552 THE AMERICAN FARMER 



labor. Give the fowls a hot breakfast every morning in winter. A mash of corn meal and 

 wheat bran, in which a little salt and cayenne pepper is sprinkled is excellent for them in cold 

 weather, and greatly relished by them. Potatoes, turnips, and carrots boiled, mashed, and 

 fed warm are also good for them occasionally. 



Save all the scraps from the table, and put them in a little water, and when hot, mix up 

 with wheat bran or corn meal. Give also meat scraps in winter, as these supply in 

 part the place of insect food in summer. Boiled sheep s pluck hung in the hennery just 

 high enough for them to conveniently pick it off, is excellent; scraps from trying 

 establishments are also good for animal food. Fowls should be fed at least twice a day, 

 and many of our most successful poultry breeders feed three times. &quot;We would recommend 

 the hot mashes for breakfast, and grain for the other meals, all kinds of grain and green 

 food being given, as recommended in the summer care of fowls. Nice rowen, as previously 

 stated, is greatly relished by hens in winter when they cannot obtain fresh grain. We 

 usually keep a cabbage head hung up by the roots, so that the fowls can eat it whenever 

 they wish, in our poultry-house in winter, and it is surprising what a quantity of such green 

 food they will eat. Warm water should always be given for drink in winter. 



Food for Fowls. Fowls require a greater variety of food than any other of the 

 domestic animals. Animal and green food are essential, although the bulk of the feed may 

 be grain, either whole or ground. Any one having ever had the care of poultry, or an 

 opportunity to observe their habits, must have noticed how quickly they will select the meat 

 scraps first, from a mixture of table scraps thrown to them; also, when permitted to range, 

 how eagerly they scratch and search for grubs, and jump and run after grasshoppers and 

 other insects. They will even follow a cow in the pasture for hours, to catch the insects she 

 stirs up, as she grazes. Flesh or fish, or even both should be given fowls when they cannot 

 have access to insect food, as for instance, in winter, or when confined in summer. Corn, 

 when fed in too large quantities, has a tendency to make hens fat, rather than produce eggs. 

 Buckwheat and oats are better food for egg production than corn, although the latter 

 should be fed in moderate quantities for a variety. 



Barley of good quality, and wheat are also excellent for fowls. Corn meal and wheat 

 bran thoroughly cooked and mixed with mashed boiled potatoes, and seasoned with a little 

 salt and cayenne pepper makes a good food for fowls. It should be made stiff, fed when hot, 

 and never in a sloppy condition. A little chopped onions occasionally mixed in, say once a 

 week, is also good. A hot mash made of one-third wheat bran and two-thirds corn meal, and 

 seasoned with salt and pepper is also excellent. Sunflower seeds are a valuable food for fowls, 

 being oily and nutritious. They furnish one of the best egg-producing foods; fowls fatten 

 readily upon them, while they keep them in excellent condition. In summer, hens will eat an 

 astonishing amount of green food, such as grass, weeds, vegetable leaves, potatoes, tomatoes, 

 and other vegetables, when they can have access to it, and this shows that they should have a 

 supply of green food of some kind in winter. Apple and vegetable parings should be 

 thrown to them to pick over, and rowen hay given. 



An extensive poultry tender says: &quot; As long as cabbages can be had, three or four heads 

 a week are hung up in our hennery by a string around the roots, to a nail at a convenient 

 distance from the floor, and the fowls eagerly eat all but the roots. Sixty fowls will consume 

 a corn basket of hay every two or three days, in addition to the regular bill of fare. Employ 

 ment is needful for them, so all the grain is scattered in the straw that they may enjoy 

 the luxury of scratching; and while so occupied, they are not forced to pluck each other s 

 feathers for amusement; for mischief is found for idle bills and well as for idle hands; 

 though we think the constant use of salt has something to do with preventing this bad habit.&quot; 



We have never tested fowls with ensilage, but we see no reason why it would not 



