CHAPTER XXIII. 



FOR SOFT FEED. 



Now we have described thus far feed cylinders, feed 

 sieves and feed shelves, whether with or without feed 

 boxes attached, and these styles will all answer for dry 

 feed, but not for meal dough, cooked vegetables, soaked 

 grain, brewers' grains, fresh meat or any other form of 

 moist feed. Ordinarily, it is true, dry feed is to be pre- 

 ferred for both young and old birds. They will soak 

 their grain just right by drinking just the proper quan- 

 tity of water. 



Dry grain not only affords exercise, but is better any- 

 how as the main reliance, apart from the matter of exer- 

 cise, except for fattening fowls just at the finish. For 

 special purposes, however, as for feeding clucks, for 

 instance, or other waterfowl, which demand a large pro- 

 portion of soft feed, a feed trough controlled at a dis- 

 tance, like the cylinder sieve or shelf, is needed. 



Figures 123 and 124 give side views of such a feed 

 trough, and Fig. 125 shows a transverse section of the 

 same, the letters in the several cuts referring to the same 

 details. Regarding ducks, see Chapter XXI and Fig. 86. 

 A good way is to have a water tank, Fig. 86, at one end 

 of a long runway, Y 9 of low, movable, covered hurdles, 

 which may be shifted so that the ground may be plowed 

 to freshen it, and a trough, such as we are about to 

 describe, at the other end. In both the side views of 

 this feed trough, Figs. 123 and 124, will be seen a row 

 of upright slats, through which the birds thrust their 

 heads to feed. The fowls stand on the floor, a. The 



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