ioo POUL TR r- CRAFT. 



134. Qrit, 5hell, Dry Bone, Charcoal while, perhaps, not properly 

 foods, are important accessories. 



GRIT is " hens* teeth," and is indispensable. A supply of grit of suitable 

 size should be accessible to a fowl from the time it, a chick, leaves the nest or 

 incubator. 



CHARCOAL aids digestion, and purifies the blood. It is fed either pul- 

 verized or finely cracked ; sometimes in the mash, but often in a pan or box 

 as grit and shell are given. Fowls should have frequent opportunities to 

 use it. 



DRY BONE is not so much used since bone cutters and the prepared 

 animal foods containing bone have come into more general use. 



OYSTER SHELLS need not be furnished to chicks, but should be given to 

 pullets as they show signs of laying, and should be always accessible to laying 

 hens. 



135. Buying Supplies in Quantity. Few poultrymen have enough 

 working capital to buy and store supplies for long periods. Those who 

 indulge regrets because they have not, spend grief unnecessarily. Buying 

 stocks of perishable goods subject to wide fluctuations in price is very much of 

 a speculation. One may buy grain enough to last him six months, only to see 

 the price go down within a week, and stay down. Besides, there is always 

 some shrinkage and loss in storing food. The ordinary action of the air 

 rapidJy takes nitrogen from ground foods. Whole grains are more easily 

 kept, but a few rats or mice, or a little dampness, may cause loss much greater 

 than the original saving made by purchasing the larger quantity. Purchases 

 of supplies should be according to size of the business. It will not often be an 

 advantage to buy grain for more than two or three months at a time. In many 

 cases not more than one month's supplies can be managed with true economy. 

 In buying imperishable goods, as grit, oyster shells, etc., the prices of which 

 fluctuate hardly ever, the case is different. A small poultry man had best buy 

 supplies of these to last a year or two. In buying damaged stuff, especially 

 meats and vegetables, it is well to keep on the safe side, buying only as much 

 as will be eaten while still fit for use. 



136. Using Damaged Articles for Poultry Food. Allusion has 

 already been made to this matter, and also to the fact that fowls are gleaners 

 and scavengers. The latter word may not sound nice the fact is there, none 

 the less. The treatment of this question, the decision as to what to do and 

 what not to do, requires, first of all, common sense. To go to the extreme 

 limit of what fowls will endure in the way of decomposing and filthy food, 

 is, from every point of view, a mistake. (Happily it is not a common one). 

 To be over-nice, is to be altogether unreasonable. Food that has just passed 

 the stage of fitness for human beings of somewhat refined tastes, is just as 

 agreeable to fowls as if in perfect condition, and just as good for them. The 



