous maturity. Such de-
tails as these are certainly worth the
trouble to any one interested in getting
returns later on.-Exchange.