166 



MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK 



cooked, dried and ground. Pure dried 

 blood contains more protein than the 

 others, therefore is considered better 

 in most cases. The beef scraps and 

 beef meal are the refuse of the slaugh- 

 terhouses, heads, lights, etc., boiled 

 down or cooked with steam, pressed, 

 dried and ground, and are frequently 

 called tankage. 



If you have a good brand, keep to it, 

 because some are no good, and if al- 

 lowed to become damp or heated are 

 injurious to the chickens. 



Bad Meat I had twelve laying 

 hens, they averaged seven eggs a day, 

 were healthy and never were sick un- 

 til I bought five cents' worth of green 

 ground bone from a wagon that passes 

 my door. It was wet and slimy, and 

 smelled, but he said it was all right. I 

 gave it to the chickens at noon; fed 

 them nothing else then. At four 

 o'clock I went out and found two dy- 

 ing and six more droopy and by eight 

 that night had lost eight. Next day 

 two large Buff Orpington hens died. 

 I looked for some of your remedies 

 giving asafoetida pills and the soda 

 you spoke of in the water. I showed 

 the bones to the butcher, and he said 

 he never heard of such a thing as 

 spoiled meat poisoning chickens. He 

 sold it when it smelled like that all 

 the time. Mrs. D. M. 



Answer That meat poisoned your 

 chickens evidently. It is called pto- 

 maine poisoning. Butchers sometimes 

 put formaline or some preservative on 

 the meat, which has a very poisonous 

 effect on chickens, but yours were un- 

 doubtedly poisoned by the putrid 

 meat. You had better not buy any 

 ground bone unless it is quite fresh. 



Blood Meal Will you please tell 

 me how much blood meal to put into 

 the mash for thirteen chickens, or in 

 other words, what proportion for each 

 hen? L. S. 



Answer Half an ounce per hen ev- 

 ery day at this spring season of the 

 year is about what they need of blood 

 meal mixed in the mash. Weigh out 

 enough for the thirteen hens and 

 measure that in a cup or by a spoon, 

 then you will know how much by 

 measure. 



ducks? Also for fowls and turkeys? 

 Are they as nourishing as alfalfa? 

 My hens are 1iot laying well. The 

 eggs have suddenly dropped off, and 

 I did not know but what the cause 

 might be beet tops. J. S. Y. 



Answer In September one is glad 

 to get anything green for the fowls, 

 ducks, geese or turkeys, to eat. Al- 

 most anything green is better than 

 nothing," but alfalfa contains more 

 protein than any other green food 

 except white clover. The per cent 

 of protein in white clover is 15.7, and 

 in alfalfa 14.30, while in beet tops it 

 is only 1.3. By this you will see that 

 alfalfa is worth about 14 times as 

 much as beet tops. There is about as 

 much protein in alfalfa as in wheat 

 bran. You complain that your hens 

 do not lay. I think probably they 

 are moulting. You cannot expect 

 hens to lay all the time without tak- 

 ing a rest. 



Dry Hopper Method I write you 

 regarding the dry hopper method of 

 feeding. How much space do you 

 leave at the bottom for the feed to 

 come through, and how wide do you 

 leave the space for the chickens to 

 eat out of? We made one, but it is not 

 a success, for the box is bloody from 

 their combs hitting against it. They 

 stand and eat all the time and do not 

 go and drink as you say yours do. 

 D. S. M. 



Answer I had the same experience 

 with hoppers injuring the combs of 

 the fowls, and now I make my hop- 

 pers like those used at the Maine 

 Experiment Station, simply a box 

 with a roof over it. The box is twen- 

 ty-four inches long and eleven inches 

 wide. The sides are cut like a gable, 

 the highest point being sixteen inches 

 high. The gable roof keeps the food 

 dry and the hens waste scarcely any 

 of it. The roof lifts off cr c:m be slid 

 back to fill it. 



Beet Tops Will you kindly tell me 

 if beet tops are a good green food for 



Dry Mash Will you kindly inform 

 me as to the best method of feeding 

 calfalfa meal to hens and pullets? I 

 use hopper constantly filled with dry 

 mash consisting of bran, shorts, feed 

 meal and beef scraps, accessible at 

 all times, and would much prefer add- 

 ing the calfalfa to this. Or would 

 you advise soaking it in water and 

 feeding it separately? The fowls get 

 grain twice a day and now if I add 



