POULTRY KEEPING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 290, 8 December 1933, Page 12

POULTRY KEEPING.

REARING OF CHICKS.

WOODEN FLOORS BEST.

(By ORPINGTON.)

Badly reared chicks, especially with tho novice, are as often the result of fussiness in the early stages as they are of neglcct at the growing age, whereas all that baby chicks need is commonsense care, from the moment they chip their shells. Much damage can be done in the wav of chills before they ever reach brooder or rearing coop, and novices liavo been known to poke the chicks out of the shell with a pin!"

If the hen is hatcliing them, leave her alone on hatching day, for she will do it far better than you can. Just occasionally one gets ail unnatural broody that pecks the chicks while they are still wet, in which case it is necessary, if there is no substitute hen, to take the chicks away as they hatch and keep them very warm in a lined box until they are dry and the offender has finished hatching and settled down in the brooding coop. A broody may appear clumsy when she really has not a suitable nest. As a rule, all the attention that is needed is to take away the empty egg 'shells twice a day, just in case they become telescoped onto other eggs, and also leave tho chicks more room. Some hens will discard the empty shell themselves. When all are perfectly dry, leave the chicks in the warm nest while tho lien has a good meal of grain, since she has probably starved herself for a day or two during the important operations. Put lier in a clean coop littered with just a little sand and chaff, and then slip the chicks under her wings.

Electric Brooflers. Two well-tried methods of rearing chicks without hens are the hot water system, similar to a central heating principal, which requires a permanent brooder house and is suitable only for large commercial egg farms, and by means of a "foster-mother" or insulated box warmed with a kerosene lamp, with a cool compartment and run attached. The whole comprises only about 10ft by 3ft and can readily be moved about over short grass to give the chicks fresh ground and green food. These can also be made on the farm efficiently when once the chicks' requirements are realised. This stylo of brooder is excellent for the first few weeks, when the chicks do not require much room, but is expensive, as it is useless for the seven months of the year when rearing is not being carried on, and needs storage room then.

The various makes of hover brooders — that is, jnetal canopies with electric, kerosene, gas lamps or coal stoves to fit underneath —are handy and easy to run successfully. These must be placed in a shed, which later can be growing shed and laying house. Until recently, electric brooders had the great disadvantage that, should the current be cut off, the chicks might get very thoroughly chilled. Thero are now types on the market, however with well insulated canopy and a composition element that retains the heat for a considerable time without current. These should prove simple and clean to run where the shed is sufficiently near power to make the wiring inexpensive; also they will reduce the risk of fire to a minimum—always the poultryman's bugbear at rearing time. A small "pilot" light of very low power attracts the chicks under the hover, at first, until they learn to go under the metal "hen" for warmth.

Safe Rearing. Prevent floor draughts at all costs, and make doubly certain they do not reach the chicks under the hover by surrounding the whole with an upstanding strip of sheet iron, about a foot from the edge of the hover to begin with, the circle becoming greater as the chicks grow. After some days, it is only necessary to use the surround at night.. If there is any difficulty in getting up sufficient heat for the chicks in cold weather, it is amazing how muctf this device will help if the circle is placed close in to the edge of the hover. Watch the draught under the ehed door. Sand covered with chaff is the best litter. A wooden floor is best for rearing chicks artifically, as it can be cleaned and kept dry more perfectly than any other, but dry earth, if well levelled, is good enough. Concrete is too hard and cold, but if necessary should bo well covered with several inches of dry sand. Since it is almost impossible to keep earth floors, in spring, so dry that no moisture penetrates upwards, it is wise to lay down a couple of strips of rubberoid where the chicks will be sleeping, under the hover, to be covered with sand and chaff, as mentioned. This also is readily cleaned. Remember that, as it lies asleep, the small chick's vital organs—bowels, liver, etc.—are all but touching the ground, unprotected by feathers up to quite a good age. Any dampness is bound to cause chilling.