REARING CHICKS TO MATURITY.
One of the chief things to remember in raising young chicks to maturity
is that we must keep them growing at all times. A check in their
growth will retard their growth severely, and this must be avoided
by the one that wants his chicks to get into winter laying condition
before the cold weather comes. We will now consider a few important
factors that are necessary to bring our chicks along to rapid growth.
Of course, where free, unrestricted range is possible, the chicks
will progress faster than when cooped up in a small yard. If no free
range is possible, it will be found advantageous to at least let
the chicks run about the yard of the lot. In this manner, they can
pick up considerable food in the shape of worms, insects, etc., that
will furnish valuable growing food for them. Let me repeat again the
necessity of having milk in some form as a constituent of the chicks’
food. Any food that comes from an animal, whether it be milk or a part
of the animal itself, is highly essential to the growth of the chick.
Such foods contain an element known as vitamines, which scientists have
recently discovered contribute greatly to the growth and upkeep of a
growing animal. Vitamines are also found to some extent in green feeds,
such as carrots, cabbages, mangoes, etc. Even well cured alfalfa hay
contains this important element. It is quite obvious, therefore, that
if the chicks are out roaming around the yard or range, they not only
secure the exercise that is necessary for their proper development,
but they also pick up insects, as has been mentioned, and considerable
green feed, such as grass, weeds, and various other odds and ends.
If a fair sized lot or range is to be had, then it will be found a
great aid to make a little house for the chicks to live in during the
nights on the range, although care must be exercised that they be
protected from enemies, such as rats, crows, skunks, weasels, owls,
etc. Such a house need not be expensive at all if it be made out of an
old packing box that will protect the chicks from rain and enemies.
Another quite essential feature for the promotion of the maximum growth
of the chicks during the warm summer months is the provision for shade.
If there are some trees about the yard or range, this will answer the
purpose satisfactorily, but if there are no trees where the chicks
roam, then some artificial shade is advised. Some people plant corn
for this purpose, allowing the chicks to range among the corn plants
when the corn has grown sufficiently high. The chicks will not harm the
corn, so two ends can be accomplished by this means. Others provide
this shade by gathering old brush together and making an artificial
shade in this manner. During the hot days of summer, the chicks will
suffer from the heat to a marked degree if exposed to the hot rays of
the sun. An ideal method used on many farms is to place the chicks in
the orchard, where there is an orchard, and let the chicks roam in the
shade of the orchard trees.
Where birds are necessarily confined to a small yard, one method that
has been worked out satisfactorily, is to fence the yard off into two
or more divisions, and to plow up the land. Then various crops can be
sown at different intervals, so that when one range, or division, is
consumed by the chicks, they can be turned into another division where
the forage crop is up and ready to be consumed. As soon as the chicks
are turned out of the first lot, this lot can be immediately plowed up
again, and some more seeds planted, so that this range will be ready
for the chicks when the second lot furnishes no more nourishment for
them. It might be added here that many town flocks of full grown
birds are maintained, by this very system, and it has worked out very
nicely. Such grains as buckwheat, rye, oats, peas, and soy beans are
all excellent crops to sow in this manner, using oats and peas for the
first crop, because they mature quicker than the other crops mentioned.
If the chicks have access to a fair amount of range they will not need
a great deal of grain as a ration. However, it is always advisable
to feed some grains to keep the birds continually growing as fast as
possible. It has been proved conclusively that the first gains made by
the growing chicks are the cheapest, in regard to the cost of feed, so
let us keep this in mind during the time when we have them on range.
To accomplish this end, it is well to have a dry mash of the kind of
grains that are fairly rich in the substance called protein always
available in the hopper. The reason for this need of protein feed is
simply that the growing bird uses this element largely in the growth
of its body. Protein goes to make up the bony framework of the body,
and the muscles, tendons, etc. Therefore, feeds containing protein,
or a fair amount of it at least, should be ground up, and kept before
the birds. Oats, bran, or middlings, wheat and barley, are all fairly
rich in protein, and some of these feeds, in a finely ground condition,
should be included. It is also well to add some corn meal, although
this feed is not high in protein, it supplies a great amount of energy
for the bird to move around with. As soon as the birds are old enough
commence to feed cracked grains. As has been said in a previous
chapter, the bird has no teeth, so must rely upon grit to grind this
feed in the gizzard.
Therefore, unless the birds have a wide range, this grit must be
artificially supplied. Then the birds can help themselves to their
needs, and suffer no digestive troubles. Fresh water must be before
the birds at all times, and if no natural source is available, such
as a running stream or brook, then fresh water must be placed in some
sanitary container out in the yard or range.
From four to six months from the time the chick is hatched, it should
be ready to start laying eggs. The chick first has to get its growth
and maturity, and then there is an apparent resting period for a few
weeks, to allow the organs of the bird to get ready for egg production.
We will next consider how we shall feed these birds, granting that we
now have them ready to produce the eggs.