OCR Text |
Show Brooding Period 'important to j Performance roultrymen should know and practice the fundamentals o successful suc-cessful brooding because low egg production, and other undesirable conditions are often the result of faulty brooding, Ralph S. Black-ham, Black-ham, extension poullryman at the Utah State Agricultural college, warns. Factors necessary for successful brooding are: a heating unit which will give adequate and contrill-able contrill-able heat, a constant supply of fresh air, a dry house free from floor drafts, sufficient floor space, a balanced ration, a working sanitation san-itation program, and strong, well-bred well-bred chicks. A house designed to keep chicks warm is the basic requirement of successful brooding of chicks. The house mutft ha-qe temperature regulation as varying tempera, tures result in an exceptionally large death rate among the chicks. A normal brooding temperature is 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Adequate floor space consists of one-half square foot per bird. The j ration for the chicks should con- tain 20 .per cent protein with a plentiful supply of vitamins A. D and G. These vitamins can be supplied by green alfalfa, milk and cod liver oils, Mr. Blackham says. A comparison of egg. production statistics for Utah and other states show that average production from 60 tested flocks was 160 eggs per bird a year in this state, while the average for the nation during the same period was 106 eggs per bird the United States Department of Agriculture, reports. |