CHAPTER XXIV 



THE VALUE OF MILK IN THE POULTRY YARD 



Poultry and ducks are carniverous in habit, and partly so by 

 nature. They do not belong to the same class of carniverous animals 

 as the dog, wolf, etc., but they must have animal food of some kind 

 in order to do their best. More properly speaking, they are insect 

 eaters, and ducks especially will not lay or thrive unless they are 

 supplied with a substitute for insect life. Ground fresh bone is the 

 nearest approach to insect life that we can furnish domesticated 

 fowls. But not many of us are so situated that we can obtain fresh 

 ground bone. Farmers are very rarely able to get it, living away 

 from centers where such things are produced. Now the next best 

 substitute is milk. Milk fills every requirement for poultry. The 

 man who has a flock of laying hens and enough milk to serve them 

 for drink is well off for a good supply of eggs. He can produce eggs 

 a great deal cheaper than the man who must buy beef scrap or other 

 animal food. 



Not only will milk produce more eggs, but they will be of better 

 quality. Good, sound grain and milk together with a reasonable 

 amount of green food makes for a firmer yolk and a richer color. 

 And it stands to reason that the eggs will have a better capacity for 

 keeping longer than when the hens are fed on strong, highly flavored 

 meat food. Milk being rich in lime is also a great factor in shell- 

 making; this one item alone saves the hen's digestive organs, as she 

 has egg and shell material right to hand with the smallest amount of 

 labor. 



For raising young chicks, there is no other form of animal food 

 that will make the growth of bone and muscle more so than milk. 

 It contains all the elements for feather, bone and muscle growth in 

 a much easier way for the c'hicks to digest than meat and fish 

 combined. 



But it is in the fattening of all kinds of poultry that milk excels. 

 The U. S. Department of Agriculture has made extensive experiments 

 along this line, and in every case the use of milk in some form has 

 proven the very 'best for producing poultry meat of fine flavor and 

 quality. 



Buttermilk and skim milk are the kinds most in use for fattening 

 poultry, usually sour milk. The sour milk has a tendency to keep 

 the appetite of the fowls sharp so that they are ready for every meal; 



