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Show CARING FOR LITTLE CHICKS Weak Ones Should Be Separated From Strong and Kept by Themselves Avoid Crowding. When but a few days old. the weak chicks should be separated from the strong and kept in separate quarters. This should be done for two reasons : If kept together, the weak chicks will not get their share of food and will be knocked around by the strong ones. The weak chicks are more likely to contract disease which may be transmitted trans-mitted to the strong chicks. A brood coop large enough for 50 chicks when just hatched will in a week or so become too small for them. Crowding chicks and running a large number in a flock Is a losing-game losing-game every time. When the chicks are two weeks old, no more than 2o should be kept in a flock. When many more than this number are kept in a flock, there is clanger of the chicks piling on one another in feeding and hovering. The floor of the brood coop should be sprinkled with dry sand or finely sifted soil or coal ashes. Wood ashes should not be used, since the moisture in the droppings will liberate the lye in the ashes which will burn the tender ten-der feet of the chicles. AVhen the chicks are two weeks old the brood coops should be cleaned out at least twice a week. Many practice daily cleaning, but if an additional bucket or two of sand is thrown on the floor of the coop each day, the coop can be kept in a good sanitary condition without daily cleaning. |