POULTRY KEEPING 577 



give variety to the grain ration. It has a little more protein than 

 corn and a little less than oats. Buckwheat is quite well liked by 

 fowls, but is not very widely fed. It may be fed to vary the ration. 

 Buckwheat middlings are rich in protein and make a good mixture 

 with corn meal. Rye is not fed largely, and does not seem to be 

 much relished by poultry. It is supposed to cause bowel trouble 

 when fed freely. 



Mash Feeding. It is the practice of a large percentage of the 

 most successful poultrymen to feed a part of the daily grain ration 

 ground. Most of them feed the ground grain moistened with either 

 milk or water, although some feed it dry. A fowl's gizzard is capable 

 of grinding all kinds of grain, but it is generally considered to be 

 more economical to have a part of the grinding done by steam or 

 water power. The soft-feed idea, however, must not be overworked. 

 A beginner often reasons that it is cheaper for the miller than for 

 the fowl to grind the grain ; but the powerful muscles of the gizzard 

 are there to be used, and experience has shown that the balance of 

 power of functions in the fowl's economy makes the vigorous exer- 

 cise of the gizzard beneficial. When feeding moistened ground feed 

 have it a comparatively dry, crumbly mash, and not a thin slop. 

 Give what they will eat readily in 15 to 20 minutes. 



Poultrymen do not agree as to the time of day when the soft 

 feed should be fed. Some assert that it should be fed in the morn- 

 ing, others at noon, and still others at night. The greater proportion 

 give the ground feed in the morning, a large number at night, and a 

 few at noon. The number who feed at noon, however, is becoming 

 larger. Those who give the soft feed in the morning reason that the 

 fowls which have been on the perches during the night have largely 

 digested the feed consumed the day before, and consequently have 

 comparatively empty crops and digestive organs, and in order that 

 the morning meal may be easilv and quickly digested the fowls 

 should be fed only ground and moistened feed. Other careful 

 feeders state that if a moistened mash i? fed in the morning the hen 

 is likely to become gorged with feed early in the morning and take 

 to the roost for the remainder of the day. It is probably more import- 

 ant that a part of the grain should be ground than that it should be 

 fed at any particular time of day. In an experiment in West Vir- 

 ginia the egg production was practically the same whether mash was 

 fed in the morning or at night. 



The following are given as sample mashes : 



100 pounds corn meal. 100 pounds wheat bran. 



150 pounds ground oats. 100 pounds corn meal. 



150 pounds wheat bran. 75 pounds wheat middlings. 



30 pounds linseed meal. 75 pounds cut clover or al- 



30 pounds beef scraps. falfa. 



100 pounds corn meal . 100 pounds wheat bran. 



100 pounds ground oats. 100 pounds ground corn. 



100 pounds wheat bran. 100 pounds ground oaK 



100 pounds ground barley. 



