FEEDING IN GENERAL 



167 



the calfalfa to the mash what propor- 

 tion shall I make it? Also, is it as 

 well to add the charcoal, two or three 

 per cent, to the mash or feed separ- 

 ately? I wish to simplify the routine 

 work as much as possible. Mrs. O. K. 



Answer I advocate adding the cal- 

 falfa meal to the dry mash. It would 

 make a very good ration to simply 

 add one part of calfalfa meal to your 

 present mash, making it One part 

 each of bran, shorts, feed mea4, beef 

 scraps and calfalfa meal. I feed this 

 with excellent results, but at first the 

 hens did not like the calfalfa, so I 

 only added one iron spoonful, in- 

 creasing the dose every day, adding 

 one more spoonful until, within a 

 month, they were having the right 

 proportion. You can mix the char- 

 coal in the same way, but I prefer to 

 keep it separate with the grit and 

 the crushed slu" 



Exercise for Fowls I was greatly 

 interested in an article of yours on 

 feeding. You say give a hen a chance 

 to work and no matter how fat, etc. 

 Now what interests me most to know 

 is just how you manage to give them 

 plenty of work in a limited space. 

 We, who occupy only a village lot, 

 will be greatly helped if you will 

 tell us how to keep hens busy in such 

 limited quarters. G. P. C. 



Answer To keep hens busy, give 

 them what is called a "scratching 

 pen." Put a 12-inch board across one 

 corner of your lot and fill that full of 

 good wheat straw or hay; scatter all 

 the grain you feed in that, and the 

 hens will work all day digging out 

 the grain; every grain they scratch 

 out they will bury two, and so will 

 keep up the exercise. If you are 

 feeding the hopper method, put the 

 hopper at one end of the pen and 

 the water vessel at the other end; 

 this will give them the exercise of 

 walking back and forth. You can 

 also hang up a cabbage for them to 

 jump at, but scratching is the natural 

 and best exercise for developing the 

 egg organs. 



beginners know what a good balanced 

 ration is. We are just as apt to over- 

 feed as to underrfeed. Would you 

 kindly give me formula for a good 

 egg ration? In giving ration, kindly 

 state quantities of each kind of feed 

 used in ration, amount to be fed to 

 twelve hens, whether to be fed wet 

 or dry, morning or night; also amount 

 of grain for twelve hens; in other 

 words, a full day's egg ration for 

 twelve hens; when to feed, how to 

 feed and quantity for daily ration. I 

 have some White Plymouth Rocks, 

 over eight months old, large and well 

 developed, but only two of them have 

 commenced to lay. I feed morning 

 mash of 2 parts bran, 1 shorts, 1 bar- 

 ley meal, 1 cornmeal, 1 alfalfa meal, 

 y 2 blood meal. Wheat at night, about 

 1/4 pints for twelve hens; good clean 

 yards and houses; fresh cut kale at 

 noon. W. S. F. 



Answer The ration you are now 

 feeding is a very good one, but at this 

 time of the year (early spring), I would 

 advise you to double the amount of 

 blood-meal in the mash. I would feed 

 the mash perfectly dry, without mois- 

 tening it in the least, in the morning; 

 the green feed at noon, and the wheat 

 at night, or I would reverse it, feeding 

 the wheat in the scratching pen in the 

 morning, green food at noon, and the 

 mash slightly dampened with table 

 scraps you may have, at night, giving 

 the hens at their supper time what 

 they will eat up clean. Pullets that 

 are ready to lay will sometimes retain 

 their eggs if they do not have com- 

 fortable nests; also sometimes they 

 require a slight shock or stimulants 

 to start they laying. I find chili 

 pepper seeds excellent for starting 

 the laying, or failing to get this, a 

 teaspoonful of red pepper three times 

 a week for a dozen hens, will often 

 start them laying. The ration you 

 are feeding, if you add more blood 

 meal (or animal food) is a well bal- 

 anced ration for eggs. 



Ration for Twelve Hens I take 

 great pleasure in reading your ar- 

 ticles. One thing I have failed to 

 find and that is a good balanced ra- 

 tion; many writers say, feed a good 

 balanced ration, but few of us new 



Tomatoes Do tomatoes tend to 

 make the hens quit laying? J. W. 



Answer Tomatoes will not do the 

 hens any harm unless fed in very 

 large quantities. There is not much 

 nourishment to them and consequent- 

 ly they will not improve the laying 

 qualities; otherwise a reasonable 

 amount will benefit the hens. 



