Feeding the Hen. 65 



high per cent of muscle makers and may be thoroughly mixed in the mash. 

 Cut bone is a very useful food which is not usually mixed with the 

 mash but fed by itself. It consists of green or fresh bone, sliced or shaved 

 into thin pieces by a bone cutter, which is turned by a crank and cuts 

 or gouges off the end of the bone. Where a good supply of fresh bone 

 can be obtained this cut bone is very useful. It cannot be kept sweet 

 like the dry animal meal. We have seen cases where part of the carcass 

 of a dead animal was hung up in the henhouse for the fowls to pick at. 

 In cold weather it will keep reasonably sweet, and it is surprising to see 

 how the hens will pick the bones clean. In some cases bones are roasted 

 and smashed as well as can be with a sledge. 

 Any form of meat is likely to loosen the 

 bowels of the hen when first fed. Especially 

 with cut bone or when feeding a carcass, the 

 hens should be watched carefully and not fed 

 too much. Linseed meal and skim-milk are 

 often used as substitutes for rneat but do not 

 really take its place. Linseed is a laxative 

 food and should not be fed heavily. Skim- P „- 



milk is one of the most valuable of foods. ANOTHER SELf'feedbr 

 Some farmers go so far as to say that young pigs and chicks cannot be 

 properly raised without a supply of milk, but facts do not warrant the 

 statement. The milk is very useful for mixing the mash or for feeding 

 alone. We should always provide fresh water even when feeding milk. 

 The feeding value of skim-milk has been demonstrated in boarding-houses 

 and public institutions. Whenever the boarders are provided with all 

 the milk they desire, the meat bill always falls off. Still, no one but an 

 infant can depend on milk alone to supply all needed muscle makers. 



VARIOUS FOODS. — While we do not regard green food as a neces- 

 sity in hen feeding there is no doubt that the hen feels better when pro- 

 vided with grass or a substitute for it. Cabbage is the usual salad fed in 

 Winter. It may be hung up by a string so that the hens must jump up to 

 get it. The fact that they do jump for it proves that they crave some- 

 thing of the sort. Beets or mangels are often fed, either chopped in two 

 so that the hens can pick at them on the floor or hung on a nail driven into 

 the wall. Clover hay is relished by the hen, and not only gives her a bulky 

 food, but supplies muscle makers and mineral matter. The chaff and heads 

 which fall on the barn floor when the hay is thrown down may be mixed 

 in the mash. Some feeders chop the clover hay into short lengths, steam 

 It thoroughly by pouring boiling water upon it, and then covering it up. 

 It is fed hot in the middle of the afternoon in Winter, and we have seen 

 hens devouring it as cattle would. Clover and Alfalfa are sometimes 

 ground into a fine meal, which is excellent for mixing in the mash. Fish 



