Rensselaer Union, Volume 10, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 May 1878 — Management of Chickens. [ARTICLE]

Management of Chickens.

Chickens require neither food nor drink on the day on which they are hatched. Both are ihjurious, as they interfere wdth the natural digestion of the yelk, which is absorbed into the bowels at the period of hatching, and constitutes the first food. If grits, oatmeal and the like are spread before the hen on the twenty-first dav, she is induced to leave the nest, the fast-hatched chickens arc unable to follow, and being weakly, frequently perish. If undisturbed, the hen seldom leaves the nest on the twenty-first day, while on the twenty-second day the chickens will be found strong enough to follow her. The plan of cramming pepper-corns or grains of barley down the throats of newly-hatched chickens is exceedingly injurious. The best food for them is sweet, coarse oatmeal, mixed into a crumbly paste with milk, and a certain proportion of custard made by beating together an egg with two tablespoonfuls of milk, and “setting” it by a gentle heat. Custard so made is eaters with avidity, and the chickens make rapid progress upon it. Such a preparation is far superior to the hardboiled egg so often employed, and which is not relished by the chicken. The young birds are also very fond of a little cold oatmeal porridge; milk is frequently, used to mix the barley or oatmeal, but it should be remembered that it soon becomes sour in summer, and is decidedly injurious if employed in that state. No more food, therefore, should be mixed with milk than can be eaten in a few hours. Sopped bread is by no means desirable, since it does not appear to afford the necessary resistance to the natural grinding of the gizzard, and consequently the chickens soon become weakly and affected with diarrhea from its use. In order to satisfy the hunger of the hen, which is usually very great when she leaves the nest, it is quite desirable to give her as. much grain as she can consume. Tlwn, having satiated her own appetite, and quenched her thirst, which at this time is considerable, she will brood over her unfledged young and keep them at rest, whilst they are digesting theyelk that has Ireen al>sorbed just before hatching. After the first few days some whole grain, such as small tail wheat, or some barley, may be given to the young brood, and it will be found to be greatly relished, and doubtless affords a wholesome exercise for the extraordinary grinding power of the gizzard. Chickens should either have a constant supply of food, or be fed at very short intervals. The first food should be given at daybreak. With regard to animal food there is none equal to the natural supply of worms and insects obtained by the hen when she is at large; small worms or a shovelful of mold, containing an ants’ nest, may be given, if chickens are in a confined situation, and will be found far superior to boiled egg, chopped meat, or any mere artificial substitute. Cooping, which is frequently employed to prevent the Wandering oMtens’with chickens, is not desirable, and though in many cases it is a necessary evn, yet not the less an evil.— American Cultivalor.

A suggestion of the beef-producing resources of the Argentine Republic and Uruguay, is given in the casual news item of a London newspaper—that 50,000 ox-tongues constituted a part of the cargo brought by the steamer Mondego from the River Plata to Southampton, the other day. The hides, it seems, alsc largely eross the Atlantic from the Rio de la Plata, while the chief part of the flesh is Bold in Brazil,