POULTRY NOTES — 1909. • ^"J 



avoidance of the mobbing that always occurs at trough feeding 

 when that is made a meal of the day, whether it be at morning 

 or evening. There are no tailings to be gathered up or wasted, 

 as is common when a full meal of mash is given at night. The 

 labor is very much less, enabling a person to care for more 

 birds than when the regular evening meal is given. 



Taking first the dry grains, the following may be said in 

 regard to the method in which they are fed : Early in the morn- 

 ing for each 100 hens 4 quarts of whole corn is scattered on 

 the litter, which is 6 to 8 inches deep on the floor. This is not 

 mixed into the litter, for the straw is dry and light, and enough 

 of the grain is hidden so the birds commence scratching for it 

 almost immediately. At 10 o'clock they are fed in the same 

 way 2 quarts of wheat and 2 quarts of oats. This is all of the 

 legular feeding that is done. 



The litter which the Station now uses for its houses in prefer- 

 ence to all others which have been tried, consists of a mixture 

 of dry pine shavings and straw. The shavings can be obtained 

 in this part of the country from box rnills in bales, which are 

 sold at a price of about 10 cents per bale. These shavings are 

 spread on the floor of the pen to a depth of some 5 to 7 inches. 

 From 6 to 8 bales will cover the floor of a pen which accommo- 

 dates from 100 to 125 birds. On top of these shavings is spread 

 a thin layer of straw. Straw which has not been baled is pre- 

 ferred because it is less liable to be broken and will consequently 

 wear longer in the pen. This combination of straw and shavings 

 gives excellent satisfaction as a litter. The straw serves the 

 purpose of protecting the shavings so that they last a longer 

 time than would otherwise be the case before they are finally 

 worked up into a mass of fine material which packs down and 

 becomes damp. The shavings become damp much less quickly 

 than does a litter of straw alone. This is because thev are 

 finer, and the birds can keep them worked over much more thor- 

 oughly. This constantly exposes and dries out new portions 

 of the mass of litter. Using this combination of shavings and 

 straw it is not usually found necessary to change the litter in 

 the pens oftener than once in three months. 



It is in regard to the dry mash portion of the ration in which 

 the changes already referred to (p. 66) have been made. The 

 dry mash which was formerly used at the Station had the fol- 

 lowing composition : 



