34 Number of Meals. 



grouse, and other game do in a state of nature ; if, con- 

 trary to this, they are enabled to eat corn by mouthfuls, 

 their crops are soon overfilled, and they seek relief in 

 excessive draughts of water. Nothing is more injurious 

 than this, and the inactivity that attends the discomfort 

 caused by it lays the foundation of many disorders. The 

 advantage of scattering the food is, that all then get their 

 share ; while if it is thrown only on a small space the master 

 birds get the greater part, while the others wait around. 

 In most poultry-yards more than half the food is wasted ; 

 the same quantity is thrown down day after day, without 

 reference to time of year, alteration of numbers, or varia- 

 tion of appetite, and that which is not eaten is trodden 

 about, or taken by small birds. Many a poultry-yard is 

 coated with corn and meal." 



If two fowls will not run after one piece, they do not 

 want it. If a trough is used, the best kind is the simplest, 

 being merely a long, open one, shaped like that used for 

 pigs, but on a smaller scale. It should be placed about a 

 foot from one of the sides of the yard, behind some round 

 rails driven into the ground three inches apart, so that 

 the fowls cannot get into the troughs, so as to upset them, 

 or tread in or otherwise dirty the food. The rails should 

 be all of the same height, and a slanting board be fixed 

 over the trough. 



Some persons give but one meal a day, and that gene- 

 rally in the morning ; this is false economy, for the whole 

 of the nutriment contained in the one meal is absorbed in 

 keeping up the animal heat, and there is no material for 

 producing eggs. " The number of meals per day," says 

 Mr. Wright, " best consistent with real economy will vary 

 from two to three, according to the size of the run. If 

 it be of moderate extent, so that they can in any degree 

 forage for themselves, two are quite sufficient, at least in 

 summer, and should be given early in the morning and 

 the last thing before the birds go to roost. In any case, 

 these will be the principal meals ; but when the fowls are 

 kept in confinement they will require, in addition, a scanty 

 feed at mid-day. The first feeding should consist of soft 



