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Show COMMERCIAL POULTRY C. S. Gorlinc. r The breeders should be thorough ly warmed up and comfortable before the chicks arc transferred to them, -si temperature of about 90 bcitig just fc right, because tlfc warmth of the jfeucfekbodics will soon raise the tyiii' fe3rRtcsnond with lhj the incubator ionrwkiGhaftTT , transferred. It is a gocSplan to remove re-move them to the brq&dcrs in th s evening 'so that they will become at . home by the following morning, otherwise oth-erwise many of them wilkfind their way into a cold corner of tiie brooder and huddle and -possibly become chil--, , led and that means a dead chick sooner soon-er or later. Contented, happy chicks (and that means comfortable ones) will never huddle and if found in, this condition?they must lutvc' immediate attention; placing" them carefully under un-der 'the hover. They should'jhavc fresh water, with the chill taken off, ' from the start. iJn cold wctitho'r we v think it very important tht'thc water bevof. right temperature, and that means "little warmer than would be palatablctVWi. They need no' feed -, for the ftrstyorTyuight hours, 'as it requires atfout that time for them to absorb " yolk of the cglijplT-is, thclrfii t food in the shell. Baby' chicks, like larger ones, have notccth but Jiavc a very nfuscular organf called, call-ed, the 'gizzard that pcrforms'The operation oper-ation oflna'stication, and to. penform this opcraition successfully it is. necessary neces-sary that the fopd be properly mixed with sharp grit small pebbles If rom a sand' bank preferred, the.- office of which seems to be to keep the sfood from massing like a ball of dough un-(Tcr un-(Tcr the tremendous contraction's of the muscular gizzard, aside from certain cer-tain chemical effects produced in the stomach. It is therefore desirable to place a dish of screened pebbles from the size of a grain of millet to a grain of wheat where the chicks may have access to it at any and all times. The floor af ,thc play-room of the brooder should be covered with litter and clover, alfalfa or chaff and if a handful of chick food is scattered in this, the youngsters Will soon find it andbcjstn to work for it and that,, is just what we want for there is every ev-ery chance for an active chicks tbiivc and but very little chance for a list- ' r K le$5 drotfpy" one. Where it. is not I 'possible or convenient fo rca'dily ob- fl ftain the prepared chick-feed Ihc fol- y lowiiijAiormula will be found vfrnv. jj satisfacry: 40 parts of wheat, 20 M partsmmillct, 10 p'arts cracked corn, L loxrarts.rollcd barley, 5 parts of rol- fled oatSf 5 parts of meat meal, 5 fi parts ground bone,. 5 parts' of pebble grit, nfisd well and feed dry, in little hoppers where the' chicks can help r ' themselves as often as they wish. .4 After the first vcck, they will relish ' . two or three feeds a week-pf fried or boiled liver, heart r soup meat chopped fine. After the ''third week, we feed equal parts of whole wheat and cracked corn of rolled barley un,- j til maturity. By- all means, get the I chicks out of the brooder into the sun- shine on to, the ground as soon as possible after the second day. . The living, pulsing life in all things is electricity and electrical encrgy-thc I life principle is found in the fresh out-of-doors air on which the sun has shown; the soil, too, is full of this energy and the fresh m green grass. If the chicks can got out on to the grass, they will get their own green , food, but if confined to runs, as in winter brooding or broilers,, green foBcLof some kind must be provided, clcr oajffa.mcal or potatoes or . on irtlffffigiiaf 5ogjhop per, J and mixed with a mash of equal parts of bran and shorts, wet tolqNsticky consistency will do. j , 1 If one is located near a large city, there is perhaps no part of commcr- I cial poultry that pays so well for the Amount of time and labor 4cxpcndcd, if the conditions are right, as an egg ranch. The ideal conditiojfsj arc a pecc of broken land, much- cut up with hills and gullies amL hoTlbwjs of sandy or gravelly soil-located1 on running water with plenty (of shade trees and grass and preferably with a southern slope. The houses may all be built al' ig the water -course and in colony style, usually of common 1 1x12 'boards for top, sides and back 1 and battoned cracks with a strip of I tarred felt two feet wide tacked on I the sides and back inside to protect fl the. birds sitting - on the roosts from draughts .and! with a slatted open M front to thVshid.' Such a house is M the ideal of comfort and economy fl I Where straw is plentiful, the top and back may be covered .with it to advantage. ad-vantage. .,-.' 1 On many of the large egg ranches, it is' the practice to build these colony j.n. houses on runners and instead of cleaning the droppings out, a horse is hitched on and the house draggcJ its length once a week, and if whitc- washed inside once a month, will be r , vermin free all of the time. That l a leaves nothing for the attendant but ' to feed twice a day and gather the eggs and it is considered that one man by this system, can care for three .thousand hens. Of course on an egg ranch, no male birds arc considered, con-sidered, except in the breeding pens, j which arc mated up in the winter I to begin hatching out early pullets. Twice each day, the wagon makes its round of feeding. When- opposite each colony house, a shovel full of I prepared egg food is thrown on the ground, not even stopping the team, except on the last feeding round1 late I in the afetrnoon, when the eggs arc gathered as each house is passed. (This egg food is purchased by the car load from the manufacturers, who have proper machinery for mixing j what is called a balanced ration. j Here it is; 20 parts of bran, 20 parts I of wheat 10 parts of rolled barley, 5 I parts ground bone, 20 parts cracked corn, 10 parts of meat meal, 5 parts of grit. The green food is obtained by the birds on the range. In sections sec-tions where no green food may be had in winter, it must-be supplied by the care-taker. Alfalfa leaves, or cut red clover can always be depended depend-ed upon to furnish proper green feed, winter. Qr summer. When obtainable water cress, or. sprouting oats or barley, bar-ley, make the very finest of green feed. If thefegg ranch is fitted with long continuous laving houses, instead ot the colony houses, different Itroat-ment Itroat-ment will have to be given. the birds, because of being confined in runs. In the morning, we like to feed wheat thrown in litter in the scratching-shed; scratching-shed; next morning, barley, the ncxr oats, then back to wheat again, etc. At noon, tak c a gallon of shorts, mix with a gallon of bran; now take half a bucket of alfalfa leaves or meal and pour boiling water over it; let it stand 15 minutes, then use the water wa-ter drawn off to mix the shorts and . bran, and when it becomes a sticky dough, mix it thoroughly with the scalded leaves; sprinkle a little salt and red peper over it to season it, and that will make a splendid mash. In the evening, winter and summer, we like to feed cracked corn in litter in the scratching shed. There must be fresh water, shell, grit and charcoal char-coal before them all the lime. After the mash, each bird sk 'Id have at least a tablespoon full of ground green bone or some kind of meat. Meat scrap or meal, boiled and fed in the mash is good and will be 'relished 'rel-ished by the birds. Where one is raising poultry-tfor th market, little coops just large enough for the birds to stand up or sit down in are used, with slatted front throne which the bird may thrust its head to be fed. Such birds require plenty of grit and1 charcoal to keep the digestion di-gestion good. They should be fed not less than five times daily, of large quantities of bread and milk, and when five or six months old, if they have been caponized they will make the finest kind of soft roasters that command so high a price in many of the great city markets. These little feeding coops or fattening coop, should all be set on a bench built just high enough for the attendant to conveniently Seed the birds as he passes along before the coops. The method of feeding such birds is called call-ed crate-feeding, and the feed consists con-sists of corn meal, oat meal two parts each, to one part of cracked wheat and one part of rolled barley, two feeds nearly dry and three feeds wet up into a mash with alfalfa meal and fed with a cramming machine. Three to four weeks is the usual time required re-quired to put on a market coat of fat and the profit realized is estimated at 100 per cent. When fattened, such birds are tied by the feet and hooked up to a beam overhead in the picking room and are killed by a knife thrust . in the throat, when they are immediately im-mediately dry picked, and without removing head or entrails-, arc pumped pump-ed into ice water and then hung up to freeze, when they are packed1 in barrels or boxes and arc ready for the market. Care should ha taken in packing to put them into clean straw, first, layfcr, two inches deep, then a layer of fowls, backs up, lees ', , out straight, then another layer ot H straw and poultry, with about four fl inches of straw on top layer of bird. fl (To be continued.) - |