Poultry for profit

by R. A. Power

After two weeks or more of this kind of feed, it is well to supplement this ration with a dry mash. A dry mash is a feed composed of ground feeds, that require no work on the part of the bird to grind. Feeds like wheat bran, ground oats, corn meal, etc., are good examples of such feeds. Wheat bran is especially well liked by these young birds, and it is recommended that they be allowed to have this as a large part of their dry mash. This feed should not be fed in the litter, as the cracked grains, but placed in some such container as a pan, or better still, in a regular feed hopper. It can readily be seen that if this finely ground grain was scattered in the litter, it would be largely lost and wasted. Also, if put in a pan, the pan must be low enough to be accessible to the birds, and covered over in such a manner that the chicks will not get in and walk around in it. A homemade hopper can be easily built, so that the chicks can just get their heads in, and no more. Do not forget that the sour skim milk or buttermilk must be fed all this time. In fact, this part of the feed should be fed right through the bird’s life, as it supplies the animal protein, which is so necessary to the proper development of the bird’s growth.

Now, then, just a few more words in closing this chapter on brooding. We should aim to toughen the birds up as quickly as possible, so that when they are about two months old, no artificial heat will be necessary, and if the birds are of a late hatch, this can be accomplished much sooner. Encourage them to get out of doors as quickly as possible, and to get green feed.

A very serious cause of death among young chickens is from disease. White diarrhoea is probably one of the most common of these diseases, and unfortunately, one of the most fatal. If the droppings are of a white, watery nature, with an offensive odor, you may well believe that this disease is present, and the thing to do is to get the birds thus affected out of the way at once, and disinfect with some good disinfectant. However, if the precautions are taken that are set forth in this booklet, no danger of this dreaded disease can be anticipated.

Now that we have got the chicks along through the brooding period, let us next consider just how we shall raise these chicks to maturity, so as to get them ready to lay eggs, or to make a good meat carcass.

CHAPTER VI.
REARING CHICKS TO MATURITY.

One of the chief things to remember in raising young chicks to maturity is that we must keep them growing at all times. A check in their growth will retard their growth severely, and this must be avoided by the one that wants his chicks to get into winter laying condition before the cold weather comes. We will now consider a few important factors that are necessary to bring our chicks along to rapid growth.

Of course, where free, unrestricted range is possible, the chicks will progress faster than when cooped up in a small yard. If no free range is possible, it will be found advantageous to at least let the chicks run about the yard of the lot. In this manner, they can pick up considerable food in the shape of worms, insects, etc., that will furnish valuable growing food for them. Let me repeat again the necessity of having milk in some form as a constituent of the chicks’ food. Any food that comes from an animal, whether it be milk or a part of the animal itself, is highly essential to the growth of the chick. Such foods contain an element known as vitamines, which scientists have recently discovered contribute greatly to the growth and upkeep of a growing animal. Vitamines are also found to some extent in green feeds, such as carrots, cabbages, mangoes, etc. Even well cured alfalfa hay contains this important element. It is quite obvious, therefore, that if the chicks are out roaming around the yard or range, they not only secure the exercise that is necessary for their proper development, but they also pick up insects, as has been mentioned, and considerable green feed, such as grass, weeds, and various other odds and ends.

If a fair sized lot or range is to be had, then it will be found a great aid to make a little house for the chicks to live in during the nights on the range, although care must be exercised that they be protected from enemies, such as rats, crows, skunks, weasels, owls, etc. Such a house need not be expensive at all if it be made out of an old packing box that will protect the chicks from rain and enemies.

Another quite essential feature for the promotion of the maximum growth of the chicks during the warm summer months is the provision for shade. If there are some trees about the yard or range, this will answer the purpose satisfactorily, but if there are no trees where the chicks roam, then some artificial shade is advised. Some people plant corn for this purpose, allowing the chicks to range among the corn plants when the corn has grown sufficiently high. The chicks will not harm the corn, so two ends can be accomplished by this means. Others provide this shade by gathering old brush together and making an artificial shade in this manner. During the hot days of summer, the chicks will suffer from the heat to a marked degree if exposed to the hot rays of the sun. An ideal method used on many farms is to place the chicks in the orchard, where there is an orchard, and let the chicks roam in the shade of the orchard trees.

Where birds are necessarily confined to a small yard, one method that has been worked out satisfactorily, is to fence the yard off into two or more divisions, and to plow up the land. Then various crops can be sown at different intervals, so that when one range, or division, is consumed by the chicks, they can be turned into another division where the forage crop is up and ready to be consumed. As soon as the chicks are turned out of the first lot, this lot can be immediately plowed up again, and some more seeds planted, so that this range will be ready for the chicks when the second lot furnishes no more nourishment for them. It might be added here that many town flocks of full grown birds are maintained, by this very system, and it has worked out very nicely. Such grains as buckwheat, rye, oats, peas, and soy beans are all excellent crops to sow in this manner, using oats and peas for the first crop, because they mature quicker than the other crops mentioned.