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GRAIN MIXTURE. 



2 parts cracked corn. 

 2 parts wheat. 

 1 part oats. 



DRY MASH MIXTURE. 



100 pounds wheat bran. 



200 pounds wheat middlings. 



200 pounds corn meal. 



200 pounds rolled or ground. oats. 



150 pounds dry beef scraps. 



75 pounds alfalfa meal. 



50 pounds gluten meal. 



25 pounds 0. P. oil meal. 



8 pounds fine table salt, no lumps. 



25 pounds fine granulated charcoal. 



This mash is kept in a hopper where the hens have access to it at 

 all times. At one o'clock each day, we give them a handful of this 

 mash moistened with buttermilk. Don't give a feed of it, but just 

 enough to whet their appetites so they literally fight for it. Feed 

 this on a clean board or trough provided for the purpose. Also give 

 sprouted oats three times a week or oftener if possible, or cabbage, 

 beets and turnips may be substituted for the .oats, but should be 

 ground or chopped fine. Once every two weeks dissolve in water 

 one-third or one-half of a teaspoonful of Epsom salts for each fowl and 

 moisten the mash with this, and feed to the fowls. Decrease the 

 amount of corn, and corn meal used during the hot summer months. 

 If the fowls have free range, you can also dispense with most of the 

 beef scraps and alfalfa meal during these months. 



In spite of all the feed we place before 

 some hens, they still refuse to lay. A hen 

 must have a born tendency to lay if she is to 

 be a high producer. More depends upon the 

 strain, upon the breeding, than upon the 

 variety or breed. Some flocks or strains of 

 Plymouth Rocks lay better than others, the 

 same is true with Wyandottes, Leghorns, 

 Reds, Orpingtons, and all other breeds. In 

 one of our experiments I had two different 

 strains of Barred Plymouth Rocks in the 

 same house. They were given exactly the 

 same food, fed the same amount and at the 

 same time each day. One pen laid eggs and 

 made a high record all during the winter. 

 The other pen in the same house ate nearly A lordly Langsnan. 



as much, but all they ate went to fat. One strain had a born tendency 

 to lay, the other strain had a born tendency to produce fat and flesh. 

 After years of observation, I have come to the conclusion that you 

 must feed your hens if you expect them to lay, and feed them well and 

 plentifully. If you find that certain individuals in the flock become 



