Ripley County democrat. (Doniphan, Mo.) 1905-1920, 1913-05-02
Feeding The Baby Chicks.
By 7. & Quisenbssry, Of Nhsoafs stats Paul.
try Experiment. station.

yards each season. AZ q result,
the loss in eggs and labor in
hstching Is tremendous. Much
of this is due to improper meth.
DDS OF feeding and can be avoid
cd. The newly hstched chick is
q very tender and frsil little orea.
turs just after having picked his
way from the shell. The comfort
Of the chicks, and the feed given
them are the two maiu things
which will mean your success or
failure, and these are the two
things which require your most
careful consideration at this time.
See that they are comfortable.
not to the extent that you nurse
them, but they must be kent rea.
sonably warm, dry and active.
Some Of the mistakes In feed.
ing are those Of feeding too soon
after being hatched, feeding too
freely. feeding sloppy food,
feeding too much corn,
feeding commercial grit a.
the start instead OF sand, feeding
other ingredients which should
not be ueed at the very begin
ming. These and similar mis-
takes tend to irritate the diges.
tive organs and intestinal tract.
Such practices often result in the
chicks having diarrhes. The
chicks become dumpish, get out
Of condition and die rapidly.
During the past two years, we
have tried out several methods
Of starting baby chicks. II you
are troubled with diarrhea Of any
kind, Or lack OF vitality, or slow
growth. then try the following
plan. It has been one of the
most successful plans OF feeding
baby chicks which we have ever
used.
We sprinkle a little clover chaff
or fine cut STRAW or clean litter,
free from must anj mold, over
the foor OF the broodsr or hover
before the chicks are placed in it.
We provide o small fountain OF
pure water. The chicks are not fed
for forty .eight hours or more af.
ter they are hatched. Don't feed
too soon. Give the chicks time
to sssirnilate the yolk OF the egg
which contains enough food to
last them several days.
Begin by feeding q mixture OF
two -thlrds rolled oats and one
third wheat bran mixed with a
small amount OF charcoal. This
is fed on a clean board or paper
four or five times q day and only
9 email quantity fed at a time.
We remove the feeding board af.
ter she chicks are Though eating.
Clssn sand is given about the
time the Grst feed is given, and
no grit is given before. We think
sand is better to start chicks with
than commercial grit, II 1t can be
secured. snd IL not. then use fine
commercial grit very sparingly
until chicks are at least ten days
old. After the chicks are q week
old, we begin to add little com.
mercial chick feed to the above
mixture and gradually increase
this until the rolled oats and bran
are eliminated from the first or
grain feed. At this age. we also
begin to feed . dry mash, the
mash being made by mixing the
following:-
One part Wheat Bran,
One part Cora Meal,
One part Shorts,
one-half par. Alfalfa Neal, =.
One third part Rolled Oats or oat-
We add one-half pound of very
fine salt to each 100 pounds Of
the above mixture, sad also add
> small quantity OF dry besf
scraps. After the chicks are Q
week old,the grain mixture should
be thrown into . fne clean litter
or worked into fresh soil 30 the
chicks will be compelled TO eyer