The Washington herald., 1919-04-26

compartment should be carefully
cleaned. brushed and scraped. The
old material should be removed and
replaced with new material
II there are any bad odors. It is
well to remove their causes, and
disinfect carefully and thoroughly.
Each day look under the hovers
and remove the little fellows who
have fallen by the wayside, always
remembering that they will do
| more good to the others on the out
side rather than inside.
An occasional dusting OF the
chicks with insect powder will help
wonderful in keeping down lice and
making the chicks contented.
Lousy chicks can never prosper
and IL Is true that lice kill chicks
more frequently than the chicks kill
\ the lice. So what's the use IL you
don't kill the lice?
While brooders are made in all
sizes for the accommodation of
chicks we are of the opinion that
colonies of twenty-five or fifty
chicks will do better than larger
/ colonies.
! Crowding Is to be avoided at all
times, as the evils of overcrowdinE
are many and the losses are great.
1t Is good to remember that the
weaker chicks have small chance in
SO large a company.
When brooders are overcrowded
there are great variations in tenn
perature, and the atmosphere be-
| comes loaded with foul air, endan-
gering doubly the lives of the
chicks.
people these things are called care
lessness and bad judgment. but II is
really murder of the chicks by the
suffocation route.
Chicks should be induced to exer-
else without restrain-they must
play to be healthy. Exercise is q
safety valve to a chicks existence,
and there is little danger of a chick
having too much exercise.
Activity Is second nature with
young chicks and to keep their
warm blood circulating properly,
they must be constantly at It.
Scattering cracked grain, grit and
granulated bone in the litter on the
floor of the brooder will help keep
heads and lettuce leaves for them to
jump at is also an excellent idea
for exercising them. and at the same
time 1t will supply them with the
/ necessary green foods.
] 1t Is a pretty scene OF activity
when the greens are disappearing.
Green foods help to balance the
diet of chicks. and they need an
abundance and variety of green
feeding stuffs. Sprouted oats is a
superior green food and when pos
sible It should be fed to the chicks.
1t Is a live green food that is most
nourishing and highly relished by
the chicks.
The oats should be fed when the
sprouts are short and tender. Don't
keep them in the sprouter too long
for fear of getting sour, musty, or
mouldy. Care must be taken in
keeping them sweet and the sprout-
er clean.
Potatoes and othef raw vegetables
are excellent as a change in diet.
when fed in conjunction with the
grain feed. at least once a day.
Boiled rice. cooked and seasoned
with a little salt. pays when fed to
the young chicks.
Animal food for supplying the anil
NAL protein to the food Is not only to
be recommended, but is a necessity.
Pure beef scraps. animal meal, gram
ulated raw bone, fresh fish and meat
boiled and chopped fine, and SKINNED
milk are the chief mediums for sup
plying the animal food for chicks
raised artiflcially in brooders.
This class of food to the brooder
chick is the same as the worms. bugs
and other insects the chicks forage
upon when at liberty with the mother
hen.
Do not feed too literally the animal
food. as diarrhoea may be the result.
The other things necessary for feed
ing chicks may be mentioned as small
sized grit, coarse sand. finely crushed
oyster shell, and granulated dry bone.
Without these or their equivalents the
foods are wasted. as the chicks have
no means of grinding and digesting
their food.
Water. and plenty of It, f. needed
at all times. Fresh, pure water. used
in fountains or other suitable contain
ers, Is needed from the time the
youngsters are a few hours old.
When the weather Is very warm the
water should be changed a couple
times a day. Il Is so good to provide
this necessary drink to the chicks.
The successful feeding Of brooder
chicks depends upon many things that
should be carefully planned and well
thought out, before the work of feed
ing is begun.
The proper food is to be recon-