Viability and Weight of Chicks as Affected by Shipping and Time Without Feed

TWO landmarks in the baby chick industry, the invention of the forced draft incubator and the acceptance of baby chicks in the United States mail, were established in 1918. Since that time there has been a rapid growth in the number of commercial hatcheries and in the traffic of chicks. It is estimated that approximately 775,000,000 chicks are produced annually by commercial hatcheries and a large proportion of these are shipped to customers located at considerable distances from the hatcheries. There is great variability not only in the age of chicks before shipment but also in the time they spend in and the treatment they receive during transit. No study has been made, so far as the authors are aware, which bears directly upon these factors or their combined influence upon the growth and mortality of chicks. An investigation was initiated at the Beltsville Research Center, Beltsville, Maryland, in 1938, . . .