The Poultry Yard

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 750, 24 August 1929, Page 32

The Poultry Yard

(By

GEO. H. AMBLER.)

REARING CHICKS NEVER rear more than one hatch on the same ground in one year. If you should wish to use the brooder several times in a season, move it to fresh ground for each hatch. I make it a practice to move the brooders to fresh ground frequently; sometimes as often as once a week. Small brooders that can easily be moved should he moved to fresh ground twice a week. I believe that rearing chicks on contaminated ground is the greatest cause of a large mortality in » brooder chicks. If possible move the brooder often enough to prevent the grass being killed in the chick run, or around the brooder.

If it is impossible to keep the run clean by moving brooders frequently to fresh ground, then it is necessary to employ more expensive measure of keeping runs sanitary, such as spading of the top soil and replacing the same with fresh and pure soil on which chicks have never been reared before. When locating the brooder, locate it on ground where no chicks were reared the previous year. All these apparently small things tend to decrease or increase the mortality of brooder chicks. Tape worms and other deadly and contagious disease germs breed in ground upon which chicks were reared the previous year. Many poultry-keepers make the serious mistake of rearing chickens year after year on the same ground in the same back garden. They would not think of growing wheat year after year on the same ground, or of leaving cabbage plants in the hot-bed and expecting a good crop of solid-headed cabbages. They would not try to rear calves or lambs in the fold yard. The fact is they would not think of doing such things, but when it comes to rearing chickens they do that very thing. They keep them in small coops, large enough for them when a few days old. but entirely too small for them when six or seven weeks of age. Poultry-keepers should give their growing chickens a fair chance with the rest of their live stock. This can be done only by rearing them under similar conditions. Rear them on fresh ground each year. By this is meant that if they have been rearing them in one run, they should rear them on other ground next year. CLEANLINESS Cleanliness is unquestionably one of the most important factors necessary to the successful rearing of small chicks. By that is meant not only surface cleanliness, but also thorough disinfection. The brooder floor should be scrubbed with scalding

water and every particle of dust and dirt removed. All cracks and corners, even the small chick doors, should be scrubbed and disinfected. The hover curtain should be, if possible, replaced with new material each time a new lot of chicks is entrusted to its care, or taken off and thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. In spraying disinfectant, use a fine mistproducing nozzle. Clean out and disinfect the hovering space for small chicks every other day, or as often as it becomes soiled, and replace with fresh material. Clean out and disinfect the exercising pens about once a week. The more crowded the quarters are, the oftener it is necessary to clean and disinfect them. I have repeatedly noticed that the cleaner the hovering place and the exercising room were kept, the better the chicks would do. For litter I would prefer wheat straw cut into 2in lengths better than any other material, oat straw can also be used. Shavings are not as good as cut straw fox small chicks, as chicks are likely to eat some of the finer particles. This applies to both wood shavings and sand. I do not like sand as litter, because occasionally the chicks will eat too much of it the first few days before they have developed sense enough to distinguish between desirable and undesirable foods. Whatever kind of litter is used, make sure it is perfectly free from must and mould. Mould spores enter the breathing passages of small chicks and cause aspergillosis or brooder pneumonia, and annually kill thousands of chicks. The litter must be absolutely clean, fresh, free from mould and decaying or decayed matter. It should be needless to say that the drinking and feeding utensils ought to be kept scrupulously clean. These should be cleaned and scalded with boiling water once a week and before using them for a new hatch. Never entrust a new lot of chicks to a brooder that has been used previously without first thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting it. Many people make a

serious mistake in omitting to do this. I have repeatedly noticed that in spite of strict sanitary measures, first hatches always do better than later hatches that used brooders and utensils previously used by the first hatch. LOCATION OF BROODER HOUSE Of the various brooders manufactured, I prefer a good indoor brooder. During the late spring and summer it is advisable to place outdoor brooders in the shade of a tree, building or in the orchard. As a rule, it is not advisable to locate them too close to any of the larger and more valuable buildings, on account of danger from fire, of which there is always a little, no matter what kind of a brooding system is used, with the exceptions of large hot-water, coal-heated brooding systems and the fireless brooders. SUNSHINE AND FRESH AIR In the brooding of chicks, remember that the sunshine is one of the prime essentials. Do not allow the small chicks, however, to get into the sunshine the first few days for fear they develop the habit of huddling and crowding in the attempt to get warm, in- preference to going beneath the hover or near the source of heat. After the first few days, allow them all the sunshine possible; the more the better. Sunshine is the cheapest and most satisfactory disinfectant known. Without sunshine small chicks cannot do well. Sunshine makes them lively, bright, happy and contented. The hover and inside of brooder should be given at least one daily airing and sunning. I have often noticed that hatches which had more sunshine than others in the first few' weeks grew faster and with less mortality. A small chick likes to have the sun warm up its little, thinly-clad back. Chicks reared under restricted sunshine conditions are very similar to plants reared under the same condi tions. They appear pale and lifeless Chicks should not be reared under hothouse conditions. At best such chicks are weak and unprofitable in growth. After they are a week or ten days old, they should be got outside for an hour or two each day about noon. It will be found as a result that chicks eat much better, have fewer digestive troubles, and are not both ered so much with colds. They appear to do better in every respect than those not allowed tjiis daily exercise in the open. In fine weather, of course, they should be allowed to run out earlier and the chick exit door .eft open all day.