DAY-OLD CHICK INDUSTRY

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 738, 10 August 1929, Page 34

DAY-OLD CHICK INDUSTRY

THE poultry world in general has indeed been revolutionised during the past few years, but I am safe in saying that the day-old chick trade takes the lead, and has seen more drastic changes than any other branch of the business which presents itself to my mind. Ten years ago vendors and purchasers would have shaken their heads and ridiculed the idea that chickens just hatched would travel safely to destinations hundreds of miles distant. Time, alone, however, has proved this notion to be incorrect and like numerous other businesses, the day-old chick industry has come to stay, and to increase by leaps and bounds.

The majority of poultry-keepers realise the saving of labour, time and disappointment involved by purchasing day-old chicks. Many are now not content to sit a hen on a dozen eggs and wait three weeks before obtaining any results. Perhaps they have not the time to attend to the hroody hen during her period of tn- < übating the eggs, therefore they prefer to pay a little more money and leave the difficulties of the hatching to others. I have found that there are people who are under the mistaken impression that it is absolutely essential for a hen to sit the full three weeks before she will brood a batch of chickens. Such an idea, however, is erroneous and a reliable broody hen -will invariably take readily to newlyhatched chickens no matter -whether they hav- been hatched in an incubator or under another hen. THe ndAiptage to be gained from purchas-ingNlay-olds are many; for instance, many people sometimes obtain a poor hatch either from an Incubator or a hen. Their best plan under these circumstances is to make up the number by purchasing day-old chicks, and so economise and prevent unnecessary waste of time. This will ensure the hens having a full brood and the foster-mother its requisite number. Nature has provided the newlyhatched with sufficient nourishment in the form of the yolk of the egg to sustain it for at least three days, the same being absorbed just before the period of hatching. To prove the above, open an egg on the 19th or 20th day Oj incubation and observe the nearly fully-formed chick and toe umbilical sac, which contains best part of the yolk. This is the reason why chicks can travel any distance with so little chance of even one death occurring. Night is undoubtedly the best time to dispatch them. PACKING CHICKENS If packed In properly constructed boxes they generate sufficient heat and keep as warm as If they were in a foster-mother or under a hen. On arrival at their destination they should be at once unpacked and placed under a hen or in a brooder. It sometimes happens that one or two of the chickens, after a long journey, appear practically lifeless. These should be placed before a fire with a hot flannel round them and in a little time they will recover and can be placed with the others. 1 might mention that if vendors of dav-olds would only hatch and sell chickens bred from vigorous and sturdy stock, the percentage of deaths on rail would not average 1 per cent. It is the unscrupulous

dealers who supply chickens from immature and inbred stock who help to hinder the progress of an industry that is not only fascinating and helpful, but a lucrative concern to the vendors who study the interest and welfare of the customers. Purchase day-old chicks from a reliable source only, from people living in the country, as town-hatched chicks cannot be as strong as those produced in a properly constructed incubator house in the country and from eggs direct from the breeding pens, not having first had a long railway journey. FRESH AIR I do not suppose even the veriest novice needs to be told that chicks like every other creature must have oxygen to breathe, and so must have fresh air, but It is one matter to recognise this need, and quite another to know how to supply it in the right way. It is the easiest possible thing to give the chicks all the fresh air they can possibly want when no other considerations are involved, but we have tq remember that we must also keep the little birds warm and away from draughts which make ventilation much more of a problem. This being so, it is fairly obvious that the method of ventilation must be dependent upon the way in which chicks are brooded. In rearing with broodies the question of ventilation presents no difficulties at all, but many people get into trouble with the ventilation of an artificial brooding appliance. It sounds so simple to keep the chicks sufficiently warm and at the same time give them an adequate supply of fresh air, yet heaps of brooding losses are due to a failure to achieve this object. I do not suggest for a moment tnat each chick must have an exact degree of pure air doled out to it. Thank goodness that is not necessary. Provided we keep them warm and exclude draughts the youngsters cannot possibly be over-ventilated, so that the real problem is to give as much ventilation as can be reconciled with these two important provisions. VENTILATION I have not expert knowledge of ventilation and cannot pretend to know what is the minimum circulation of air that is necesasry to keep chicks in good health, nor do I think this exact knowledge is necessary as one could hardly apply it to practical use outside a laboratory. As far as the need for ventilation goes, I think chicks are much on a par with other classes of live stock, and if we keep the brooders sufficiently ventilated to make them healthy for human occupation, the youngsters are

not likely to suffer from lack of oxygen. If we go into a brooder and find the atmosphere stuffy and airless, it is safe to assume that foithe chick’s sake more ventilation is required. Unfortunately, it does not do to he guided entirely by one’s own impression of the airiness of a brooderhouse, as conditions may often be very different under the hover from what they are in the body of the house itself. As the chicks spend a amount of time under the hover it is really important that it should be properly ventilated, especially at night. Usually far less air circulates under the hover than in the house generally, so that the ventilators should be open at night when the chicks are all their time under the hover, than in the day-time, when incidentally the open chicks’ exits add to the airiness of the house. Yet quite a number of poultry-keepers partially close up the brooder ventilating shutters in the evening, under the impression that they are "making the chickens comfortable for the night.” As I have already remarked, so long as the chicks are warm and not exposed to draughts, they cannot have too much fresh air. It is easy enough to tell from the chicks’ behaviour if they are warm enough, and similarly they will indicate the presence of a draught, if it is not otherwise obvious, by crowding aw T ay from the spots on which the unwelcome air currents play. The best advice I can give is to allow as much fresh air as possible, ps is compatible with the avoidance of draughts and the adequate provision of warmth. Never try to cram as many eggs into the drawer of an incubator as it will nold; it is much better to have sufficient room to allow for turning.