Rhode Island reds, how to breed and judge them, with articles on breeding, rearing and mating by America's leading Rhode Island red fanciers by Hewes Theodore 1859-

Author:Hewes, Theodore, 1859-
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Rhode Island red chicken
Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind., Inland Poultry Journal Publishing Co
Published: 1910-03-25T05:00:00+00:00

SINGLE COMB RHODE ISLAND REDS. Second pen, Indianapolis. 1909; first pen, Omaha and Kansas City, 1909, Bred and owned by F. W. Hallett, ChllUcothe, Mo.

RHODE ISLAND REDS.

29

now receive a hopper of grit, charcoal, meat meal, cracked corn and oats. Pullets receive the same, only we like to feed pullets plenty of wheat, so we add wheat to theirs, and if we are short of wheat, we add the bran, shorts and corn meal mixture which answers the purpose vet-y well. Both cockerels and pullets are kept on range until bad weather in the fall, when we move the pullets to the laying houses. These are of the continuous curtain front type, and curtains are hung on frames hinged to the ceiling and are hooked back and up, leaving the front open except for the wire front, and closed only when stormy and severe cold nights are likely to freeze combs. Some of the cockerels are housed the same way, others are housed in the large colony houses, eight by ten feet. All are given large runs and let out when there is no snow and the weather is suitable.

There are other things we might mention but time will not permit, so we will sum it all down to a few things that poultry need to bring about success: Clean brooders and large, roomy coops, free from lice and mites; plenty of grit, charcoal, grains, fresh water and do not forget the meat food and green food in some form, especially while the chicks are confined to runs around the brooders and brood coops.

Now a few words about the temperature of brooders. Weather conditions vary, so that no rules can be followed successfully. We are of the opinion that some chicks are never kept warm enough. In cold, windy weather we run the heat at 100 degrees under the hover for the first week; when warm or moderate weather, 100 degrees dropped to 95 the end of the first week; hold 95 degrees for about two weeks, then drop to 90 and gradually to about 80 is low enough until they begin to get lots of feathers. The comfort of the chicks is our guide regardless of the temperature of the thermometer. When the chicks are laying flat on the floor with their heads sticking out from under the hover the temperature is right. If no heads are out the chances are that they are cold and are huddling and crowding, which means some of the weaker ones will suffer from being trampled to death. If all are driven out from under the hover and with wings spread out, they are too hot. When the weather is cold at night I like to drive a large percentage out from under the hover early in the evening, then they can have a warmer temperature to run to as the temperature drops along toward morning. Since we have been using plenty of heat, we do not have to throw out from under the

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.