Evening star., 1919-03-30

All successful chick feedlnS, no
matter what the plan. is based upon
well established principles In the
natural course of growth the body
requires certain known food Sub
stances. for the repair of broken
down tissue. for the making of new
tissue and for the creation of body
heat and energy. Furthermore. these
food substances are required in GER
, tain definite proportions. and how
best to meet these requirements is
the problem OF the poultry feeder.
When the newly hatched chick is
first taken from the incubator II
should be fed no solid food, as 1t has
within it's body cavity sufficient ma
terial to furnish all the needed nour-
ish ment for period of at least sew
enty hours. This food material con
sists of the unused portion of the
yolk of the egg, incased in thin.
mem braneous sac. which is drawn
, into the chicks body few hours be-
fore the chick is ready to leave the
shell and is absorbed gradually and
directly into the blood and thus dis
| tributed throughout the body IT is
because of this food supply stored up
by nature that it is possible for us
to ship newly hatched chicks thou
sand miles or more by mail and ex-
and apparently without harmful ef-
fects.
Solid food should not be fed until
the chicks are from forty-eiGht to
sixty hours old bat liquid in the form
of milk should be given as soon as
; they are put in the brooder. Messrs.
kirkpatrick e. Card of Storrs. Conn.
recommend the dipping of the beak
of each chicken into sour milk until
G turn "a 1
is being taken from the incubator.
In some instances milk is the only
drink furnished the chicks until they
are from ten days to two weeks old,
and milk are kept before the chicks
some of them would be likely to drink
only the water.
This may be true, but it is open to
question. I do not think that We have
reached the point where we have suf-
ficient data to justify us in with
holding all pure water from young
chicks. l would suggest that where
milk for drinking purposes is sup
piled in large quantities it would be
we'll to put it in galvanized iron or
stoneware drinking fountains and
morning hours. and in the afternoon
furnish a supply of fresh water along
with the milk. or the milk may be
taken away. / have for many years
practiced the feeding of wet mash. or
a mixture of ground grain products
mixed with milk, and have given the
little chicks less milk to drink. BY
this method the milk is evenly dis
tributed among the chicks and there
Is less of that sticky condition OF
the plumage caused by the down and
feathers coming in contact with the
more or less sticky fluid.
Without doubt, milk is one of the
most valuable feeds for young chicks
of all available foodstuffs, not merely
because of the quality and character
of it's digestible nutrients. but be-
cause of other factors, the presence
of which have only lately been dis
covered.
OF course. it has been known for
many years that young animals and
growing fowls grew rapidly when
fed milk. and slowly when milk was
lacking; but it was not until two
years ago that DR.. McCullom. then
chemist at the University of Wiscon-
sin and at present with the Johns
Hopkins University at Baltimore. in
the course of his Investigations made
the discovery that in the butter fat
of milk there is round certain prin-
ciples which in the feed stimulate
or promotes growth, and without
which growth ceases. Fortunately for
US these principles, 9lled vitarnines,
are also present in quantities in the
yolk fat of the egg, and in the leaves
Of certain grasses and growing plants
and most abundant in the plants of
the clover family. but are not found
to any appreciable extent in the
grains or vegetables. and this fact
should be kept constantly in mind
when feeding young chicks
Growth must be constant and nor
NAL. Anything in the feeding or the
care which retards the growth Of
and chickens or fowls of low vitality
are never profitable. Therefore, see to
it that the foodstuffs are so mixed
and so fed that only chicks of the
greatest strength and vigor will be
grown. and it is absolutely necessary
that the growth-promoting principles
be present in the ration
The first solid food should consist
of fine commercial limestone chick
grit scattered around over pieces of
cardboard placed just outside the
hover curtain. The bright particles
of them Immediately begin to eat it.
and others hearing the noise of the
peeking of the bills on the paper fol-
low their example.
A rev, however, may remain under
the hover which makes it necessary
hover curtain and force outside any
chick that may be there. Grit is an
aid to digestion and must be sup
piled to chicks kept indoors, either
in the form of commercial crushed
stone or coarse sand. The former is
gizzard. which. is then prepared for
the coming of the nutrients. The
function of grit is said to be three
fold; it supplies mineral matter which
iS necessary for the proper growth of
the body; it helps to grind the food
chanical condition of the partly di-
gested food, permitting a more eff
fective action of the digestive juices.
Grit must be before the chicks con-
stantly scattered about in the litter,
or it may be fed at intervals mixed
with the cracked grains and after the
In an open box or hopper. IT scat
tered in the litter the chicks will haye
more incentive to work, and work
is vital to the continued health and
vigor of the chick. Grit is sometimes
sold as constituent of certain com i.
then has to pay from 3 to 4 cents a
pound for the same thing that. if
purchased separately. would cost him
from one-half to l cent.
There IS nothing better FOR the hrst
real feed than rolled oats. broken
into smaller bits by rubbing between
the palms of the hands. After the
first two or three feelings this break
ing of the, particles will not be nee
essary. With the oats should be
mixed a little bran, consisting of
about one-fourth the mixture. and it
should all be scattered like the grit
on the cardboard; after a day or two
the cardboard may be dispensed with
in order to get the chicks to scratch
ing In the litter as soon as possible.
The second feeding consists of oats
and well cooked egg. fed in long,