46 THE HOME. POULTRY BOOK 
So much has been written about egg-producing 
feeds and growing feeds and balanced rations that 
the bewilderment of the beginner who tries to com- 
prehend it all can hardly be wondered at. It is 
needless to puzzle long over balanced rations. 
Place a trough of mixed grains before a flock of 
hens, and no matter how carefully the proportions 
have been balanced, the birds will unbalance them 
in about three minutes. That is to say, each fowl 
picks out the particular kind of grain which she likes 
best — and some poultry have very decided prefer- 
ences. 
Good sound grain in variety, with a mixture of 
ground grains served as a mash, a certain amount 
of meat in some form and green food in abundance 
will fill all the requirements. It must be remem- 
bered that hens forced for eggs do not make good 
breeding stock, besides demanding more care. The 
amateur’s flock need not be fed oftener than twice 
a day, although it often is convenient to give the 
hens the scraps from the family table at noon. On 
one famous egg-producing plant the hens are fed 
at least five times a day. But those hens are forced. 
They might be termed specialized hens. 
The grains to use are corn, oats, wheat, barley 
