FOOD FOR POULTRY. 25 



months ; and taking eggs at the high average of a penny 

 each all the year through, every one of the five hens must 

 lay at least 200 eggs to repay the mere cost of subsistence. 

 When we say that 1 50 eggs per annum is as much as can be 

 obtained from nine hens out of ten, it will be seen at once 

 that poultry could not be made profitable did they consume 

 so enormously ; and, in point of fact, we had the curiosity 

 to try this dietary upon six fowls "of the larger kinds," 

 and found it rather more than double what was amply 

 sufficient. 



The fact is, all fixed scales are delusive. Not only would 

 the great Asiatics eat twice as much as many other sorts, 

 but different fowls of the same breed often have very 

 different measures of capacity, and even the same hen will 

 eat nearly twice as much when in active laying as when her 

 egg-organs are unproductive. The one simple rule with 

 adult fowls is, to give them as much as they will eat eagerly, 

 and no more ; directly they begin to feed with apparent in- 

 difference, pick over it, or cease to run when the food is 

 thrown at a little distance, the supply should be withdrawn. 

 In a state of nature they have to seek far and wide for 

 the scanty morsels which form their subsistence ; and the 

 Creator never intended that they, any more than human 

 beings, should eat till they can eat no more. Even this 

 rule is hardly sufficient test. The birds should be handled 

 on their perch every now and then, and if, when thus 

 examined, they feel either too fleshy or too poor, their 

 rations should, if necessary, be modified accordingly. This 

 last is the real way of apportioning their daily food to fowls. 



It follows that food should never be left on the ground. 

 If such a slovenly practice be permitted, much of what is 

 eaten will be wasted, and a great deal will never be eaten at 

 all ; for fowls are dainty in their way, and unless at starva- 

 tion point refuse sour or sodden food. 



