Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-06-19
Next Winters Egg Yields De-
pend Largely Upon the
Proper Raising of the
Pullets; Correct Feeding
Is Essential
Weaklings Should Be Elimi-
mated From the Breeding
Flock, Which Should Be
Selected Now
BY DR.. Thomas j. Clemens
Practical Poultryman and Poultry
Editor.
COPYRIGHT, 1915.

1
The pouItryman who is to secure
largest profits from his flock next
winter must give his closest attention
to the development of the young stock,
so that they will begin laying early
and continue to lay when eggs are
high. In this article DR.. Clemens tells
how this object may be attained and
gives suggestions for the care of next
years breeding stock.
ITxTREME care is necessary in car
n ing for chicks during the grow
- ing season in order to secure
strong, productive stock. The chicks
should be kept in a healthy condition,
always growing and free from vermin.
! 1t must be recognized that proper
feeding is only one of the factors con-
cerned in the successful rearing OF
chicks. Proper Matching and proper
brooding are also of great Importance
| If strong, healthy flocks are to be
raised.
Sour and moldy foods are respons-
| ible for numerous losses every year,
and too great care cannot be taken to
see that all the foods to which the
chicks have access are free from any
trace of mold or fermentation.
Grains that have heated, though
they may not show any trace of mold,
are often injurious and should not be
fed. Soft foods which have been
mixed with water or milk sour quickly,
especially If exposed to the sun, and
should not be used if there is the
slightest trace of fermentation.
Throw Away Tainted Food
1t is a great deal more economical
in the long run to throw away tainted
| food than to take the chance of in
turing whole flocks of young chicks
by its use. Ali troughs or other uten-
sils used in feeding chicks should be
cleaned and scalded frequently and
kept scrupulously free from any trace
of mold or fermentation. Great care
| should be taken in the use of foods
which, while neither moldy nor sour,
are soiled by being trampled by the
\ chicks or mixed with soil or drop
pings. The danger of infection is such
that it is never safe to use foods that
are in this condition. Remember that
only the cleanest foods should be
placed before young chicks.
| There is practically no danger of
overfeeding chicks after they are three
or four weeks old and are running at
large. They should then be induced
to eat the largest possible quantity of
1000 In order to secure rapid growth
and development.
| A large proportion of the diseases
which affect young chicks is due to
improper feeding or to injurious foods.
Frozen vegetables, tainted meat or
any foodstuffs which are not In per-
feet condition are liable to cause sour
crop, inflammation of the crop or
stomach, and intestinal and liver dis
orders, including some forms of So
called white diarrhea."
| When chicks are out Of condition.
slight notifications in rations or meth
, DDS may result in correcting the tend
ency to disease. 1t Is much better to
protect the health of the chicks by
careful feeding than to resort to drugs
after diseased conditions have de-
veloped.
Boiled Milk and Rice Desirable
During early stages of the chicks
| life, when intestinal troubles are most
common. the use of boiled milk and
boiled rice will be of great assistanc ce
! in correcting any tendency toward
diarrhea or Inflammation. Boiled milk
should be given to drink, and boiled
rice should be supplied twice day in
place of the regular feed. Rice should
be boiled in a double boiler until II is
thoroughly cooked and as dry as pos
sible. When cold, any surplus rnois-
ture should be taken up by mixing II
with fine bran, secured by sitting or
dinary bran through a flour sieve and
discarding the coarser grade. Bran
itself has a decided tonic effect. and
the com bination of bran and boiled
rice will often check what might
| otherwise become a serious epidemic
of diarrhea. Charcoal also will be
found of great value in preventing this
trouble.
Where boiled rice and milk are not