CHAPTER XXIX 



INFERIOR FOOD 



THE health of a flock of fowls is often jeopardized 

 by the quality and quantity of food. Damaged 

 foods, such as moldy grains, old musty beef scraps, 

 decayed vegetable matter, tainted meat, or green 

 cut bones, and improperly cured alfalfa, are the 

 common causes of a large percentage of the diseases 

 affecting poultry. 



Too much care cannot be exercised in purchas- 

 ing the various grain foods, and the saving of a few 

 cents on the bushel should offer no inducement to the 

 poultry raiser to buy the cheaper grades. It pays 

 to buy the best, and even then a careful inspection 

 should be made to ascertain that the quality is what 

 it should be and what it has been represented to be. 

 Very often feed dealers, aware of the fact that the 

 grains are to be fed to chickens, will not be particular 

 about sending the best, even though the price was 

 paid, thinking, no doubt, that anything is good 

 enough for chickens. The best plan is to visit the 

 dealer, examine the feed personally, secure a sample, 

 and upon delivery make sure that the grain received 

 is up to the standard of the sample. 



Grain which has been water soaked and then per- 

 mitted to dry is unfit for poultry food ; and in most 



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