The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-29

I and runs of the usual size. But after they I get out on the range they may be per- mitted to help themselves at will, as the constant exercise will ward off any dan ger of overlooking.
 | Deep-Litter Feeding l In many instances the attendant finds
 it impossible to feed his baby chicks at | frequent intervals. This is especially true | in the case of "side line" poultrymen, who are kept away from the plant the entire day by other business. Such may adopt the automatic feeder, choking down
 the grain outlet so that the chicks will
 be kept constantly busy securing the amount of grain they require. Or the | deep litter method of feeding may be fol-
 lowed. Under this plan a comparatively large amount of feed is buried in several | inches of fine litter. The feed is always | available to any chick that will dig for 1 it, and. again, the exercise offsets the danger.
 I As previously intimated. 1t is sound ! practice to furnish a portion Of the grain | fed in the form of a ground mixture or | mash. There seems to be well founded opinion that more rapid growth may be secured by feeding this mixture in a moist 1 condition. but the majority of poultrymen I seem to prefer to use dry mash, since this | is at once safer and more convenient. An
 inexperienced feeder can very quickly
  | der heavy feeding of wet mash. The | same is true of dry mash also, but the danger is not nearly so great.
 There are many complete chick feeds l for sale on the market. and sometimes
 the question is asked whether it is best | to purchase such feeds or make the mix | ture at home. The writer pHefers the I former plan, because under average con
 ditions the home mixture costs as much or more than the purchased article, to say nothing of the extra trouble and labor | involved in the mixing.
 l Of course this refers to the finely | cracked chick grains. When the birds get | large enough to eat whole wheat and cracked corn there seems to be no good
 reason for buying these in combination. I The exception to this Is the small operator | who buys but 50 to 100 pounds of grain at l one time. In such cases only very small amounts of the various ingredients are | used. and when purchased in such quanti- ties the cost of the resulting mixture is decidedly high. Under such conditions the ready ration is preferable.
 | Fewer people buy complete mash mix lures, owing to the fact that the kind and | quality of the different ingredients can- 1 not be definitely determined. It must be admitted that unprincipled manufacturers
 can load finely ground feeds with poor
 materials However, there are many con l sCltfltlDuS HTIlS WHICH uSt dS iiluCu tdTo | in making up their mashes as their I cracked grain mixtures.
 l When selecting a chick feed-cracked l grains-the poultryman should make a | careful examination to see that everything I is right. This is done by spreading lib- eral handful of the mixture on a sheet of white paper and inspecting it in strong | light. A reading glass is 8 great help to this work. | There are several things to be con-
 sidered. The mixture should be all sweet | sound, clean, feed. Reject those which are dirty, moldy. full of weed seeds or
 loaded with grit. Dirty, moldy feed is re. | sponsible for many chick troubles. One l can get weed seeds enough without buy
 ing them. Grit can be purchased sepa-
 rately at a fraction of the cost of grain. Now. as to feeding methods. Keep the chicks without food for at least 4S hours
 after matching. This may seem rather harsh treatment but in reality it is knd-
 ness. Give time for the contents of the
 yolk-sac to be practically absorbed be- fore less suitable "baby food" is pro-
 vided.
 1 The first meal may consist of a small
 quantity of any of the special chick 1 starters, rolled oats or oatmeal, bread
 crumbs slightly dampened with milk or
 mixed with hard-boiled eggs These eggs
 should be ground up, shell and all. and | ture. A little chick grit, fine, clean and
 bright. should be supplied at the same l time
 Feed the early meals on clean board l or shingle, so that the chicks may pick 1t up readily, and see to it that all have
 an opportunity to eat.
 | Just a word regarding coarse sand and l find grit Some poultrymen make a prac- | tice of giving their chicks access to large quantities of this material before feeding them at all. Tn many cases this Is the cause of considerable loss since the hun gry youngsters often fill their crops and
 sometimes their intestines with this indi-
 gestible material. and death usually fol- lows.
 Add Cracked Grains
 l By the second day in the ,brooder a small amount of the cracked grains may
 be added, alternating with the oats or egg
 mixture The latter may be gradually