and mixed with rolled oats. After the fourth or fifth day it can be 

 given in addition, stale bread crumbs, cracked wheat, oatmeal (gran- 

 ulated), broken rice and a small quantity of millet seed. Cornmeal 

 should not be given during the first week, but after that time corn-meal 

 bread or corn meal, rolled oats, wheat bran, cracked wheat and screen- 

 ings can be given in combination. 



Charcoal and sand should be kept on the floor from the beginning. 

 Skim milk or even sweet milk is desirable for a drink. Fresh water is 

 absolutely essential, and should be supplied often. The chick should 

 be fed often, but not too much at one time. As a general rule there is 

 more danger in over-feeding than in not feeding enough during the first 

 two weeks. Meat scraps should be supplied unless insects are plentiful. 

 Young chicks should be permitted to run where green grasses or clover 

 can be had. If gi*asses cannot be secured, they should be given lettuce, 

 onion tops or gi'een roots. Little chicks should not be exposed to a 

 broiling sun, neither should they be chilled or become wet during their 

 early life. 



To Fatten Chickens 



To fatten rapidly, chickens should be confined, perferably in a crate, 

 for three or four weeks before they are to be sent to the market. Carbo- 

 hydrates are necessary to produce fat, hence, corn should constitute the 

 main part of the diet. A good ration is, 



Finely-ground corn meal 2 parts. 



Middlings 1 part. 



Meat scraps 1 part. 



Buckwheat and hulled oats are also good to mix with the corn. 



Food not eaten promptly should be removed from the pen. Plenty 

 of fresh water should be supplied, and if possible, milk given. Green 

 feed should be given three or four times weekly and grits furnished 

 occasionally. 



Feed for Laying Hens 



Hens do not lay well if too fat, hence, corn should not be the major 

 portion of their diet. Exercise being important, whole or cracked grain 

 should be sprinkled on a thick layer of litter, compelling the hens to 

 scratch in order to secure the feed. 



A dry mash of wheat bran two parts, and one part each of corn-meal 

 middlings, brewers grains, linseed meal and beef scraps, make an excel- 

 lent diet, and an abundance should be kept in a feeding trough at all 

 times. Another splendid diet for laying hens is, 



Millet seed 1 part. 



Wheat bran ^ 4 parts. 



Meat or meat meal 4 parts. 



Wheat, cracked or whole. 3 parts. 



Corn meal 4 parts. 



Corn, whole or cracked . 2 parts. 



299 



