FEEDING OF POULTRY 401 



Although it is possible, for some purposes, to com- 

 pound effective rations from grain alone when the defi- 

 ciency of ash is made good, it is better in practice to use 

 some animal food. A variety of grain food supplying 

 enough nitrogenous matter is not always to be found, and 

 animal foods when rich in protein, as most of them are, 

 prove of great service; for with them can be freely fed 

 some of the cheaper, starchy foods, typical among which 

 is the palatable and remarkably efficient Indian corn. For 

 fattening mature fowls, animal food is not so important 

 except when its use improves the palatability of the 

 ration. This last is a matter always to be considered. 



Succulent vegetable foods are eagerly eaten by do- 

 mestic fowls. Aside from the beneficial effect on the 

 health of the birds, it is important to use such foods as 

 far as possible, for the nutriment they supply is cheaply 

 obtained. With most rations the more nitrogenous 

 fodders, such as clover, alfalfa, and very immature 

 grasses, are best. These foods also contain more of the 

 needed lime than do grains. It must be remembered, 

 however, that fowls are not fitted to depend largely on 

 such bulky materials while production is rapid. The 

 goose is better adapted than most birds to live by grazing, 

 but the liberal use of the more concentrated grain and 

 animal foods has been found necessary except during 

 the idle season. 



At the time of greatest egg production the choice of 

 bulky foods should preferably be confined to those of the 

 most tender and succulent nature. Certain experiments 

 also indicate that a ration which contains any considera- 

 ble proportion of dry or woody coarse fodder, although 

 finely ground, is not suited to young chicks, and that 

 only the more succulent kinds of bulky foods, like the 

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