

Succulent and Bulky Foods 381 



be found, and animal foods, when rich in protein as 

 most of them are, prove of great service; for with 

 them can be freely fed some of the cheaper, starchy 

 foods, typical among which is the palatable and re- 

 markably efficient Indian corn. For fattening mature 

 fowls animal food is not so important except when its 

 use improves the palatability of the ration. This last 

 is a matter always to be considered. 



Succulent vegetable foods are eagerly eaten by do- 

 mestic fowls. Aside from the beneficial effect on the 

 health of the birds, it is important to use such foods 

 so far as possible, for the nutriment they supply is 

 cheaply obtained. With most rations the more nitrog- 

 enous fodders, such as clover, alfalfa, and very imma- 

 ture grasses, are best. These foods also contain more 

 of the needed lime than do grains. It must be re- 

 membered, however, that fowls are not fitted to de- 

 pend largely on such bulky materials while production 

 is rapid. The goose is better adapted than most birds 

 to live by grazing, but the liberal use of the more 

 concentrated grain and animal foods has been found 

 necessary except during the idle season. 



At the time of greatest egg production the choice 

 of bulky foods should preferably be confined to those 

 of the most tender and succulent nature. Certain ex- 

 periments also indicate that a ration which contains 

 any considerable proportion of dry or woody coarse 

 fodder, although finely ground, is not suited to young 

 chicks, and that only the more succulent kinds of 

 bulky foods, like the first shoots of grasses and clovers, 

 should be fed in the fresh condition. After the birds 



