PRINCIPLES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS OF FEEDING 



33 



give their flavor to both the flesh and the eggs. But 

 cooked onions may be fed as freely as desired without 

 imparting any undesirable flavor. Oats of such inferior 

 quality that poultry will not eat much of them raw, will 

 be eaten with relish when boiled, or even thoroughly 

 soaked in warm water. Meat that is slightly tainted, as 

 waste meat scraps often are, is not a good feed for poul- 

 try. Though they will eat it freely, and some may not 

 be injured by it, there are many birds that are especially 

 susceptible, particularly birds kept in rather close con- 

 finement and fed on- heavy rations. Thorough cooking 

 of such meat greatly reduces, if it does not entirely 

 eliminate the danger in feeding it. 



SYSTEMS OF POULTRY FEEDING 



T N feeding poultry two general systems are in use, the 

 differences between them being made by adjustment 

 in each to suit the method of feeding the mash, which in 

 one case is fed moist, and in the other dry. While some 

 poultry keepers rigidly follow either one system or the 

 other, that is not generally the best practice. The best 

 results are obtained by combining some features of the 

 two. Before discussing typical suitable combinations we 

 will consider these two systems separately, taking the 

 older system first. 



In the moist mash system of feeding, the ground 

 feeds given are mixed with water or milk, and fed at a 

 regular time daily, the amount given at that time being 

 usually carefully adjusted to the appetites of the birds, 

 the idea being to give only as much as they will clean up 

 in a period of twenty to thirty minutes, or occasionally 

 a longer period. The hard grains used are also generally 

 given at particular times, and in such amounts as will be 

 eaten before the next feeding. In this system as usually 

 applied, the aim is to feed well, yet never so much that 

 the birds will not have good appetites for the next meal. 

 The meat is usually fed in the mash, and the vegetable 

 feed partly in the mash and partly in other forms. 



In the dry mash system the ground feeds, including 

 meat scrap or other ground meat preparations, are fed 

 dry in hoppers, which are either accessible to the birds 

 at all times, or are open for quite a long time daily 

 several hours or more. The grains are usually fed in the 

 same manner as in the other system, but with less at- 

 tention to regularity in time of feeding when the dry 



mash is accessible at all times. Fine clover or alfalfa 

 meal is given in the mash, but all other vegetable feeds 

 must be given separately. 



Dry Mash Feeding 



The system of dry mash feeding was developed to 

 avoid certain common troubles in the use of moist mashes. 

 The making of a 

 good moist mash 

 is not a difficult 

 thing, but if it is 

 not done with due 

 care to secure 

 proper consistency 

 in the mixture and 

 to have it appetiz- 

 ing to the birds, 

 the results are 

 very unsatisfac- 

 tory. Either they 

 do not eat it well, 

 or indigestion and 

 bowel troubles de- 

 velop. By giving 

 the mash dry the 

 ill effects of im- 

 properly made 

 moist mashes are GOSLINGS ABOUT TWO WEEKS OLD 

 IN SMALL COOP AND YARD 



Most of the geese start life this way 

 in small flocks. 



avoided, but the 

 good results of 

 using properly 



made moist mashes are not secured unless the feeding of 

 dry mash is supplemented by special provision to insure 

 abundance of succulent feed, which becomes of even more 

 importance in dry feeding than when the moist mash is 

 used. Fowls fed on a dry mash must either drink more 

 water or hp,,e a great deal more succulent feed. Poultry 

 do not liko a dry mash as well as a properly made moist 

 mash, and will not eat it as readily when the dry mash 

 contains the same proportion of animal matter that is 

 usually fed in a moist mash. To make a dry mash appe- 

 tizing to them, the meat scrap, fish scrap, or similar sub- 

 stance must be considerably increased. This can be 

 done with safety and with generally good results if the 

 birds are allowed to balance their own rations of dry 

 mash and hard grain if the method of feeding is such 

 that they can get all the grain they want, are well sup- 

 plied with succulent feed, and only what dry mash they 

 want under such conditions. 



When birds are so fed, the amount of animal mat- 

 ter in the mash may be increased to 20, 25 or 30 per 



THOUSANDS OF GEESE ON A FATTENING FARM THE PICTURE SHOWS ONLY ONE CORNER OF THE FARM 



