so 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



trouble or care beyond mowing it occasionally 

 whenever it gets long. Another very good plan, 

 where possible, is to pay children a few pence 

 weekly to bring fresh grass daily, pulled from 

 the roadside. This must not be thrown in as 

 it is, but cut into quarter-inch green chaff, by 

 a pair of shears or a small machine ; so cut 

 it may either be thrown into the trough by 

 itself, or it is perhaps better mixed in the mash, 

 when all must get their share. The more given 

 the better, so long as it is given regularly, and 

 this plentiful and regular supply is the great 

 preventive of diarrhoea ; but great fluctuations 

 should be avoided, and are, of course, liable to 

 upset the digestive system. Lettuces or cab- 

 bages are excellent, and of distinct food value 

 besides, as referred to above, but are better 

 minced up. The outer cabbage-leaves are not 

 so good ; still, fresh ones will do very well for a 

 small pen, as will other refuse vegetables, pro- 

 vided only sound portions are minced up, and 

 so eaten ; but cabbage stumps left lying about, 

 or large leaves trodden under foot, become 

 offensive, and may almost be called poisonous. 

 Minced vegetables or fresh green weeds of any 

 kind are usually eaten without leaving any, as 

 are turnips, or beets, or mangolds, mincecl up 

 small, which are sometimes the only available 

 source of supply in winter. Such roots as 

 the last may also be boiled, and mashed up 

 with the soft food, but should not be reckoned 

 in the weight of the latter. Something of the 

 sort must be given to fowls in confinement 

 every day, else their bowels sooner or later 

 become disordered, and various ailments and 

 vices occur among them. A very usual and 

 good plan is to give a liberal allowance of 

 green food for the mid-day meal. 



While whole leaves and stumps must not be 

 left about, however, it is often the best plan 



for fowls in close confinement, to 

 Occupation, hang up two or three whole lettuces, 



or the entire half of a split cabbage, 

 or half of a large root, by a string from above, 

 so as to hang loose some inches above ground. 

 This is not as a matter of feeding, however, but 

 in order that pecking at the swinging dainty 

 may give occupation, and so prevent feather- 

 eating or other vices of idleness. To find 

 exercise and occupation in some way is of 

 the last importance to fowls penned in a shed. 

 It is for this purpose that American breeders 

 keep the floor inches deep in straw, leaves, or 

 other litter, under which the grain is buried 

 to be scratched for all day. In many small 

 town establishments so much bulky litter could 

 not be either stored, or in due time got rid of, as 

 is so easy upon an American farm ; but for- 



tunately, in most cases, there is more or less open 

 run, from which fowls in this country are scarcely 

 ever excluded. When they are penned up in a 

 shed, however, the lesson thus given us should be 

 studied. A little grain well raked into the loose 

 material on the floor, and green food given 

 in this special way, or a large bone from the 

 kitchen hung up in similar fashion, will do much 

 to keep the hens busy, and prevent mischief. It 

 also affects laying ; for experiments have shown 

 that a very poor supply of eggs from a pen of 

 birds allowed to become idle and torpid, was 

 soon increased threefold when they were thus 

 induced to work for their living : they also 

 moulted earlier and more quickly than they 

 had done before. 



In addition to their regular food it will be 

 needful that the fowls have a supply of lime, 



in some shape or other, to form the 

 Lime and shells of their eggs. Old mortat 

 Grit. pounded is excellent, so are oyster 



shells well burnt in the fire and 

 pulverised ; of the latter they are very fond, and 

 it is an excellent plan to keep a large pan full 

 of it in their yard. If this matter has been 

 neglected, and soft shell-less eggs have resulted, 

 the quickest way of getting matters right again 

 is to add a little lime to the drinking water, or 

 pound up some oyster shells raw. Lime in the 

 drinking water always, however, as some have 

 recommended, is not at all advisable, and has 

 led in several cases within our knowledge to 

 disease of the kidneys. Where cut bone ia 

 regularly fed, it will of itself provide ample shell 

 material. Pounded oyster or other marine shells 

 appear, however, to be specially relished, for 

 which there must be a reason. It probably lies 

 in the supply they afford of unncral salts gener- 

 ally. Lime alone does not supply all the needs 

 of a fowl in confinement, and experiments cited 

 in the preceding chapter show how much effect 

 upon growth, as well as upon laying, was pro- 

 duced by adding the salts contained in bone-ash 

 to a grain and meal dietary. The breeder who 

 cannot provide animal food regularly, or who 

 prefers to keep such food within very strict 

 moderation, will not overlook the lesson, and 

 will seek to supply at least adequate mineral 

 matter, in other ways. 



One thing more must on no account be 

 forgotten. This is, some supply of sharp grit or 

 gravel, or other hard substances. Such small 

 stones constitute hens teeth, and without them 

 the gizzard cannot perform its office of grinding 

 up the food. We have seen fowls ailing from 

 apparently this simple neglect alone. Flint 

 grit is easiest to obtain, but some of that sold 

 is too large and too sharp, and has been proved 



