186 FEEDING STUFFS 



Feeding for fattening poultry, no other grain equals com. Corn 

 is the cheapest feed for poultry, from the fact of its high feeding 

 value and it can be raised at home. Corn is very easily digested 

 and assimilated. The facts that corn is easily digested and is a 

 rapid fat former make it a very undesirable feed for mature birds 

 in close confinement if egg-laying is desired. A great many of 

 the farm flocks throughout the country are maintained almost 

 entirely upon an exclusive corn diet, which results in a very small 

 and usually an unprofitable egg yield. Corn does not contain 

 the nutrients in the proportion in which they are required in the 

 manufacture of eggs, and therefore it should be used in connection 

 with other grains, its particular function being to supply heat 

 and energy. 



Care should be taken in feeding whole or cracked com to avoid 

 the use of moldy feed. New corn which has not been properly 

 dried may mold and heat; in this condition it is a very unsafe feed. 



Corn meal, as the term is usually used, simply means the 

 whole corn kernel ground fine. This material is used quite exten- 

 sively in the feeding of all kinds of poultry, especially in making 

 mashes for the fattening of poultry for slaughter. 



Oftentimes corn together with the cob is crushed and ground 

 at the same time. The product obtained is called com-and-cob 

 meal. When the preparation is ground exceedingly fine, so that 

 the coarse fibres of the cob are reduced to fine particles, this 

 mixture may be economically used in poultry mashes. In general, 

 corn cobs consist largely of crude fibre and consequently have a 

 low value. When fed to poultry, this becomes a serious objec- 

 tion. When corn-and-cob meal is used in place of corn meal, the 

 ground oats and wheat can be eliminated from the mash. It is 

 desirable to use all possible means to keep the fibre content low. 



Gluten meal is a by-product of corn, resulting from the manu- 

 facture of starch. In the manufacturing process the starch is 

 separated from the gluten cells and husk by gravity. Gluten is 

 really the corn grain less the starch. Gluten meal is rich in fat 

 and protein, is highly concentrated, and should be used in poultry 

 mashes to no greater amount than 10 per cent. Corn bran, another 

 by-product from the manufacture of starch, consists of the shell 

 or hulls of the corn grain, and is rarely used for poultry. Gluten 

 is one of the best sources of concentrated vegetable protein. 



Gluten feed is a term used for defining prepared rations or feed 

 mixtures containing a certain percentage of gluten meal combined 



