The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1923-04-05


country. Do not try to care for
more than one breed on your farm
and take good care of that one breed.
And we must learn to produce on q
volume basis. l do not mean by
1000 pullets this year. Learn to
raise 100 hens and then increase
your flock gradually. Do 1t right,
and make it profitable as you 60.
Raising Baby Chicks.
Until you get to point where you
have good breeding stock and pretty
good equipment, and wish to raise
, chickens in large quantities, 1 would
suggest that you buy baby chicks.
1t will be cheaper for you to buy
! baby chicks than it will to hatch
them. 1t does not pay to hatch
chicks in small punches and your
hens should be laying. If you are
going to raise 500 pullets you will
probably want to buy about 1900
chicks. You can readily see that it
would require considerable incuba-
ton space to hatch them and unless
you are going into the baby chick
business you should buy your chicks
from some good hatchery. You
should then prepare for the chicks
before they arrive. Get the chicks
all at one time if possible and it is
best to get them about the first of
April or earlier. You should build
a regular brooder house. Forget
your notions and follow the plans
outlined by those who have tried out
the different kinds of houses. Be
sure that your brooder heats the
chicks from the top and not from
the bottom. 1t is natural for the !
heat to be on their backs and not on
their feet A brooder house should |
be properly built. A house for
1000 chicks should be 1892 feet,
partitioned in the middle, one warm
room and one cool room properly
ventilated. The light should be ad-
mitted from the north side of the
building. Do not admit the light
from the south side as This will
make SUN spots on the floor and the
baby chicks will crowd onto these
sun spots and smother themselves.
Put shades on the windows so that
you can darken the room and keep
it dark most of the time when the
chicks are very small so that they
will rest.
There is no type of brooder bet
ter than the canopy coal stove
brooder. The kerosene breeders are
fine but they are very expensive to
operate Personally I prefer the
Buckeye brooder l have used them
for years and l like them, but I have
every reason to believe that there
is a dozen others that are just as
good Get a soft coal brooder as
you cannot get the anthracite coal
here very well. If you will put a
little coke in you will get better re-
suits.
Before your chicks arrive be sure
that your brooder house is warm and
dry. Start it early enough so that
all the moisture will be taken off
the floor What the little chicks
need is warmth and rest. The next
lay, when they are about SO hours
Did, raise the hover and give them
warm water to drink. The floor of
he brooder should be covered with
Try sand Take a little oatmeal and
scatter it on the floor, not so much
to feed them, but just to teach them !;
% eat. I cannot tell you just how
much to use, you will have to use !
eeding judgment. / would say j:
hat for 500 chicks l would take a !!
handful of rolled oats and sprinklelt
t around the floor. If you have !;
,lenty of milk l would use milk in
stead of water. Let them pick at t;
he oats little while and then pull !;
Iown the blinds. so they will rest.
The second day they should be fed
i've times. But be sure they do ::
ot get too much and it is important !;
hat they do not overeat. The third
lay feed them little wheat grad !:
tally increasing the wheat day by
lay and on the sixth day set the /:
nash hopper before them one hour, n
he next day two hours and by the Il
9th day leave the mash before them II
III the time. In two weeks you II
hould have them on the grain feed Il
ntirely and eliminate the rolled Il
ats. Feed what oats you feed in ]:
he mash but do not overfeed on
ats. Oats builds muscle but it II
oes not build bone. If they are
ed too much oats their legs will get !:
veak. Feed them wheat and corn /;
yhen they are three or four weeks ]:
Id. Teach them to eat whole corn. !:
is not good practice to chop up
he feed for baby chicks. You should !:
aise them primarily on mash and !:
each them to eat the foods they /:
re going to get when they are
rown. Do not try to make them
at Feed them all the milk they Il:
ill take and feed it sour. If you
o not have it will give you a mash /;
)r them.
Mash for Growing Chicks. Il
pound bran, pounds oatmeal 81
cry fine, 4 pounds cornmeal, u =
ound powdered charcoal, I pound h;
eat meal or fish meal. (Be sure -
} take the eyes out of the fish meal
, they kill the baby chicks). Feed W
lem on this until they are seven Of
eeks old, then add one more pound M
meat meal and feed them until
ley are grown. You do not need tn
lie fish or meat meal if you have pl
ilk. pr
Move Chicks From BroOder to oil
Colony Houses. ca
When the chicks are old enough to fly
ave the brOOder house put them tn