F1&ST LEX SONS IN POULTRY KEEPING. 



LESSON 



Winter Rations For Laying Stock. 



IN this lesson we consider methods of winter feeding of fowls kept for laying purposes. 

 Let the reader note first, that the food while an important factor, is but one of several 

 factors in egg production : hence it is possible for hens that are properly fed on a suitable 

 ration to fail to produce eggs, or to give a very unsatisfactory yield. Other matters affect- 

 ing the egg yield will be considered, each in its proper place. In this lesson we confine our- 

 selves to the treatment (1) of the properties of the principal staple articles of poultry food gen- 

 erally available at this season ; (2) of the methods of feeding; (3) of a few good specific rations. 



Principal Poultry Foods and Food Accessories. 



The articles included under this heading may be grouped into seven classes, as follows: 

 I. Whole Grains. Corn, wheat, barley, oats, and millet. 

 II. Cracked Grain and Mixtures. Cracked corn and the prepared " scratching feeds." 



III. Ground Grains. Corn meal, corn chop, ground oats, wheat bran, wheat middlings, 

 "mixed chop" (corn and oats ground together), "provender," (a mixture of ground 

 corn, oats, and bran), and the various brands of mixed ground feeds. 



IV. Green and Vegetable Foods. Cabbage, cut clover or clover meal, cut alfalfa or 

 alfalfa meal, and the common root vegetables. 



V. Meat Foods. Green cut bone, beef, pork and mutton scraps, meat meals, and animal 

 meals so-called. 



VI. Food Accessories. Shell, grit, charcoal, and condiments. 

 VII. Drinks.-Water and milk. 



Considering these classes separately : 



I. Whole Grains. 



Whole corn is to be fed very sparingly because the grains are so large that fowls fed 

 it freely and often get too much of their ration without exercise. 



Wheat and barley may be fed very freely. 



Oats and millet are generally used in small quantities, as light midday meals. Ordinary 

 lots of both contain so much unfilled grain that there is little advantage in using them. 



II. Cracked Grains and Mixtures. 



Cracked corn may be fed in winter as freely as wheat and barley. At usual prices it is 

 the most economical grain food, and should be the major part of the grain ration in 

 winter. 



The various brands ol mixed grains are composed generally of cracked corn, small and 

 broken wheat, barley, oats, buckwheat, millet, etc. The economy and advantage of using 

 them depend upon ease or difficulty of getting the needful variety of unmixed grains of 

 local dealers, and upon whether the keeper gives the necessary attention to variety when 

 buying his grains separately. 





