1946 The Cornell Reading-Courses 



be given with caution, however, as they are very concentrated and may 

 cause digestive troubles if fed in too large quantity. 



Sour skimmed milk and its products are greatly relished. They are 

 desirable foods and should be used whenever they can be obtained at 

 a reasonable cost. In the Department of Poultry Husbandry at this 

 college, sour skimmed milk or buttermilk is considered almost a necessity 

 in feeding and rearing young chickens. If sour milk curd is fed, care 

 must be taken that the chicks do not get too much. If the milk is given 

 as drink, an unlimited supply at first might cause bowel trouble; after 

 the chicks have become accustomed to it, they may have all they want. 

 Skimmed milk is not to be used as a substitute for water. 



The value of commercial milk albumen.has been tested at this experiment 

 station, but in this case it did not give so good results as did skimmed 

 milk. How far milk products may be substituted for meat scraps and 

 meat meals in chick feeding has not been proved, although in a test of 

 seven methods of feeding chicks, those chicks that had no milk ate from 

 5 to 7^ per cent of their total food, excluding green food, in beef scrap, 

 while those given a mash moistened with skimmed milk or a powdered 

 milk solution ate only from 4I to 5I per cent of their total food in beef 

 scrap. 



Green foods. — Green foods are greatly relished by chicks and seem 

 necessary to their best growth. These foods furnish wholesome nourish- 

 ment at low cost and supply bulk to a chick ration without excess of 

 fiber. Chicks should be given all the green food they will eat. After 

 the first few days this is best supplied by giving the chicks access to a 

 grass run. Until the chicks can go out into the yards, green food should 

 be furnished them. 



Lawn clippings are often obtainable in the summer. These are much 

 relished, but they should be used when fresh and crisp. Fresh clover or 

 alfalfa is very good; it should be shredded fine if given to the youngest 

 chickens. The very young chickens like fresh sod, chickweed, or lettuce, 

 and they are able to pick off the tender leaves; lettuce, however, is often 

 too expensive to use in this way. The older chicks enjoy the leaves 

 and the blossoms of vetch. Sprouted oats are very good and may be 

 provided at any time of the year. The following description of the pro- 

 cess of sprouting grain is reprinted from a bulletin of the Cornell University 

 Agricultural Experiment Station: 



The operation of sprouting grain as a green food requires considerable expense for 

 labor. Sprouted grain, however, appears to have some advantages over other forms 

 of green food, which justify the expense. This is particularly true in the feeding of 

 young chickens during the season when they cannot have access to the ground. 



One of the difficulties v/hich has been experienced in the feeding of sprouted grain 

 is the development of molds. In order to kill smut or mold spores, it is recommended 



