WHEAT 187 



Hominy meal is a by-product from the manufacture of hominy 

 grits. In some localities it is used as a substitute for corn meal. 

 Owing to its being a by-product, it can often be secured at lower 

 prices than corn. Its feeding value is about the same as corn meal. 



Germ-oil meal is a by-product of the starch industry. Although 

 rather limited in supply for feeding purposes, it is fairly high in 

 protein and contains over ten per cent of fat. It is used in some 

 localities in wet mashes for the finishing and fattening of poultry 

 for market. 



Wheat. Birds are fond of wheat, whether fed whole or ground. 

 Feeding experiments show quite clearly that the feeding value of 

 wheat for poultry is slightly greater than that of corn, pound for 

 pound. Wheat is a more perfectly balanced ration for poultry 

 feeding than any other single kind of grain. There are a great 

 many grades of wheat offered for this purpose, the variations being 

 in purity, soundness, color, plumpness, and hardness. In selecting 

 wheat for feeding purposes, if a choice is possible, the samples 

 which are pure, hard, and dark in color are usually the richest in 

 protein, and hence more valuable. The whole wheat kernel can 

 be fed to poultry exclusively for a longer period of time than any 

 other grain, with no apparent detrimental effect. The price of 

 wheat fluctuates considerably, and very often inexperienced feeders 

 use a greater percentage of corn, owing to the increased price of 

 wheat, believing that they get more value for the money spent. 

 Such, however, is usually not the case. 



Wheat Bran and Middlings. In the process of manufacturing 

 flour, the layers of wheat kernels are split up into different com- 

 ponents or grades. These are known as bran, middlings or shorts, 

 and flour. Shorts are essentially the same as middlings, ex- 

 cept that a larger amount of fine bran may be present. Bran 

 consists of the outer coatings of wheat kernels left in large flakes 

 with portions of the inner layer of protein-bearing cells. The 

 product is light, bulky, and fibrous. Middlings contain a larger 

 proportion of the inner layers, including some flour, and have less 

 of the outer coats and are more starchy than bran (Fig. 114). 

 Wheat bran, mixed with corn meal, usually forms the basis of 

 most poultry mashes. Wheat bran contains a relatively high per- 

 centage of nutrients, but its digestibility is rather low, not much 

 greater than that of a good grade of legume hay. Middlings may 

 well form a part of a dry-mash mixture, but are rather too sticky 

 for the wet mash. Coarser products should go with them in all cases. 



