PRACTICAL FEEDING OF POULTRY 



are fed entirely by the hopper method both for their 

 grain and mash, barrels of drinking water may be used 

 and fresh water supplied only once or twice a week. A 

 faucet in the barrel may be regulated so that the water 

 drops slowly into a pan, making the supply last for 

 several days and keeping water before the chickens con- 

 stantly. A small amount of disinfectant such as pottas- 

 sium permanganate or iron sulphate should be put in the 

 barrel of water to keep it sanitary and prevent the de- 

 velopment of mosquitoes and other insects. 



QUANTITY OF GRAIN TO FEED 



Poultry keepers must use their own judgment in de- 

 ciding how much grain to give hens as the amount of 

 feed which they will eat varies with the condition and 

 size of the fowls as well as with the seasons of the year 

 and the method of feeding used. Hens will eat more grain 

 when they are in good condition and laying heavily than 

 during the periods of low egg production or when they 

 are not in the best of physical condition. More feed will 

 be consumed when the fowls are fed a small amount of 

 grain 3 or 4 times daily than where they are fed only 

 once or twice daily as is the more common practice. 



While higher egg production will be secured by the 

 more frequent feeding it is questionable whether such a 

 method is more profitable under average conditions than 

 the simpler method of feeding grain twice daily. The 

 best general rule to follow is to give the fowls all of the 

 grain that they will clean up within 10 or 15 minutes after 



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