FEEDING OF FOWLS 75 



seed-oil-cake meal; after the first week the quantities 

 of these materials should be increased at the rate of 

 l / 2 part per day every other day until the quantities given 

 in the table have been reached. In case such a ration 

 proves to be too laxative, the quantity of meat and lin- 

 seed meal is lessened and l /2 part of fine charcoal is 

 added to the mixture. 



At night all the cracked corn and wheat they will eat 

 is fed to the fowls. 



This method of feeding should be continued until the 

 molt is complete, after which a laying ration is fed to 

 the hens. 



Attempts to force molting are occasionally successful, 

 but the advantages derived from the practice do not 

 usually pay for the trouble caused. To force molting, 

 fowls are confined in a small house for about 3 wk., 

 are fed very sparingly, but all the fresh water they will 

 drink is given to them. The quantity of food given 

 should be gradually reduced until at the end of the first 

 week they are receiving only about Yz of the usual food 

 supply. During the second and third weeks not more 

 than 1 oz. of grain, or J4 of a ration, should be fed per 

 day to each fowl. This partial starvation will reduce 

 flesh and fat and dry the oil from the feathers, causing 

 them to drop very readily. At the end of the third week 

 the fowls should be liberated and the food supply gradu- 

 ally increased. By the end of the fourth week they 

 should receive full rations. 



FEEDING OF CHICKS FOR BROILERS 



One of the most difficult problems in the rearing of 

 poultry is the feeding of the cockerels for squab size 

 and larger broilers. A good plan is to feed a bread 

 made of meals, the meal mixture to contain 2 cups of 

 wheat middlings, 2 cups of corn meal, 2 tablespoonfuls 

 of meat meal, 1 raw egg, 1 tablespoonful of baking pow- 

 der, and sufficient water or milk to give a proper con- 



