22 



HOW TO FEED POULTRY FOR ANY PURPOSE WITH PROFIT 



of which often is checked by early frosts, making enor- 

 mous quantities of soft corn which is not desirable for 

 meal or to crack, and which deteriorates quickly after 

 milling. The large manufacturer of poultry feeds partly 

 avoids the dangers of using poor corn by buying in corn- 

 growing sections the best corn obtainable, and further 

 overcomes them by artificially drying the corn before 

 giinding or cracking it. 



After a season like that of 1917 when it was estimated 

 that fully sixty per cent of the corn grown in the United 



EMBDEN GEESE GRAZING 



There is an old saying- "a goose eats everything 

 before it and spoils everything behind it." This is true 

 . only when they are given poor pasture. 



States was soft, even the large feed manufacturers must 

 use some soft corn, but as what they use is dried it is far 

 superior to the greater part of the corn on the market, and 

 will keep in good condition for more months than the 

 ordinary run of goods will keep weeks. The poultry 

 keeper who finds his local supply of cracked corn un- 

 reliable or undesirable buys at least enough of a popular 

 standard commercial mixture to provide against the con- 

 tingency of being unable to get good corn locally in hot 

 weather. Hence, while peihaps comparatively few large 

 poultry keepers use commercial mixtures exclusively, 

 practically all buy them in large quantities. 



The popularity of widely known commercial mixtures, 

 both mashes and scratch feeds, and the frequency with 

 which the demand for them outruns the supply, leads mil- 

 lers and dealers in all localities to imitate them, or to 

 offer substitutes of their own compounding. While in 

 some instances these may be as good as the originals, in 

 general they are not, for the corn products in them are 

 1'kely to be the same inferior articles which the poultry 

 keeper wishes to avoid. The best way 'for a poultry keeper 

 to keep informed as to the values of all supplies on the 

 market is through the report of his experiment station 

 upon the different brands of commercial feeds sold in 

 his state. A list of the experiment stations will be found 

 on page 111. These reports protect both the consumer 

 and the honest manufacturer. 



From what has been said the reader will see that the 

 question of buying commercial mixtures, or of buying the 

 ingredients separately and making his own mixtures, de- 

 pends upon the conditions under which his flock is kept, 

 upon the quality and regularity of local supplies, and 

 upon his own inclination or ability to judge of the values 

 of feeding stuffs as found on the market, and to com- 

 pound rations. Stock on good range, with abundance of 

 green feed and natural animal feed may eat soft corn 

 or somewhat heated corn without being any the worse 

 for it, and will not suffer for lack of more variety in 

 giains, while stock in bare yards will quickly show the 

 effects of poor corn, and is more cheaply fed on a good 

 commercial mixture than on a variable supply as selected 

 by a keeper who pays little attention to the quality of the 

 feeds delivered to him. 



Condimental Poultry Feeds 



Condimenta! poultry feeds are preparations in which 

 articles having stimulative and tonic properties, and 

 others of some value in the treatment of common ail- 

 ments, are mixed with a base or filler of some common 

 feed suitable for the purpose, the preparation to be used 

 in small quantities in the mash. The regular use of such 

 preparations parallels the use of spices, seasonings, and 

 mild stimulants and correctives in human diet. That 

 some use of such things is necessary is a matter of com- 

 mon knowledge. The real questions at issue between 

 those who advocate and those who discourage the use o 

 proprietary articles of this class are, whether this is th 

 most economical way to give stimulants, tonics, and cor 

 rectives regularly, and whether it is better to use them a 

 general remedies, on the poultryman's own judgment, o 

 to treat cases of disease each in accordance with its pecu- 

 liar needs, and upon competent medical advice. 



Especially stimulating preparations known as eg; 

 foods have to the present time been the most generally 

 effective substitutes. for the high seasoning and spicing in 

 human diet, which gives to ordinary table waste much of 

 its special palatableness and value as poultry feed; one 

 reason for this is found in the simple fact that a great 

 many poultry keepers who are careless about supplying 

 these things as seasoning to make a ration more palatable 

 to the birds, will be very faithful in giving the same in- 

 gredients, with others of a stimulating nature, when the 

 diiect purpose is especially to stimulate egg production. 

 Again in stock of low vitality, and quite generally in 

 stock of ordinary vigor in long seasons of raw, chilly 

 weather, and when birds seem inclined to molt slowly, 

 the use of such preparations is commonly attended with 

 marked beneficial results, and on the whole the use of 

 those having medical value is probably much safer for the 

 aveiage poultry keeper than to attempt to treat his stock 

 for a particular disease with a particularly appropriate 

 remedy for it. 



To get medical advice for poultry that seems some- 

 what out of condition is not often practical. Except 

 where the stock is valuable and something seems to be 

 seriously wrong, the expense of securing advice either 

 from a doctor or an expert poultryman competent to 

 treat the situation is prohibitive. So while a poultryman 

 who has some skill in the diagnosis of poultry ailments, 

 and some knowledge of the particular remedies for each, 

 may use his special knowledge rather than a general 

 remedy, the average poultry keeper is more successful, as 

 a rule, in the use of feeds with condimental and some 



A FAMILY OF RHODE ISLAND "MONGREL GEESE" 

 WILD GANDER, AFRICAN GOOSE 1 , AND FOUR 



CROSS-BRED GOSLINGS 



These are considered the finest of table geese. They 

 are grown mostly on grass in good pastures, grain be- 

 ing fed in very limited amounts, except by those who- 

 buy and finish them for market. 



