84 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



johnny cake, composed of two-thirds corn meal and one-third bran, made 

 in the usual Avay and baked in deep dishes. Keep fine grit in dishes, 

 as well as milk or Avater where they can get it at all times. With this 

 care, bowel troubles need not be feared. As soon as they will eat it 

 give them cracked corn and wheat. Keep it where they can get it at 

 all times. The cockerels are generally gone before this time, for we sell 

 them when they weigh about one and one-half to two pounds, and they 

 generally bring enough to pay for their keep and that of the pullets 

 until they begin to lay, which is generally the last of October or first 

 of November. As soon as our pumpkins will do to cook, we boil them 

 and mix until crumbh' with ground oats, corn and bran, equal parts 

 in bulk, and one-half ounce of beef meal and bone for each pullet, and 

 we'keep this in their feeding rack all the time. We also feed this to our 

 yearling hens at this time with a little oil cake meal added. By the first 

 of November our pullets are ready to go into winter quarters where 

 they stay until spring comes and all danger of chilling their combs is 

 past. 



During the winter we tr^- to feed a little of everything. They have been 

 having all they want, but of a broad ration. No two flocks can be fed ex- 

 actly alike and produce equally good results, so we have to study our 

 flock and watch the result of our feed. The main thing is to give them 

 bulk enough to satisfy their appetite, and concentrated food to keep 

 them in good condition and supply the material for the eggs and not 

 have them too fat to lay. 



Our ration this winter, for one flock of two hundred and fifty hens 

 in one house, has been sixteen to eighteen pounds of wheat thrown in the 

 litter after they had gone to roost so they had this the first thing in- 

 the morning. About 9 :00 a. m. they got a warm feed, consisting of abaut 

 fifteen pounds of fresh ground meat and bone, six quarts of warm milk, 

 two ounces salt. This is put in a tub and well mited, then five pounds 

 of fine cut and steamed clover hay is added and the whole thickened 

 by adding six pounds of ground corn and oats half and half, and at 

 the last of the mixing two pounds of fine middlings is added. This is 

 fed while warm in troughs, similar to old-fashioned sheep racks, only 

 smaller, hung by wires to the ceiling, so they are easily turned over 

 to clean, and are up oft' the floor. 



We feed more than they will clean up at once and we do not remove 

 what they do not eat; we want some left in the trough for them any 

 time in the day they may come for it, for in this way they will not 

 get in the habit of gorging themselves and then stand around and do 

 nothing for two or three hours Avaiting for this to get out of their 

 crops. 



At night they get, j\ust before roosting time, six to eight quarts of 

 shelled corn. When we scatter this in the litter, if they seem anxious 

 for it, they get the whole of it, but if they do not seem hungry, then we 

 only feed a portion of it. Thus we use the corn as a sort of a governor 

 for the amount of feed. 



This makes a very narrow ration, about one to three and one-half and 

 you have to work your hens up to this very carefully and look out for 

 soft-shelled eggs; if you find them, one or tw^o things are generally at 

 fault, they are short of grit or oyster shells or they are getting too 



