The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-05-12


every day. Even poultrymen are
hardened to this terrible loss OF
chicken life, figuring philoSophically
that this is Just prodigal Mother
Natures raw, rough way, and moth
ing much could be done about It,
Some Of these babS chicks Just
starve to death because they never
learn to eat, Others get germs, bugs,
parasites and worms and die hor-
rible deaths of polysyllablic diseases
Some of the poultry specialists at
the Department OF Agriculture got
to worrying about this, rs n factor
contributing to the food shortage
Sharpening their pencils, they fig
ured that If the present terrible
infant mortality rates among baby
chicks could be reduced Just per
cent and II these chicks could be
| raised to maturity there might be
100 million more pounds OF chicken
to eat, and 200 million dozen more
eggs TO fry, Reducing this to per
capita basis, II would mean from
three to four more chicken dinners
and over u dozen more eggs Of every
man, woman and child IN the coun-
try per year, Considering the meat
scarcity that's something,
HYGIENE FOR CHICKS
The result Is this new government
program to do something eonSuuc-
tive about lcngthening the lives OF
MI these poor little baby chicks,
John Il, Mohlcr chief OF the
Bureau Of Animal Industry, has
picked n nice-looking young lelor
named GIN d, Carpenter-Dr Car
penter If YOU please - to be IN
charge OF the campaign, DR., Car
| penter Is what's known rs poultry
/ pathologist and he also has to lug
around the title Of Collaboration N
Poultry Viability, Viability means
liveabllity, so DIR. Carpenters job
really bolS down TO propagandi2ing
poultry r0isers into taking care OF
their sick chicks, nursing them TO
health and useful lives rs fine young
cockerels and laying hens who Will
help beat Hitler because food will
win the war.
II, in addition 10 or instead OF
Il Victory garden, you are going in
for little plain or fancy poultry
raising to exc out your food supplies
this year, you might be interested
IN some OF the steps proposed TO
recreaSe this chicken death rate,
Some OF them, like numbers six and
seven, even sound all right TO try
on the children.
|. Buy only quality chicks, Q,
Disinfect breeders and clean hen
houses, and move to clean ground
FOR each new brood. 3, Protect feed
and water containers. 4, Use q
deep, highly absorbent litter and
change the litter less frequently. s.,
Utilize sunshine and green grass, g.,
Protect from predatory animals. 7,
Separate sexes at an early age, 8
Burn or bury dead chicks daily, and
don't let the dogs get EN-, as that
spreads disease, 0. Get n good
diagnosis. 10, Watch particularly
for infectious bronchitis, round and
tapeworms and coccidosis. This
last Is microscopic parasite.
BABY PIG MORTALITY
What this Poultry Conservation
for Victory program, as it's called,
aims to do is set the pace for the
other food-animal industries. The
infant mortality among baby pigs,
for instance, is as high as it is for
baby chicks. If more baby pigs
could be brought to maturity, 1t
would mean Just that much more
bacon and ham, spareribs, jowls and
lard.
Incidentally, there being short
age Of stock feeds, one of the aims
OF the Bureau OF Animal Industry
is to distribute tables to show pig
gerry operators how to get the most
pork for the least amount of food
! There's more lean meat, say the
experts, in three 200-pound pigs
than there is in two 300-pound pigs
and it takes less feed to raise the
three 200-pounders than the two
300-pounders.
Nature sure is wonderful.