88 



OUR DOMESTIC BIRDS 



at some seasons than at others, because natural food is more 

 abundant. As fowls do not usually go very far from their house, 

 the larger the flock the less food each bird will secure. On some 

 farms quite a large flock of fowls can get all the food they 

 need about the barns and stockyards and in orchards and fields 

 near the homestead. 



When the conditions are such that it may reasonably be sup- 

 posed that the fowls can get all the food they require without 



FIG. 85. Poultry house at Mississippi Agricultural College. 1 (Photograph 

 from the college) 



going farther than fowls usually wander, the best way to deter- 

 mine whether this supposition is correct is to give them no food 

 until evening, then throw out a little grain and see how much 

 they will eat. If it appears that they need to be fed a consider- 

 able quantity, it is better to give a light feed in the morning and 

 another in the evening than to give a heavy feed once a day, 

 because if they learn to expect a full feed at a regular time, they 

 will not forage so well. Fowls that have an opportunity to secure 

 considerable food by foraging should never be fed so much in 



1 In this house the part of the rear wall above the roost platform is made to open 

 wide, thus affording perfect ventilation in summer. 



