Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1915-04-21
CARE OF CHICKS

CAKE OF CHICKS
This is an old subject, yet new with
every spring. When do you hatch
chicks? How should we brood them I?
Which is the best feed /? etc. etc: and
a little later: What can we do To pre-
vent white diarrhoea?
After years of experience, we have
come To the conclusion that the secret
of raising baby chicks lies not only in
the Matching, brooding or feeding, but
in instinct The successful chick
grower apparently follows schedule
identical with one who does not have
success with chicks but he follows his
schedule on time. The successful
breeder looks after his incubator at
practically the same time each day;
he trims and cleans his lamp on time;
he is alert To the slightest change in
outside temperature and manages his
incubator accordingly. He covers his
iirelesS brooder or turns up the lamp
of his lamp brooder before the chicks
feel the effects of a fall in tempera-
ture. lie keeps supply of the food
the chicks are accustomed to on hand,
and does not hurriedly substitute a
new food, or make sudden changes i'm
the rations. "Iie is a successful chick
raiser because he is half hen" lady
said of her husband and. indeed, one
needs the lowering, brooding instinct
to do the work of the old hen. The
poultry breeder who instinctively feels
changes, and looks ahead is usually
successful
Hatch chicks whenever the eggs
are strongly fertile, provided you are
N IN fnt hat, NJ
son; brood them in any way that is
most convenient for you, and COM
Portable for the chicks. We would just
as soon hatch with the incubator as
with hens; rather. if we have many to
hatch; but we prefer To give the
chicks TO hens to brood i'm early spring
because it is less trouble. When the
season is warm enough for chicks TO
run out on the grass as they like we
like the brooder as well as the hens.
The advance OF hens with the early
chicks is that they call the chicks to
them; they instinctively know the way
10 the hen, while they might lose
themselves with the brooder. Even
when snow must be scraped away 10
make a runaway for the chicks. we
prefer to get them on the ground We
nave never bttil siblt " Nllt btSN
OF chicks on "a brooder floor; they
must get out in the fresh air and on
the ground, to do we'll
Irregularity with chicks during the
incubation or broodinG is very bad for
them; they form habits quickly, espe-
cially the eating habit and the habit
of piling up. Take a bunch of chicks.
keep them warm enough so that they
spread out. making "A downy carpet
over the brooder iioor. with heads out
from under the hover blanket, ana
they will never think of piling up.
But let a bunch Of chicks get chilled
soon after coming from the incubator
and they will form the piling-up
habit. and crowd under one another
no matter what the temperature
Nothing is more ruinous to the
chances for fine chicks than this
practice. White diarrheoa often dates
from the first chill. 1t may be the
chill came early in the chicks life
possibly before Matching; perhaps
when it was being removed from the
incubator Through the first 0 days
every precautiOn must be
taken TO prevent chilling. Keep them
warm, and keep soft. deep litter on
the floor TO absorb the first droppings.
These are the first two rules Of inn
portance in taking care Of chicks