22 THE PEOPLE'S PRACTICAL POULTRY BOOK. 



feed greedily, and its heating influence, in winter, is very perceptible. Hemp 

 seed is also productive of eggs, and is very strengthening ; it is one of the 

 best things that can be fed to fowls during the moulting season. 



THE PROPER FOOD TO GIVE. 



In preparing birds for exhibition, flax seed may be given occasionally ; it 

 increases the secretion of oil, and gives luster to their plumage. In giving 

 soft feed it should be mixed stiff not mushy ; fowls do not relish it in the 

 latter state. A good food of this kind is composed of equal parts of fine 

 bran and Indian meal. This should be scalded or mixed with boiling hot 

 water to such a consistency that it will break or crumble when thrown upon 

 the ground. Another good soft feed is made of small potatoes, washed clean, 

 boiled, and mashed with an equal quantity of Indian meal. In giving soft 

 feed never use a feeding dish or trough. If the yards are clean, as they 

 should be, the ground is by far the best place to feed them from. The gravel 

 and sand, which adhere to the food, are necessary for digestion ; besides, 

 poultry prefer to pick their food from the ground. 



Do not, on any consideration, neglect to give poultry green food. A 

 little chopped vegetables of some kind, whether cabbage, lettuce, spinach, 

 onions or other greens, is better given every day than a great deal once or 

 twice a week. To secure perfect eggs, lime, in some form, ought to be fur- 

 nished. Broken bones, lime rubbish, oyster or clam shells, burned and 

 pounded fine, are all good. Beef or pork scraps are productive of good re- 

 sults. In the winter, when fowls cannot supply themselves with insects, 

 worms or grubs, a scrap-cake, laid in the hen yard for them to pick at, or a 

 little chopped off and broken up and fed to them, adds not only to their 

 health but largely to the contents of the egg basket. An occasional dish of 

 raw meat, chopped into small pieces and given them will be devoured with 

 avidity. Another way, and one which we have practiced with good results, 

 is to get a sheep's pluck and hang it up in the hennery, just high enough to 

 make the fowls fly up and pick it off by piece-meal. If fowls are over-fed 

 with meat it will show itself in the loss of feathers, and prove very detri- 

 mental to the brood. Some breeders feed game fowls largely on fresh 

 meat claiming that it creates a pugnacious disposition in the cock. What- 

 ever is done in the matter of feeding, regularity, as to time, is essential to 

 success. 



