Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/757

 729 they will do without food during the first night the hen is brooding them without taking any harm, and will be well on their legs and ready for their first food by the following morning. The food given to chickens for the first few days must be of a light, nourishing nature." Kggs lx)iled till hard, finely-minced, and mixed with stale breadcrumbs by the additicJi of a little milk are excellent. Rough oatmeal and breadcrumbs moistened with milk make a good food. The little ones may have either of these foods for a couple of days, when fine biscuit meal, scalded, and allowed to stand until swollen, may be used as the first feed of the day, whilst the second feed should consist of a mixture of fine grains, or that mixture known to chicken rearers as "dry chick food." This food should be given two hours after the breakfast feed, followed two hours later by a feed of soft food, composed of oatmeal and milk worked into a nice crumbly state by the addition of sharps. The next feed, two hours later, should again be fine grains, and the following feed soft food, and the last, or supper, fine grains. It will be seen from the above that the chickens need feeding every two hours during the daytime, but the attendant should only allow the birds enough soft food to keep them eating about ten minutes, at the end of which time any left uneaten should be removed. The object should be to keep the little ones a bit on the hungry side by under, rather than over, feeding them. Their hunger will keep them actively employed hunting for the fine grains scattered among the grass or, in the case of birds running on bare earth, among chaff litter placed in the runs attached to the coops. When the chickens are a week old, they may be fed four times daily, being given soft foods and grains in rotation. Sussex ground oats, moistened with hot water and rendered crumbly by the addition of sharps, is a si)lendid food to promote the rapid growth of chickens, and, where possible, it should be largely used. As a change in the soft-food dietary, scalded biscuit meal, boiled rice, mixed with oatmeal, or bread soaked in milk may be given. The birds may be so fed until they are a month old, when three feeds a day will suffice. The same kind of soft foods may be used at breakfast-time, a'fter which the meals should consist of grains in .variety. Fine wheat, buckwheat, lentils, dari, and millet seeds may be given at dinner-time, whilst for supper good sound red wheat should be allowed. From a month until six weeks old, the birds jiiay have morning mashes of a less concentrated nature. Sussex ground oats, barley meal, and bran in equal parts scalded and mixed with sharps, may be given for breakfast, whilst wheat may serve WOMAN'S WORK cUppcd " oats An easily'cnade feeding'trough for little chickens for dinner, and plump or for supper. Soft foods should not, at any time during the rearing period, be scattered on the ground or the floors of the coops, but should be placed on pieces of board, or in shallow dishes, but grain given to the birds should be scattered about among the grass, or lightly buried in chaff or other short litter, the object being, in the first instance, to keep the food sweet and clean, and, in the second, to induce bodily exercise among the young- sters. Animal and vegetable foods are essential to the well-being of chickens. The former is best given in the form of fine granulated meat, which can be supplied by most poultry food-dealers. It should be scalded, and allowed to steep and swell. It should then be pressed, to free it of water, when a little may be scattered daily among the litter, or mixed with the soft foods. Failing the granulated meat, any kind of meat that is sweet and wholesome can be minced for the birds. Finely-chopped vegetables should be given, and especi- ally to such birds as are not reared on grass land. Lettuces, greens, and young onions are all good. Should the chickens be slow in feathering, a little sulphur dusted over the mashes will assist, but it should be used only in mild weather. As to the drink most suitable for chickens, it is best to give skim milk during spells of cold weather, and pure cool water in mild seasons. Failing the skim milk, milk and water should be used. The troughs con- taining water, etc., should be placed out oi reach of the sun's rays, and should be frequently scalded out with boiling water. While the chickens are being reared, the mother-hen must not be neglected. She should receive a light handful of com each morning and a like quantity at night, and grit must be kept within her reach. This latter material, but of a finer grade, must be scattered upon the feeding boards or dishes for the chickens, as, without it, they will not be able to digest their food properly. The coop in dry weather must be removed daily to fresh grotind, and its floor kept clean by the renewal of the materials covering it whenever it becomes fouled. Should the midday sun be very hot, the front of the coop should be turned away from it, to give the hen and her brood shade. The sexes should be separated as soon as their sex can be determined, and the birds should not be allowed to perch until at least five months old, but should sleep on a bedding of peat moss, or other clean litter. This will prevent injury to the breast- bone during the time when it is soft and gristly. The next article of this series will deal "with " The Common Ailments of Chickenhood.^'' The Star Life Assurance Society. Ltd., make a feature of a Policy which secures an Annuity for Women Workers. 2 C