14 



HOW TO FEED POULTRY FOR ANY PURPOSE WITH PROFIT 



A MARKET POULTRY FARM IN THE SOUTH SHORE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS 

 (Continuation of this view on page 15) 



ings, composed of small and broken wheat, often appear 

 to be good for poultry feeding as the best commercial 

 grades. As applied to wheat screenings this means clean 

 screenings, free from large quantities of weed seeds and 

 chaff. 



The red wheats are generally better value than the 

 white, being richer in protein, which makes them harder. 

 The best way to test the quality of wheat is by biting 

 the grains with the front teeth. Poultry eat wheat more 

 readily than any other grain but corn. The difference in 

 feeding value between good corn and wheat, as noted in 

 ordinary practice, is imperceptible. Such advantages as one 

 or the other may appear to have in particular instances 

 are plainly due to conditions under which it is, for the 

 time being, the more suitable feed. Experiments made at 

 some of the experiment stations to determine the relative 

 values of corn and wheat have given the same conclu- 

 sions, though it must be admitted that the methods 

 adopted sometimes have not been such as allowed a clear 

 comparison. However, the conclusions arrived at gener- 

 ally accord with the observations of practical poultrymen. 



Wheat by-products are the parts of the grain separ- 

 ated from flour in milling. They vary, according to the 

 process of milling and the kind and grade of flour, to 

 such an extent that for many years there has been great 

 confusion in the identification of the different kinds and 

 grades by the names that are applied to them. Since 

 nearly all states now have feeding-stuff inspection laws, 



A MODEST BEGINNING 



The business farm shown above heg-fn in tv-is ITV-I- 

 try house on a town lot. When Mr. H. D. Smith, Rock- 

 land, Mass., located on the farm shown above, he took 

 the "first poultry house" with him. 



and products of this kind originating in one state may be, 

 and commonly are, shipped to many others, the officials 

 in charge of feeding-stuff inspections have cooperated 

 to standardize the terms used in describing them. The 

 definitions of wheat products as agreed upon by them 

 are: 



"Wheat bran is the coarse outer coating of the wheat 

 berry obtained in the usual milling process from wheat 

 that has been cleaned and scoured." 



"Shorts or standard middlings are the fine particles of 

 the outer and inner bran separated from bran and white 

 middlings." 



"White middlings or wheat white middlings are that 

 part of the offal of wheat intermediate between shorts or 

 standard shorts or standard middlings and red dog. This 

 term correctly applies to high grade middlings, low in 

 bran content, thus being highly digestible. An off-grade 

 flour which contains 2.5 per cent or less of fat and 13% 

 or less of protein should not be confused with white 

 middlings." 



"Wheat mixed feed or ship stuff is a mixture of the 

 products other than flour obtained from the milling of 

 wheat." 



"Red dog is a low-grade wheat flour containing the 

 finer particles of bran." 



In the feeding of poultry the wheat products are gen- 

 erally combined with other milled feeds, principally the 

 corn products, though oat products are often used also. 

 The most common commercial form is the mixed feed 

 or ship stuff. Where "mixed feed" is mentioned as an in- 

 gredient of mashes this is what is meant unless it is 

 specified that the reference is to one of the many mixtures 

 of different grain products put out by dealers as complete 

 feeds. These last would be more appropriately and plainly 

 described as mashes. 



Bran alone has little nutritive value and is obviously 

 not attractive to poultry. Mixed with fine corn meal it 

 gives desirable bulk to the mass, prevents it from packing 

 in the crop, and supplies mineral elements in which the 

 corn meal is lacking. Middlings mixed alone with water 

 make a sticky, pasty mess. When bran and middlings 

 wheat mixed feed are mixed with water, the consistency 

 and palatableness are improved but still are not as good 

 as when corn meal is added. A combination of these three 

 ingredients, with a little meat meal added, gives a simple 

 mash, of ingredients almost everywhere obtainable, and 

 one of high efficiency. Hence the corn and wheat pro- 

 ducts are the usual base in standard mashes, variations 

 and substitutions being made to utilize other ingredients 

 that may be locally or occasionally more economical. Fur- 



