EARLY NOURISHMENT OF CHICKS

Southland Times, Issue 23610, 10 September 1938, Page 20

EARLY NOURISHMENT OF CHICKS

IMPORTANT FACTOR ON GROWTH Where young stock does not suckle, as for example, young birds, it is evident that hereditary factors visibly influence growth. With domestic fowls the birth weight is closely related to the size of the egg from which the chick is hatched, and this may be irom a large or small hen. At a month bld there is considerable variation in ihe weights of chickens, even with a breed, and with very little variation between parents.

An English experimenter in this field says that in the past season he had one batch of 35 White Leghorn chicks and 70 of another hatch which were five days younger. At a month old the 25 largest chicks from both hatches were selected, and he found that he had 22 from the older lot and three from the younger. These three were all from one hen and were all the chicks she had in this hatch. In later hatches it was found that this hen and another one always had big chicks at a month old, and that, in general, when marking in order of size, all the chickens from some hens were marked before a single one from some others. All the chickens had as much food as they could take up to a month old. ~

Apparently the size and quality of the yolk of the eggs, which play an important part in the chick’s early nourishment and growth, are an important factor. One wonders, therefore, if suckling animals always receive sufficient milk. Has the prolificacy of our domesticated animals, pigs, sheep and beef cattle, increased more than their milking capacity? This seems possible.