Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 February 1892 — Chicks and Snow. [ARTICLE]

Chicks and Snow.

When the snow is here and the weather severe, it is only with the best of care that a hen can raise a brood of chicks. Much depends upon the hen, though her capacity is often overestimated. The hen should have not more than ten eggs in winter, and a quiet hen will be more successful than one that is active. The greatest danger comes from some precocious chick that is never at rest, it causing the ben to be’continually following it at times, thus preventing her from hovering the weaker ones. It is better, however, to keep the hen confined in a coop, even if she and the chicks have a dry shelter, for there will be less liability of loss from chilling of the chicks. As the chicks increase in size thev will not be able to find places under the hen. if she has many of them. It is quite creditable to a hen in winter if she can raise six chicks, and she will probably be more successful with five. Night is the time when the chicks need the most warmth, and it is then that the hen should be securely placed where the cold winds cannot “reach her and her brood.—Farm and Fireside.