FARM ANIMALS 299 



In many localities peanuts are fed to chickens 

 and the returns from this food are usually quite 

 fine. Peanuts, as is well-known, contain a high 

 percentage of both protein and fat and may, there- 

 fore, be used in feeding chickens for market, but 

 are ordinarily not used for laying hens. Various 

 rice products as well as wild rice have been tried 

 for chicken feed. In one instance a direct com- 

 parison of rice and wheat gave results decidedly 

 in favor of the rice as a food for the production 

 of eggs. Rice milling products may be relatively 

 too high in price, except in Louisiana and Texas, 

 where these materials are produced in abundance. 



Wheat. This grain is everywhere fed to chickens 

 and is considered excellent feed for them. Not 

 only good whole wheat may be fed, but also cracked 

 wheat, shrunken wheat, screenings, and frosted 

 wheat with the reasonable hope of getting good 

 returns from them. Where considerable animal 

 food is given to chickens wheat appears to be not 

 much superior to corn. The great value of wheat, 

 however, appears in cases where little other pro- 

 tein is given in the ration. In some cases, where 

 large quantities of skim milk have been fed to 

 chickens, corn has proved quite superior to wheat. 

 Corn has usually been found superior to wheat in 

 rations where considerable animal food was used, 

 while with beef scraps wheat and corn are about 

 equal. Similar results have been obtained in 

 rations containing milk albumen and other animal 

 foods. 



While barley, wheat, buckwheat and rice con- 

 tain a relatively high percentage of protein it is, 

 nevertheless, true that poultry sometimes require 

 a more nitrogenous ration and one containing more 

 animal material than is supplied by the ordinary 



