50 METHODS OF POULTRY MANAGEMENT, 



It will be noted that this contains no meat scrap or other 

 animal food. The experience of the Station indicates that by 

 reducing animal food to a minimum or dropping it altogether 

 it is possible to improve markedly the hatching qualities of the 

 eggs. Besides the dry mash the breeders are fed wheat, corn 

 and oats in the same way as the laying pullets. Further they 

 are given an abundance of green food, always including green 

 sprouted oats. 



THE PREPARATION OF GREEN SPROUTED OATS. 



Green sprouted oats have been very widely exploited in 

 recent years as a green food for poultry. There are some so- 

 called "poultry" systems on the market which really consist of 

 very little else than the use of this food. The first experiments 

 with this material at the Maine Agricultural Experiment Sta- 

 tion were not satisfactory. Tt was found difficult to get the 

 oats to make a sufficiently quick growth. Experience here has 

 indicated that in order to make a satisfactory green food the 

 oats must be grown very quickly. In order to get quick growth 

 it is neeessary to have three things : — first, warmth ; second, 

 plenty of moisture ; and third, sunlight. After a number of 

 experiments to get the right combination of these three factors 

 the plan to be described was finally worked out and has proved 

 very satisfactory. 



There is in connection with the poultry plant a hot water 

 heating system which has a 3-inch out-go pipe. This out-go pipe 

 as it leaves the heater passes along the rear wall of a small 

 room which was formerly used as a grain storage room. To 

 provide a place in which to sprout oats the back part of this 

 room was partitioned off as a closet inclosing the 3-inch hot 

 water pipe. The partition wall which forms the front of this 

 closet consists of glass doors, m.ade from regular storm window 

 sash, hinged so as to swing open as an ordinary door does. 

 These glass doors face towards the south side of the building 

 which has a window directly in front of the doors. Through- 

 out the day the closet gets plenty of light. The dimensions of 

 this sprouting closet are as follows : — 



