70 



HOW TO FEED POULTRY FOR ANY PURPOSE WITH PROFIT 



preferably the last thing at night. Where cracked corn 

 and meal only can be had, it is a good plan to increase 

 the proportions of both in the ration and also to in- 

 crease the amount of animal feed as long as the chickens 

 will eat increased amounts in their mash with relish, or 

 when it is fed separately give them all they want. 

 With these increases in the more concentrated feeds, veg- 

 etable feeds and milk should be supplied as freely as pos- 

 sible. Waste windfall apples in quantity will go a long 

 way toward feeding poultry, and they are widely avail- 

 able. Frequently large quantities of cabbage that have 

 come on a little too fast for winter storage and have 

 split heads are available for poultry feeding, or may be 

 bought in quantity at prices that make them economical 

 feeds. Anything on his place, or in his vicinity, that 

 poultry will eat, and that it appears will otherwise go to 

 loss, a poultry keeper should secure for his poultry. 



Where such supplies are abundant and the stock of 

 poultry not large, they may make so much of the feed 

 that the grain requirements are reduced, but in general, 

 the birds will consume as much grain as ever, or per- 

 haps more; the advantage and the saving are not in act- 

 ual reduction of the amounts of grain used, but in keep- 

 ing the chickens growing at the best possible rate and 

 getting them to full growth and maturity as soon as pos- 

 sible. Many people are afraid to feed pullets heavily as 

 they approach maturity, for fear of getting them too fat 

 to lay. There is not the least danger of that except 

 where they are grown in very restricted quarters and 

 with much less green feed than is necessary to keep 

 them in good condition. The question of the relation of 

 fat to egg production will be considered in detail in con- 

 nection with that subject in the next chapter. Here it is 

 only necessary to say that when pullets are grown un- 

 der such conditions and on such rations as will produce 

 pullets with the development and the constitution re- 

 quired to make them profitable layers, there is not only 

 no danger of preventing their laying by heavy feeding 

 at this period, but the heaviest feeding they can stand 

 and keep good appetites is what they need to bring them 

 to laying as soon as they are full grown. 



Relation of Poultry Parasites to Feeding and Feeding 



Results 



Whatever diminishe's the comfort and vitality of a 

 creature unfavorably affects digestion and production. 

 We can see this most plainly in milch cows which are 

 fed and yield their product under conditions that bring 

 out clearly the influence of excitement or discomfort 

 upon appetite, digestion, and the flow of milk. The in- 

 dividual peculiarities of cows are noted because cows 

 have to have individual treatment in feeding and milking. 

 Similar peculiarities in hens are not so likely to be noted, 

 because the unit in poultry work is a flock, not an in- 

 dividual. The variations in the quantity of milk given 

 by a cow are conspicuous because she is milked at reg- 

 ular intervals and the amount of milk is expected to be 

 the same from day to day. Anything disturbing to the 

 cow is so certain to be followed by a reduction in the 

 quantity of milk at the next milking that the person in 

 charge of the cow has to be very obtuse not to see the 

 relation between the cause and the effect. 



In the care of laying hens fluctuations in the egg 

 yield on account of disturbances are not as plain as the 



I 



corresponding developments in connection with milk pro- 

 duction, but still are often apparent to ordinary observa- 

 tion. In growing chicks, even at the most rapid rate of 

 growth, the daily increase is not so noticeable that the 

 effects of things that check growth will be immediately 

 noticed. It is often only after a check has been operat- 

 ing for several days or a week or more that its cumula- 

 tive effects attract attention." Because of this it is nec- 

 essary for a poultry grower, and especially for a novice, 

 to guard against the development of conditions that may 

 unfavorably affect growth. In earlier sections in this 

 chapter instructions were given in regard to anticipating 

 the effects of extreme heat upon appetite and growth, by 

 suitable adjustments of the diet. Equally important is 

 the matter of the relation of parasites to the consump- 

 tion and digestion and assimililation of feed. 



The presence in small numbers of lice and mites o 

 adult poultry, or poultry that is nearly grown, does not 

 appear to be particularly detrimental to them. It is not 

 unreasonable to suppose, as some do, that the body lice 

 in moderate numbers may be beneficial, the irritation 

 they cause stimulating the bird to wallow in the dust, 

 which process, results in cleaning the plumage as well as 

 destroying most of the parasites. The parasites that con- 

 sume dead skin are of some use, and it is not at all im- 

 possible that the blood sucking mites do some service by 

 taking blood from birds that have too much blood pres- 

 sure. But the increase of parasites from harmless to 

 harmful numbers may be made so quickly, and with such 

 serious effects .upon growing chickens, that the poultry 

 grower needs always to keep this situation well in hand, 

 taking whatever measures are necessary to keep lice and 

 mites in subjection. 



Head and body lice of poultry are most troublesome 

 while the chicks are small. Red mites do most of the 

 damage during the summer. The effective way to keep 

 them down is by thoroughly spraying with a good liquid 

 insecticide and disinfectant all coops and houses occu- 

 pied by growing chickens. They should be sprayed be- 

 fore chickens are put into them, watched closely for the 

 appearance of mites, and sprayed as often as signs of 

 these are seen. Spraying at regular intervals is fre- 

 quently recommended, but in the writer's opinion it is 

 generally better to keep a sharp lookout and spray when 

 necessary. In hot, damp weather mites sometimes mul- 

 tiply with amazing rapidity, and those who rely upon 

 regular sprayings and do not watch closely for mites 

 often overlook an inroad of them that may start soon 

 after a spraying, until it has done a great deal of damage. 



Either lice or mites in sufficient numbers can com- 

 pletely neutralize the effects of the best of rations, and 

 the best of conditions in other respects. They sap the 

 vitality of the birds, diminish their appetites, impair their 

 powers of digestion, and take the profit out of the poultry 

 growing. Nor are the effects of lice and mites seen only 

 in these general respects. In the growing of exhibition 

 poultry, the diminished vitality of the birds due to the 

 presence of lice or mites, or both, affects the develop- 

 ment of the feathers, making faults that would not other- 

 wise be present; and may also .notably affect the car- 

 riage and type of the bird. Poultry may live while in- 

 fested with lice, but they will not thrive if lice cause them 

 any serious discomfort or annoyance. 



