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Show Care and Feeding Of Baby Chickens In a series of meetings with th poultrymen throughout the County on Monday and Tuesday of this week Professor Byron Alder, head of the poultry department of the U. S. A. C, gave advice on the latest lat-est methods for the care and feeding feed-ing of baby chicks. Some of the theories have been exploded by recent experimentation. "Baby chicks should be led from 20 to 30 hours after they are hatched, and every hour more than 30 that feeding feed-ing is delayed is putting a decided handicap on the chicks. This Is a decided advantage in getting chicks from Utah hatcheries," so sid Prof. Alder. Some other vital suggestion given said Prof. Alder. The brooder house should be thoroughly cleaned a week to ten days before chicks arrive. Scrape ! and sweep out all dirt, wash floor and walls up three feet with hot lye water spray with good disin-! disin-! fectant; day before chicks arrive heat up stove and see that it works all right. Use good, bright green, well cured cur-ed alfalfa leaves for litter on the floor of the brooder house. Fill j drinking fountains with either milk or water. As soon as the chicks : arrive turn them loose. Change litter often and keep floor dry. If sufficient milk is available then use only the chick starter scratcn j which can be purchased ready-! ready-! mixed or which may be mixed at j home. At ten days to two weeks I begin feeding a 7 per cent milk ; mash in hoppers, and begin putting : water before chicks; feed clabbered ; milk only up to this time. II jmilk is not available use the 20 per cent milk mash. Feed in open trays for the first day or two and then put in small mash hoppers. Keep a supply of fresh clean water before chicks all the time. After first day or two begin feeding scratch feed in litter if dry and clean, or in trough. If either of the above methods are followed then at four to six weeks graduallly change to the regular reg-ular layng mash and increase scratch grain until they are getting get-ting as much scratch as mash by weight. Continue this to ten to twelve weeks then gradually change pullets to the "growing mash,' then at five and one-half months change back to the laying mash, to bring pullets into production. Keep dry, well-cured alfalfa leaves before chicks In rack all the time. Open range is good if ground is dry. Fresh green lawn clippings or chopped green alfalfa are good and may be supplied daily. Clean dry straw, sand or saw-dust may be used as litter after first two or three days. Watch temperature, it should be 95 to 100 degrees F. for first week, the thermometer being suspended near the floor and about one foot from the edge of the hover. After first week reduce to 80 to 85 degrees. By all means avoid sudden sud-den changes in temperature. The brooder house should have a hot j and cool room and after the third I day the chicks can be allowed to , go into the latter at will. It is i advisable to feed in the cool room to attract chicks to sunshine. Watch ventilation carefully. At six to eight weeks seperate cocker-: cocker-: els from pullets. Cod liver oil should be fed and can be purchased in ready mixed mash. Pullets that are not well grown out are very seldom profitable. |