606 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



be lowered to keep in the heat generated by the fowls themselves. A 

 door is left in the corner, and this doorway has hung over it a piece of 

 sacking or something of that nature. In the upper front is a large window 

 for the admission of light. A pen of this kind has given excellent satis- 

 faction for the production of winter eggs, the hens continuing to lay 

 except in the severest snap. 



Large yards are necessary for the poultry to run in during the summer 

 months, if they must be confined. Let the yard be at least 50 feet long 

 by 30 feet wide. If there are trees in this yard, all the better, as they 

 will provide the shade that is required during the hot weather. The yard 

 may be fenced with wire netting 6 feet high for the larger fowls, while at 

 least a 7 or 8-foot fence will be required for the lighter breeds. The 

 yard should be well grassed, clean and supplied with pure water for 

 drinking purposes. 



FEED STUFFS SUITABLE FOR POULTRY. 



By W. /. Kennedy, Ames, Iowa, in Iowa State Register and Farmer. 



"Out of nothing nothing can come," is a maxim which has long since 

 been recognized as a basic fact. Perhaps in the feeding of no other class 

 of live stock is this so true as in the case of the poultry flock. No person 

 can successfully feed a flock of poultry, whether for meat or egg produc- 

 tion7 unless he or she has a clear conception of what constituents are 

 demanded of the fowl in the building up of the body work or in the 

 production of the egg. This must flrst be ascertained, and then the 

 rations should be made up of those feeding stuffs which will supply the 

 necessary compounds at the very lowest possible cost. It might also be 

 added that concentrated feeding stuffs are very- necessary, as fowls are not 

 capable of assimilating those feeding stuffs which are of a bulky nature. 



A study of the composition of the body and feathers of a fowl shows 

 clearly that they consist of water, ash, protein and fat. Thus it is clear 

 that the rations fed must contain the compounds that will supply these. 

 Almost one-half of the dry matter in the body of the fowl is protein, and 

 about 8 per cent is ash. investigations made by Jeneter at the New York 

 experiment station show that the body of a Leghorn hen — body, blood, 

 bones, feathers and viscera — contains 55.8 per cent water, 21.6 per cent 

 protein, 3.8 per cent ash and 17 per cent fat. The composition of a fresh 

 egg shows it to be made up of shell, 11.4 per cent; water, 65.7 per cent; 

 fat, 8.9 per cent; protein, between 11 and 13 per cent. Of the total dry 

 matter in an egg, including the shell, there is 35.6 per cent ash, 25.9 per 

 cent fat and from 33 to 38 per cent protein. 



A study of the above analyses will show clearly the importance of 

 supplying a liberal allowance of both protein and ash matter in the rations 

 of poultry. While a considerable amount of fat is contained in the body 

 composil^n, this is amply supplied in the ordinary grains which are to be 

 had on any farm, all of which contain an abundance of carbohydrates and 

 fat — the source from which body fat is supplied. With the protein and 

 ash matter this is not the case, as the ordinary grains, as a rule, are 

 seriously lacking in these compounds. This being true, the poultry feeder 



