Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 75, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 March 1920 — 20,000,000 BABY CHICKS DIE ANNUALLY IN STATE [ARTICLE]

20,000,000 BABY CHICKS DIE ANNUALLY IN STATE

Purdue Poultryman Say. Proper Handling Will Stop Big Loss. (Purdue University Department of, Agriculture Extension, G. L Christie, Supt., Lafayette, Ind.) Lafayette, Ind., March 26.— Twenty, million Indiana chicks is a conservative estimate on the death toll paid by the poultry industry in this state. This means a loss of several millions of dollars each year to» Hoosier farmers, according to C. W. Carrick, a member of the poultry extension staff at Purdue University. - .Fifty percent of this loss could be prevented by closer attention to details and care during the first months of brooding. Much of this could be simplified and eliminated by the use of better, equipment. A portable colony house with a coal stove brooder has been found to be the most satisfactory brooding device for farm hatching 200 or more chicks,” said Mr. Carrick. This type of brooder is described and plans given in Extension Leaflet 52 of the Poultry division of Purdue University. This bulletin may be obtained for the asking. Diarrhea or bowel trouble causes a great number of chicks to die during the first few weeks. They “paste-up” behind, become listless, refuse to exercise, grow weaker and weaker and finally die. t Because of the widespread publicity given the disease called “Bacillary White Diarrhea” the .conclusion usually “jumped at” is that any little chick afflicted with bowel trouble has this dread disease. The facts are that only a very few proven cases of Bacillary White Diarrhea have been found in Indiana. Most cases of bowel trouble and diarrhea hr little ?WekA can “be traced to preventable causes. Weak vitality in parent stock, chilling of eggs o rchicks, too high or too low temperature in the incubator, too much or too little heat in the brooder, mis-feeding, exposure to cold winds or dampness, these and many other causes will give almost identically the same external symptoms as will “Bacillary White Diarrhea.”

“The remedy, then, for the great annual loss of chicks is prevention. If disease does strike, every effort should be used to remove the cause first. “Doctoring” seldom pays with Tittle chicks. Feeding all the sour milk Little will drink is sometimes the best ‘medicine’ which can be given for any form of bowel trouble,” said Mr. Carrick. Write to the Department of Agricultural Extension at Purdue for a leaflet on “Prevention of losses among chicks.”

Rensselaer is talking about rebuilding their light plant and doubling its capacity to take care of its increased business. Some folks think a minicipal plant doesn’t pay, but there is one that has paid big salaries to a big bunch of employees and still has money ahead for improvements. Been reconstructed a couple or three times too, but has paid its way right through. What can be done there is possible elsewhere, and people over here would rather pay a little deficit, if necessary, than have to put up with the brand of service we are compelled to take.—Remington Press.