254 ELEMENTS OF FARM PRACTICE 



The above is the average amount fed per day to each 

 hen. The actual amount varied each day as the require- 

 ments of the hens varied. Early in the morning a part of 

 the wheat was scattered in the straw on the floor of the 

 coop. In the middle of the afternoon the flock was fed all 

 the cooked cut meat and bone they would eat up quickly. 

 Then at 4:30 p. m. they were given a liberal feed of wheat 

 again. The wheat was always scattered in the straw to 

 make the fowls exercise. The cabbage was fed by having 

 a head suspended from a wire and in reach of the hens. 



In addition to the feed, the hens always had a supply 

 of fresh water, grit and oyster-shells. Grit is necessary to 

 aid in the digestion of the food, and oyster-shells are neces- 

 sary to supply the material of which egg-shells are made. 



Ration No. 2, reported by the Utah Experiment Station, 

 Bulletin No. 92, page 139: .156 lb. mixed grain; .022 lb. 

 ground bone; .004 lb. beef scraps; .008 lb. gluten meal; .066 

 lb. skimmed milk. 



As in ration No. 1, grit, shells and water were supplied 

 in addition to the feed. The figures represented the average 

 amount of each kind of feed given per day to each hen. 

 Ration No. 2 supplies a little more variety than No. 1, but 

 has the disadvantage of necessitating the purchase of feeds 

 not raised on the farm. 



Variety. — Hens, like any other class of stock, like a 

 variety of feeds, and in this respect the last ration is good. 

 Variety in grains is very desirable, and is easily provided 

 by feeding a mixture of the common farm grains. Corn 

 can profitably be added to the ration, even of laying hens, 

 to replace a part of the grain feed. Corn is the cheapest 

 of the grain feeds. If corn is fed, it is well to give it the 

 last thing in the afternoon, so that the hens may have a 

 crop full when they go to roost; but a large amount of corn 

 is too fattening. Millet seed, buckwheat and sunflower 

 seed are good feeds to add in small amounts to the grain 

 ration, to add variety. 



Green Feed. — Chickens will eat quite an amount of 

 fine cut clover or alfalfa, or the leaves that may usually be 

 gathered in the mow or at the bottom of the chute where 

 clover or alfalfa hay is thrown down. This may be fed 



