74 BROILERS AND ROASTERS. 



ous kinds. Admitting that the proprietor of the mixture 

 with his expert judgment will often do better for the novice 

 than he is likely to do for himself, it is still true that the 

 novice pays for every service of this kind, and the sooner 

 he is able to dispense with such services the more eco- 

 nomically he will grow his poultry. 



The strong point in favor of these preparations is not 

 that they are cheaper, or better than poultry keepers car* 

 make for themselves, but that they omit nothing that is 

 necessary, and provide for a constant variety. Too many 

 poultry keepers of some experience, as well as novices, fail 

 to provide all the things their chicks and fowls need so 

 that they can have them as they need them. The manufac- 

 turers of prepared mixtures of various kinds take account 

 of this in the preparation of their goods, and so give the 

 poultrymen an article which makes good some common 

 shortcomings. This explains why so many people are 

 more successful with prepared foods. 



There is one misapprehension about the use of prepared 

 foods that, in the interests of economy, ought to be removed 

 from any mind that harbors it. The impression is very 

 general that prepared foods are used exclusively by many 

 large growers of broilers and roasters. This is not the 

 case. There are many small growers using prepared foods 

 exclusively, but the large growers, and in fact most of those 

 who figure expenses closely use the prepared mixtures to 

 start the chicks, and as they grow older change to part 

 cheaper grain, generally fine cracked corn, the proportion 

 of corn being gradually increased until in the case of chicks 

 reserved for roasters they are on an almost exclusive cora 

 (for grain) diet when three or four months old. 



