Show THE DAY OLD CHICK INDUSTRY by elizabeth dark clark hardy there is good money in the day old chick industry both to the buyer and the seller in going into the poultry business the first lesson for the amateur to te learn is to rake haste slowly instead of investing too much money in an untried industry A woman may raise a few hundred chickens on oil a small lot without investing in an incubator and high priced eggs it will be much cheaper for her to buy day old chicks and in caring for them she will learn some valuable lessons and gain a fair working knowledge ot of poultry poul business in the spring there vill always be found advertisements in III the agricultural papers for the sale of baby chickens and these may bo be bought with but little risk to the purchaser for if any should die during transportation the seller will always rep replace lacI them free of cost the price of day old chicks range from 4 to 20 cents according to the breed it is not advisable to buy tho the cheapest grade as they usually come from weak parent stock and inferior chicks are unprofitable to raise whether they come from the hatcheries or are hatched at home but it is much safer and cheaper to buy day old chicks from a reliable dealer than to buy bay eggs for hatching as in buying chicks you got a guarantee of safe arrival and full count while hile in buying eggs you have to take your chances and sometimes they are disappointing in starting in with day old chicks one must of course understand something about their care and feeding or things will go wrong but until one has had some experience with an air incubator things are likely to go wrong which is still more expensive and a chick in the hand Is worth two eggs in the incubator of course when chicks have been ordered preparation tor for their care must bo be mado made waz awas brona bro oA t must be provided and suitable runways and food As soon as the chicks arrive they must be taken from the crate one at a time their bills dipped in water and then put immediately into a warm brooder if they are 48 hours old they should be fed with hard boiled egg and dry bread crumbs but care must be taken not to give them sloppy food or to overfeed at any time they must have plenty of fresh water and their runways and brooders broaders bro oders must be kept clean and dry agn the other band if one is in the poultry business for keeps there is a good profit in selling baby chicks with two or three good incubators one may hatch and sell several thousand in a season with much less labor than to raise them to maturity and with good profit there Is but little risk in shipping chicks they have been known to have been shipped 2000 miles and to have arrived at their destination ti none the worse for their journey in march april and may the supply of day old chicks never quite equals the demand and in july and august the business is fairly good in september and october it again increases but later than this we would not advise shipping them as the risk from cold is too great in northern states in raising chicks to be shipped great care should be taken to keep the breeding stock strong and vigorous they should be given plenty of fresh air and exercise and their food should be such as will produce bone and muscle instead of fat run down stock always produce weak chicks and weak chicks are an unprofitable investment both to buyer and seller it Is not advisable to buy eggs from catchers hatchers hat hate chers liers N who ho li have are mixed breeds and sell named chicks A good crate for shipping chicks may be made of a shallow box five inches deep by 12 wide and 30 long some chaff or sawdust may be put in tile tho bottom and the crate lined with burlap or some coarse meshed material to give tile the little fellows a foothold |