POULTRY FEEDS AND FEEDING 



Colony houses on grass range should be moved at least 

 once a year to prevent the grass becoming entirely killed 

 in any one spot and if any spots do become bare, grass and 

 clover seed should be scratched into the soil early in the 

 spring to get a new stand where the ground is bare. In 

 the southern part of this country the grass dries up in 

 the summer and gets too tough and dry to be eaten by the 

 fowls or chickens, making it necessary to grow forage 

 crops to supply green feed during the summer and early 

 fall. Farther north fowls on a good grass range will get 

 a fair amount of green feed during the summer but should 

 be supplied with additional green feed during the winter 

 months when there is no green grass in the yards. Ordi- 

 narily sufficient manure will be dropped by the fowls in 

 the yards and on the range to keep the grass range and 

 soil well fertilized. 



Bermuda grass is the best pasture grass for the far 

 South and makes a heavy, permanent sod which furnishes 

 a splendid feed from spring until into the fall. It needs to 

 be kept closely cropped as otherwise it will become hard 

 and wiry. 



Johnson grass, which is a relative of the sorghums, is a 

 good meadow grass for the South but has a spreading 

 root stalk which makes it difficult to eradicate. It is ad- 

 visable to plow it every two or three years on account of 

 this creeping root stalk system. This grass makes a 

 coarse feed and will give a large amount of green feed 

 by cutting it at least once a month, chopping it up finely 

 and mixing it in with a poultry mash. 



IOO 



