POULTRY FEEDS AND FEEDING 



tion is a combination of feeds which will furnish just the 

 necessary amount of nutrients to produce the highest and 

 most economical egg yields. The proportion of scratch 

 grains to mash used, materially effects the balancing of 

 the ration. The mash feeds are relatively high in protein, 

 while the scratch mixture is high in starches and sugars. 

 The best results are secured where about equal parts of 

 mash and of scratch grains are fed daily. This mash may 

 be fed either as a dry or wet mash. If fed as a dry mash, 

 it is usually kept before the fowls all the time in a hopper. 

 A wet mash is fed in a trough usually once a day. The 

 moist mash may be fed either in the morning or at noon, 

 the more common practice being to feed the mash in the 

 morning. In mixing the moist mash it is very essential 

 that only sufficient water be added to make the mash 

 crumbly and not wet and sticky. A handful of the mash 

 after it is mixed with the water should make a crumbly 

 mass when pressed together, and should not be wet 

 enough to be sticky or pasty. 



RELATIVE VALUE OF MOIST AND DRY MASHES 



The dry mash system is better adapted for the average 

 poultry keeper, and especially for the novice in poultry 

 work, as there is less danger of improper feeding by this 

 method. The dry mash system is also adapted to poultry 

 farms where much of the work is done by unskilled labor. 

 The moist mash will give as good, if not better, egg pro- 

 duction in the hands of a skilful feeder than can be se- 

 cured by the dry mash. It requires considerably more 



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