3O THE PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPER. 



than the larger ones ; but Asiatics particularly are so liable 

 to internal fat, that it is safest never to give them maize, 

 and very little of potatoes. 



One of the most valuable foods consists of heavy 

 white oats ground up fine, like flour. This has to be 

 done very carefully, with special stones, and for years was 

 only obtainable in Sussex, where it is the common food of 

 the young birds reared and fattened for the London market. 

 It is rather difficult to mix into a friable mass, and a very 

 little sharps or Indian meal helps this, or a portion of either 

 of the baked biscuit meals now so widely sold. These are 

 good food, but are better mixed with equal parts of raw 

 meal of some sort. Oatmeal is, of course, first-rate food, but 

 rather dear for common fowls. 



In mixing soft food there is one general rule always tc 

 be observed : it should be scalded with boiling water, and 

 mixed rather dry, so that a ball of it will break if thrown 

 upon the ground. There should never be enough water to 

 cause the food to glisten in the light, or to make a sticky 

 porridgy mass, which clings round the beaks of the fowls, 

 and gives them infinite annoyance, besides often causing 

 diarrhoea. It is best mixed with the hands, and in the same 

 way squeezed up into balls. 



If the weather be dry, and the birds are fed in a hard 

 gravelled yard, the food is just as well, or better, thrown on 

 the ground. If they are fed in the shed, however, it is best 

 to use a dish of metal or earthenware, which should have 

 vertical sides as in Fig. 9, whatever its general shape may 

 be. Such a trough or dish must, however, be protected, or 

 the fowls may walk upon it, and waste a large portion. 

 This is best prevented by having a loose curved cover made 

 of wire, which, when placed on the ground over the dish, 

 will effectually prevent the fowls having anything to do 

 with the food except to eat it, which they are quite at 



