THE CHICKEN SEASON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20969, 4 September 1931, Page 15

THE CHICKEN SEASON.

SELLING DAY-OLD CHICKS. FEEDING AND REARING. EI UTILITY. Having regard to the risks attending the safe hatching of chicks when people are not familiar with the process, it is not surprising that many buyers have eagerly availed themselves of the numerous facilities for buying day-old chicks. This custom has developed to an amazing extent daring the last few years. It suits the seller very well, for he is always a man of experience and can afford to sell the chicks at a merely trifling advance on the price of eggs, for he always gets a larger percentage of eggs hatched than a beginner is likely to obtain, while his large turnover minimises the cost and trouble of hatching them. It must be admitted, however, that the greatest inducement of all is the fact that they can sell ten times as many chicks as they could sell eggs for setting, for they know human nature well enough to assume that when the cost is almost the same the buyers will prefer to take what they can see, instead of having to bear all the anxiety and suspense of counting their chickens before they are hatched. Advantages to Buyers. There would have been no great development in this interesting trade if there had not been distinct advantages to the buyers, and these are well worth emphasising at this time. Spring is rapidly advancing, and many will now be regretting that they did not buy eggs several weeks ago, when cold storms were suggestive of everything but putting eggs down for hatching. If they set them now they will be three weeks late, whereas by purchasing day-old chicks they save those three most valuable weeks, and yet pay very little to the breeder for hia foresight in anticipating their wants. Another cause of delay, almost unavoidable, has been the scarcity of broody hens, particularly noticeable this season, when the storms and severe frosts have probably been the cause of making the broodies late.

Many people like the day-old chicks because they want to raise an exact number each season. By the time they find they are short it is too late to set another lot, whereas if they allow for the risks of hatching they may get far more than they care to rear. Then again there is the all-important consideration that they do not know how to look after a broody hen on eggs. Rearing with Broody Hens.

This brings up the matter of how to rear the day-old chicks when they are purchased, for this is not necessarily any easier than hatching them. My own opinion is that for the first season it is better in every way to use a broody hen, rather than an artificial brooder, for there are so many things to learn about chicks that very few people are fitted to employ successfully the latter process. Some people will argue that a broody hen will not take readily to a clutch of chicks that she herself has not hatched, but none need fear on this score. However, to be on the safe side it is just as well to take one precaution. Let her sit on half a dozen eggs for two or three days (artificial china eggs will do), till she has become perfectly settled down, and accustomed to being handled while in the nest. Then get the chicks delivered, and at dusk put a couple of the liveliest and strongest under her, leaving the eggs still there. Last thing at night remove the eggs and put in the rest of the chicks, and next morning she will be treating them exactly the same as if they are hatched from eggs on which she has been sitting for three weeks.

If the chicks have travelled from the previous day, and are therefore more than 24 hours old, it will be quite safe to let the hen walk off the nest with them. There is no need to hurry her off, as chicks will be eager enough to explore their surroundings as 60on as the sun makes the morning warm, and there is no necessity to feed them at once. On the other hand, if the chicks have been procured in the immediate neighbourhood and are quite young on arrival, it would be safer to keep them shut up till the afternoon, and unless they appear very strong and active they need not be released that day at all. Feeding Young Chicks.

The orthodox metho*d of feeding very young chicks is to give them some haraboiled egg for their first few meals, but this system is now discredited on account of the food being comparatively indigestible. A much better way to give them egg to eat is to beat it up while raw and then mix it with oatmeal until it is of a nice crumbly consistency. They are very fond of the egg and the oatmeal, and both are very digestible. In fact the chick has already been living for a couple of days, on the yolk which it absorbed just before being hatched, so raw egg is quite a natural food.

Feeding a little and often is the sound policy with young chicks, giving them no more than they will eat up at once. As soon as they have finished they will go under their mother again, attracted by the warmth, and for the first few days they, should spend virtually the whole of their time in eating and sleeping. They soon learn to spend a longer time walking about, if they are in the sunshine, and their only other requirements are fresh water, placed in a vessel in such a way that they cannot get wet while drinking, a little sand and fine grit on the ground or on a sack, and a little finely-chopped grass or lettuce if their run does not include a grass patch.