RATIONS AND METHODS OF FEEDING 215 



The supposed advantage of the mash (principally of grain) as it 

 came to be used by those keeping large stocks of poultry was that 

 the ground grain furnished food elements more quickly available 

 than those in the whole grain. While it was the almost universal 

 practice to feed mashes in the morning, the idea that there was 

 a great advantage in giving poultry a breakfast that would be 

 quickly digested and assimilated seemed very plausible. When the 

 fashion of feeding mash in the evening became popular, it was 

 found that as good results were obtained by one method as by 

 the other. Those who fed mashes at noon were able to report 

 equally good results. So common experience showed that it made 

 no difference at what time the mash was fed. Comparisons also 

 show that equally good results may be obtained, whether the mash 

 is raw (mixed with cold water or milk), partly cooked (scalded), 

 or thoroughly cooked. Poultry seem to do as well on a mash of 

 good consistency in whatever way it may be made. Sometimes 

 those accustomed only to a mash made in a certain way do not at 

 first like one made in another way. It is possible, too, that the 

 digestive organs of birds accustomed to mashes prepared in one 

 of the ways mentioned do not immediately adjust themselves to 

 mashes prepared in another way. 



In general, the method of preparing the mash is determined by 

 the character of the ingredients used, and by the custom or con- 

 venience of the feeder. The use of thoroughly cooked mashes 

 is decreasing, and the tendency is to scald only when necessary 

 to give the mash the proper consistency, a point which depends 

 mostly on the ingredients. Thus, a mash of corn meal and bran 

 will not stick together unless the meal is swelled by scalding, but 

 if a sufficient quantity of middlings or red-dog flour be added, it 

 will give cohesive quality to the mass, without the treatment neces- 

 sary to get that property immediately from the corn meal. 



Making mashes. A dry mash is made by simply mixing the dry ingredients. 

 Moist mashes may be made in a number of ways. The methods of making 

 them vary according to the degree of cooking and according to the kinds and 

 proportions of adhesive elements that the ingredients contain. Leaving out 

 of consideration the effects of cooking, the object secured by moistening the 

 dry ingredients is the cohesion of the particles so that the finely ground stuffs 

 are eaten easily and without waste. This condition of the food is brought 

 about not simply by moisture but by a proper degree of moisture, and by the 



