16 



HOW TO FEED POULTRY FOR ANY PURPOSE WITH PROFIT 



ration. If poultry keepers generally would make a study 

 of the relative feeding values of grains as apparent by the 

 proportions of hull and waste that they contain, which can 

 be determined by ordinary inspection, and then buy ac- 

 cordingly, the prices of all sorts of grains would soon 

 be properly adjusted to the price of corn, which under 

 normal conditions is nearly everywhere the cheapest 

 grain obtainable 



Barley and wheat have about the same nutritive value, 

 except that barley contains a larger percentage of fiber, 

 the grain having a hull. Hulled barley and wheat should 

 be bought for poultry feed at the same price. Barley witii 

 the hull is usually worth 10 to 15 cents a bushel, or 15 to 

 25 cents a hundred, less than an ordinary grade of feed 

 wheat. The proportion of hull varies greatly, just as it 

 does in oats, though good barley is much plumper than 

 the best oats, and the poorest barley is rarely as poor as 

 a large part of the oats on the market. Poultry that have 

 never had barley sometimes scour badly if suddenly 

 changed to a diet containing much of it, but the trouble 

 r rally disappears within a few days. If it does not, it 



CHICKS IN BROODERS IN GRASSY YARDS' AT GRANDVIKW FARM, AURORA, 

 N. Y. GRAIN GROWING IN FIELD BEYOND 



may fairly be assumed that some other things in the ration 

 or in the conditions to which the birds are subjected need 

 attention and co.rection. 



Brewers' grains and malt sprouts, though commonly 

 described as poultry feeds, are not generally used for that 

 purpose, their chief use being as cattle feeds. The prohibi- 

 tion of the manufacture of liquors in the United States 

 will take this class of products off the market, and it is 

 entirely problematical whether barley will continue to be 

 grown in quantities that will make it an important item 

 for poultry feed. Its prime use has been for brewing, and 

 its availability for stock feeding has depended upon the 

 amount of surplus over what the brewers could use. 



Rye and Rye Products 



Rye is produced in America in much less quantity 

 than any other of the common grains. The chief use of 

 the plant here is for green forage for all kinds of live 

 stock, and for the straw which is especially valuable for 

 bedding and litter by reason of its length and extreme 

 toughness. During the recent war period rye flour was 

 extensively mixed with wheat flour for human food, and 

 the value of rye in feeding animals appears to be greater 

 in mixtures with corn than when the attempt is made to 

 feed rye or rye products alone. Rye is said to produce 

 digestive disorders, and anyone not accustomed to it who 



will eat a little pure rye bread will discover that it has 

 in much greater degree the acrid properties sometimes 

 noted in oat preparations. In parts of Europe where rye 

 is more extensively grown than here, it is used for feeding 

 all kinds of live stock, but authorities on feeding in those 

 countries advise against feeding it alone, and also say that 

 it gives better results fed cooked than when given raw. 

 On the whole, the American poultry feeder need not con- 

 cern himself much about this line of products. If he has 

 rye on hand or can get it cheap he can use it in a limited 

 way with other ingredients. 



Buckwheat and Buckwheat Products 

 Poultry seem to like buckwheat in limited quantities, 

 but not to care to make a full meal of it as they do of 

 corn, wheat, or good oats. There is not much buckwheat 

 available for poultry feeding in this country and what 

 there is, is often of inferior quality, which perhaps ac- 

 counts for the reluctance of the birds to eat it freely. 

 In Europe, and particularly in France, buckwheat and its 

 by-products, groats, bran and middlings, are much used 

 in feeding poultry. French buckwheat is said to be 

 superior to that grown in England. 

 Some poultrymen here occasionally 

 grow buckwheat on land they want 

 to freshen, and use the unthreshed 

 straw as litter, letting the poultry 

 feed on the grain as they thresh it 

 out by scratching. This practice 

 might profitably be followed much 

 more widely than it is. 



Miscellaneous Grains and Seeds 



Broom-corn seed, sorghum seed, 

 f axseed, cottonseed, kafir corn, millet, 

 rice, etc., are suitable for poultry feed, 

 but are not generally obtainable at 

 prices that compare favorably with 

 the common staples. Broom-corn 

 seed, hulled, has given as good re- 

 sults as wheat .after the fowls be- 

 came accustomed .to it. Kafir corn is 

 now grown quite extensively on the 

 dry lands of the Southwest and Far 



West, and there is an increasing use of it as poultry feed 

 in and near the places where it is grown, but elsewhere 

 supplies of it are irregular and, as a rule, the prices asked 

 are too high. In warm climates that are too dry for corn, 

 poultrymen should use kafir corn in the yards and on 

 available land, just as corn is used in places that suit it. 



Millet has not the value commonly attributed to it as 

 poultry feed. Large birds eat its small grains reluctantly, 

 and chicks thrive best if the amount of millet in their diet 

 is limited to what they will take when well fed on grains 

 that they like better. Any attempt to force them to eat 

 considerable quantities of millet leads to underfeeding and 

 restricted growth. Used moderately as an extra, it is a 

 good feed, but even so it is not an economical feed unless 

 the price is close to the price of corn. . 



Rice is an excellent feed for poultry, but the produc- 

 tion of it in this country is so small, as compared with 

 that of the common field grains adapted to general cul- 

 tivation, that the amount used is insignificant. It consists 

 mostly of broken and damaged rice, principally in prepared 

 chick feeds. In this form rice may be given with entire 

 freedom. There is no risk in its use, but the rice by- 

 products (bran and hulls) should be' given with more care. 

 The bran is apt to contain a large mixture of hulls which 

 are not only worthless, but may be injurious. 



