PREPARATION OF FEEDS FOR POULTRY 



39 



quickly by two men, and makes an excessive reach in work- 

 ing the mass back and forth. Where boxes of the dimensions 

 given are not large enough, and it is desired or. necessary 

 to feed moist mashes, power, mixers should be installed. 

 Unless, or until, this is done it will be found more satis- 

 factory to mix at one time only what can be handled in 

 a box of convenient size, and to shovel each batch (until 

 the last), as mixed, into a pile in a convenient place near 

 the box or into the containers in which it is to be dis- 

 tributed for feeding. Some poultrymen who mix in this 

 way have a large, deep box or bin at the end of the mixing 

 box so placed that the mash can be conveniently loaded 

 from it into wheelbarrows or carts. 



For mixing mash in such boxes as have just been 

 described, square-edged dirt shovels are used, either with 

 long or with short handles as may be preferred. The 

 length of shovel handle preferred will depend both on 

 the height of the man doing the work, and on whether the 

 box is placed directly on the floor or raised a little from it. 



Steam Cooking Apparatus 



Years ago a good many of the largest poultry plants 

 that cooked mash to feed their adult stock once a day, 

 and to growing chicks in the season, and so used large 

 amounts, of soft feed, had steam cookers of various capac- 

 ities and types. The mash as cooked in these was mixed 

 cold, about like a rather dry johnnycake batter, and in 

 cooking it was really baked so that it cme out much 

 like a big underdone cake. The cooking was generally 

 done slowly. Often the mass was put in a big steam 

 jacket kettle late in the afternoon and cooked with slow 

 heat all night. Of course not all who used these cookers 

 were good cooks, and many fed the cooked mash in rather 

 poor condition. When well made and cooked it was 

 splendid feed, but the results of using it were not notice- 

 ably better than were obtained by the use of scalded and 

 cold-mixed mashes, and cooking on this scale was long 

 since generally abandoned. 



Mechanical Feed Mixers 



There are mechanical feed mixers suitable for mixing 

 either moist or dry mashes made both in small sizes for 

 hand power, and in larger sizes for high power. Poultrymen 

 also frequently make homemade contrivances of this kind. 

 The use of these rather than of the more common equipment 

 described is generally determined by and is in keeping 

 with the general character of the equipment of the plant. 

 There is not the same advantage in the small mechanical 

 contrivances of this class as in the large ones operated by 

 power, but many people prefer custom-made to home- 

 madie equipment as more businesslike and giving a better 

 appearance and distinctive character to their plant. 



Power Feed Mixers 



The type of machine most commonly used where 

 large quantities of mash must be mixed for poultry, and 

 especially on duck farms, is the baker's dough mixer, 

 usually bought secondhand and at much less than the 

 price of a new machine. With such machines large quan- 

 tities of feed can be mixed rapidly and thoroughly. A 

 half-ton lot, or even more can be mixed in about the 

 time it takes thoroughly to stir up a pail of mash. 



Shelling and Grinding Machinery 



To a large poultry plant that grows any considerable 

 amount of corn, or the poultry plant on a farm using 

 power machinery of this class in connection with the 

 care of other kinds of stock, a corn sheller and a mill that 

 can be adjusted either to crack or to grind corn are very 

 useful. The question of the economy of purchasing such 

 machinery depends not only upon the supplies to be put 



through them, and the cost of power, but upon the cost 

 of the machine. As a rule it is not good policy to go 

 very far in the purchase of this kind of equipment until 

 a business is well established, for few large plants can 

 mill much of the feed they use, and the occasional use of 

 expensive machinery does not meet the cost of it except 



in a long term of years. 







Hay, Fodder and Root Cutters 



Where hay and forage plants are grown on the farm 

 and fed either dry or green, a machine that will cut 

 them fine is serviceable. Such machines can be obtained 

 of almost any size desired, and the smallest are so in- 

 expensive that a poultry keeper with more than a few 

 dozen birds can hardly afford to be without one. Some 

 of the small hay cutters will cut hay almost as fine as 

 meal and do it quite rapidly. Machines for cutting fod- 

 der are especially useful when it is to be mixed in the 

 mash. Root cutters will usually pay for themselves even 

 if a large part of the roots used are fed without cutting, 

 for they are not expensive and it is often found con- 

 venient to use them. 



Bone Cutters 



Wherever there is an opportunity to get green bone 

 and meat, in quantities that make the trouble of getting 

 it worth while, it pays to have a bone cutter, especially 

 if it can be run by power. Even with occasional and ir- 

 regular use a machine of appropriate size will pay, for 

 with it a valuable feed can be prepared which otherwise 

 is obtainable only by poultry keepers who can- buy of 

 retail meat markets that cater to the demand for cut 

 bone. There are a few of these in most large cities, but 

 not many elsewhere. The use of a bone cutter is not 

 limited to cutting bone. Though much stronger than is 

 necessary for the purpose it can be used for cutting up 

 stale bread, crackers, etc., and even as a vegetable cutter, 

 when these things are not required in large quantities. 

 Many small poultry keepers use a bone cutter for such a 

 variety of purposes. 



Mixing a Scalded Mash in a Pail 



In making a scalded mash containing corn meal, the 

 point of first importance is to have the water boiling. 

 When boiling water is poured on meal of good quality it 

 begins to swell immediately and will absorb a consider- 

 able quantity of water without becoming sloppy. In 

 starting to mix such a mash the amount of meal that is 

 thought to be sufficient should be put in the pail, and 

 the boiling water then poured over it, stirring the mass 

 at the same time, and continuing stirring and adding 

 water until all the meal is well mixed and of the con- 

 sistency that will sufficiently moisten the other ingredi- 

 ents when they are added to it. 



This point of consistency can only be judged by ex- 

 perience. Skill and judgment in using just the right amount 

 of water are acquired through practice. The desirable 

 consistency of this mush, of course, depends on the pro- 

 portion of other things that are to be added to it. If the 

 meal constitutes one-fourth or -one-third of the dry in- 

 gredients of the mash, it must be thinner when the other 

 things are added than if it constitutes one-half. Also if 

 the meal is of poor quality and will not swell instantly 

 when wet with boiling water it will not absorb nearly so 

 much water, in fact will not seem to absorb much at all, 

 but will settle in the water much like sand does. What 

 to do in that case will be described later. 



In the most simple mashes either bran, or bran and 

 middlings, and meat scrap are added to the meal. The 

 bran and middlings as purchased may be separate or may 



