CARE OF YOUNG CHICKS.

As so few breeders seem to have any clearly-defined ideas as to the proper mode of caring for newly-hatched or growing chicks, and beginners are not only wholly at sea in this respect, but have no place to which they may turn and acquire the information that they have not yet been able to gain through experience (which is by odds the best teacher, as we are seldom able to profit by the experience of others), we have thought best to prepare a few distinct and common-sense instructions, which we have endeavored to render as full and explicit as possible, without being so tedious or complicated as to mislead in any way the novice.

To start with, there is one essential point in raising these delicate little creatures—care. Give them plenty of care, and they will thrive—proper care, we mean. There are three primary things to be guarded against in caring for very young chickens:

For the first week, perhaps, nearly every old hen is faithful to her little brood, and guards them with that maternal tenderness for which she has been made the symbol of motherly love. But this care soon wearies her, and in a few days she begins to neglect them, marching around in the chill and drenching rains of spring, and dragging her little brood after her through the damp grass, entirely oblivious of their sufferings; and one by one they drop off and are left behind, chilled through, or seized with cramp. Only the most persevering are able to keep up, until, perhaps seized with a pang of remorse, she spreads her wings and allows the little ones to find a temporary shelter beneath her warm feathers. Even the strongest often succumb to rheumatism and die after this dangerous exposure. This picture is not overdrawn; it is of common occurrence. A proper coop, therefore, for the hen and chicks, as soon as they are able to leave the nest is, and always will be, regarded as a necessity.

Vermin is the second evil to be guarded against. Examine the chicks carefully when first hatched, and should you find any lice on either them or the hen, let your first move be to rid them of these pests, which will else surely prove fatal to the young birds. Procure some Dalmatian or Persian Insect Powder, and dust them thoroughly with it until their tormentors are exterminated. And here let us recommend cleanliness in everything. The tender chicks cannot live in filth, which breeds disease more rapidly than anything else. Keep your coops clean, your houses clean, and your runs clean. It is a very important element of success—indispensable, in fact.

On the food depends in a great measure the growth and health of the chicks. Indigestible food avoid by all means. By indigestible we mean sloppy and dirty food, and that which is sour. The best feed at first is pure, sweet bread and milk, and hard-boiled eggs and bread crumbs mixed together and crumbled with the fingers. Let them always have access to plenty of pure water. Any form of grain is good for them as soon as they will eat it, and after they are a few days old they will thrive on cracked corn and oatmeal. As they get older whole wheat is an excellent growing food. Green stuff they should have constantly after they are a week old, and if it is too early in the season to give them grass, feed a little lettuce, clipped fine with scissors, at least once a day. At ten days of age they are ready to thrive on whole wheat as they will on nothing else. Give them plenty of bone now, and never let your efforts flag to keep them growing. When the chicks are fully feathered the many dangers which constantly beset the lives of the youngsters are usually safely passed, and, barring all accidents, it is pretty safe to suppose that they will now pull through.

Nine out of every ten breeders then breathe a sigh of relief, and settle down to a quiet summer, or leave home. The tenth breeder is sharper. He not only stays at home, but he redoubles his attentions to his young flock. He realizes that now is the time when these future prize winners demand all the care which he can bestow to keep them growing finely. And he is right. It won’t do to slack up now. They need a different kind of care. From endeavoring to keep the breath of life in the little things, he changes his attention to a system of judicious feeding, calculated to keep them growing rapidly during the propitious summer weather. Alas, for the chick whom the cold weather catches half-developed and half-feathered! August, September and October are the finest growing months in the year, and those chicks which now have a good start, if properly cared for and judiciously forced, will be the ones to make a fine showing at the next winter’s exhibitions. In growing they need plenty of bone meal and oyster shells, and an occasional supply of fresh meat, if worms are not plentiful. Do not force them too much, as in Hamburgs it induces the comb to lop and grow to an undesirable size. Again let us recommend plenty of pure, cool water, and vegetable food in quantity. Little attentions are never thrown away, but will be amply repaid in time in a vigorous, large and healthy flock of fowls.