292 THE RURAL EFFICIENCY GUIDE STOCK 



animal meats. Beef scraps make an exceedingly cheap source of food for 

 chickens and should be bought when they can be had at reasonable prices. 



Alfalfa. It has been found by the Utah Experiment Station that alfalfa 

 (lucern leaves) fed in winter has the same effect on the eggs that grass has 

 during the spring and summer, that is, it gives the yolk the natural rich orange 

 color. It is a fine winter feed. 



Skim Milk. Skim milk contains a great deal of protein. When given to 

 the birds either as a drink or in the form of a wet mash, it will double the 

 egg yields, according to the Nebraska Experiment Station. Let it sour before 

 feeding as sour milk keeps the hens healthy. It may be given as a drink, 

 compounded with beef scraps or animal meal, or it may be mixed with ground 

 grain or meal. When added to a meal mixture use about two pounds of milk 

 to one of meal. The most economical gains are made in chickens when skim 

 milk is fed both ways, i. e., as a drink and added to the grain mixture. Skim 

 milk is also perhaps the best food for producing the desirable white skin in 

 chickens. (Commercial meat scrap is of equal value and may be substituted 

 when milk cannot be obtained). 



Insects and Bugs. In the summer the hens get protein by eating insects, 

 bugs, grasshoppers and such things. During the winter months they must 

 be given feeds to take the place of these, such as: cut bone, meat scraps 

 and animal meal. The scraps and meal may be mixed with the mash but green 

 cut bone is usually fed by itself. Feed one-half to three-quarter pounds of 

 meal or meat scrap to twelve to fifteen hens. 



Cut Bone. Hens under like conditions, with fresh cut, green bone added 

 to their feed, will lay nearly twice as many eggs in the winter season and a 

 third more right in the summer season than they will without it. Cut 

 bone is fresh bone shaved into thin pieces by a bone cutter. If the bone 

 has considerable meat on it all the better for the meat and bone together is 

 excellent for producing eggs. Cut bone must be obtained regularly as it can- 

 not be kept sweet long. If it is not sweet, bowel trouble may result. When 

 first beginning to feed, give one-half pound to twenty hens, then double the 

 amount. Meat is likely to be loosening to the bowels at first so the hens 

 should be watched carefully and not fed too much. When they are used to it it 

 may be kept constantly before them. 



F a t s . Ten percent of an egg is fat. Fat is made from starch. Grains 

 contain a great deal of starch, especially corn. Wheat, milo, sorghum, 

 buckwheat, are also fat-producing foods. 



Corn. Chickens can readily digest corn whether fed cracked or whole or 

 as corn meal and whether fed moist or dry. If the grain is finely ground it is 

 usually best to moisten it before feeding. Corn is fattening and heating. If 

 too much is fed it will produce fat instead of eggs. It should be balanced with 

 linseed meal, bone, meat, gluten, and nitrogenous feeds, for corn is deficient 

 in nitrogen. If corn is fed to hens having plenty of exercise, that secure 

 insects and green feed, much more satisfactory results will be obtained than 

 when it is fed to the same fowls closely confined. It may be fed largely in 



