230 THE HANDBOOK FOR PRACTICAL FARMERS 



5. Oyster sliell, grit and charcoal, accessible at all times. 



6. An abundance of fresli water. 

 A good laying ration: 



Mash. — Equal parts of meat scrap, corn meal or gluten feed, 

 wheat bran, gromid oats, wheat middlings. 



Scratch grain. — Equal parts of corn, wheat, oats. 



A good mash will contain twenty per cent meat scrap, about 

 twenty per cent wheat bran, about twenty per cent corn or gluten 

 feed and the balance in ground oats, middlings or other available 

 ground feeds that are not very concentrated. Corn, wheat, bar- 

 ley, oats, buckwheat, peas and almost any home grown grain 

 except r^^e, may be ground and used in the mash. But the mash 

 should always contain wheat bran and meat scrap (if milk or 

 meat is not provided in some other way). 



One farmer uses nothing but calf heads and other waste from 

 his farm butchering as the only source of animal food. His 

 birds lay well and his eggs hatch well. As soon as the birds 

 finish one head he gives them another. 



Milk will take the place of meat and may be fed, always sour, 

 in pans, all they will drink. 



A good scratch grain will be made of at least half corn or 

 wheat, or both. The other half may be made of any grain that 

 can be raised on the farm or bought reasonably, wdth the excep- 

 tion of rye. Less corn and buckwheat should be fed in the 

 summer. 



The method of feeding should be such as to : 



1. Induce exercise. 



2. Cause the birds to eat the right proportions of mash and 

 grain. 



Exercise is induced by feeding as frequently as possible very 

 small amounts of grain during the day in a litter about six 

 inches deep. During the winter, a small pail containing the 

 day's grain allowance may be placed in each pen and a handful 

 scattered each time the attendant goes through the pen. An 

 hour before the birds go to roost the remainder of the day's 

 allowance is scattered in the litter. 



The right proportions of mash and grain are maintained by 

 restricting the amount of grain the hens would naturally eat. 

 They prefer the grain to the rather unpalatable dry mash. The 

 following daily amounts of grain for each one hundred hens, of 

 any breed, has given excellent results at the Vineland Contest : 



i2 pounds during November, December, January, February, 

 March and April. 



