Milford chronicle., 1926-04-02
FEBRUARY REPORT FOR
EGG LAYING CONTEST
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houses in which young chicks are to
be reared. These buildings should be
thoroughly cleaned and sprayed be-
fore the chicks are placed in them,
for comfort and cleanliness are the
secrets to successful brOoding. Thou
sands of chicks are killed or stunted
every year by being placed in brood
er houses that are cold and damp
and infested with disease germs.
If the brooder house has dirt
floor, the top layer of four to six
inches should be removed and dirt
replaced with dry soil from field
in which no chicks nave ever run.
In the case of wooden floors, the
walls and floors should be scrubbed
with boiling hot lye water, and a SO
solution of crude carbolic acid makes
an excellent spray for the inside OF
the houses where It is almost impos-
sible to reach with the lye water.
After the floor has dried, it should
be covered with a thin layer of sand
over which should be scattered some
finely cut straw or hay to serve as a
litter. The litter of sand should be
removed at the end of ten days, and
this process repeated every five days
until the chicks are eight weeks old.
The importance of summer green
food for the chicks is also empha-
sized by Mr. Palmer, who states that
the growing chicks must be provid-
ed with an abundance of tender, di-
gestible, green food if they are to
develop into strong and healthy pull
lets that will give profitable produc-
ton, throughout the coming fall and
winter. The type of house and the
kind of land each poultryman has
for the rearing of his chicks will de-
termine the question of green food.
The best way to furnish green
food is to have movable brooder
houses which can be changed to new
locations each year, thereby proVld-
ing the chicks with plenty of fresh
green crops, such as alfalfa, sweet
clover, or any of the grass crops.
For a limited range, however, and
where the brooder houses are sta
tiOnary, the ground should be div1d-
ed into three lots, and no chickens
should be allowed on these lots from
the time the pullets are removed III
the fall until the chicks are hatched
in the spring. Such crops as rye
rape. kale and oats are recommend
ed for sowing in limited range lots,
Those poultry raisers who must
keep their young stock confined 70
close quarters should turn their SOIL
in the fall, apply lime and seed the
ground to rye which can be used for
green food by the chicks early the
following spring. This grounu
should be plowed and reseeded tre-
auently during the summer to IN
sure a supply of green food for the
season.
For late spring and summer 1t Is
also advisable to plant such crops
as lettuce, kale, rape, swiss chard' OF
sorghum, in the garden or trucR
patch as a means of supplying the
chicks with green food at this time
of the year. One of Delaware's mos
successful poultrymen sprinkles MS
lawn during dry weather and uses
lawn clippings which he considers
as being worth at least SOU yeai
as a source of green feed for his
poultry. 80.
The statistical report of the egg
recAd study for the month OF FeO'
ruary is as follows: -,
Total number farms reporting-c-o,-1l0o:: 10:
Total number of pullets------z9,tSS ~
Average number eggs I pulleto!z..;; ~;
Total number of hens--------zU,o1 . % L. =
Average number eggs per hen--1O.'
Total number hens and pulIets m,
(mixed fiocks) ------------,----,Io, > 20, . .
Average number eggs per bird---l1'.
Fincl,s classified according to