394 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



life. It has been found, however, that corn may be 

 substituted for oats and some experiments show that the 

 horses are kept even more economically on corn than on 

 oats. There is a popular notion that corn is too heat- 

 ing in its effect to be fed to horses, but there is no evi- 

 dence of this except the fact that horses may be fattened 

 easily on a corn diet. Wheat bran is also used success- 

 fully as an additional feed with corn or with oats. 

 Silage may be fed in limited quantities and carrots are 

 especially good for horses. 



Feeding Poultry. Poultry are omnivorous. They 

 eat and demand, to give the best results, all kinds of 

 feeds. When they are on free range, they pick up the 

 foods that they need in the proper proportions. They 

 pick up sand, pebbles, glass, shells, and lime to furnish 

 the mineral matter that they desire. Grass, clover, and 

 weed seeds furnish the green matter. Insects and worms 

 furnish the animal matter, and grains furnish the solid 

 dry matter. When poultry are kept from free range, all 

 of these classes of foods should be furnished by the feeder. 



Successful feeding for eggs in winter requires that 

 hens should have before them, preferably in self-feed- 

 ing hoppers, (a) grit, ground oyster shells, and char- 

 coal ; (ti) a dry mash made by mixing a variety of 

 ground grains to produce a balanced ration ; (r) ground 

 green bone and meat scraps ; (d) steamed clover or 

 alfalfa, roots, or other form of succulence ; (e) whole 

 grain thrown in the litter so that they will scratch for it. 



Feeds furnished as stated make a ration similar to 

 that given by free range, and if other conditions are 

 favorable, result in a large egg . production when the 

 prices are the highest. Skim milk being rich in pro- 

 tein is a good drink for poultry producing eggs. 



