POULTRY EXPERIMENTS. 175 



removed immediately after the meal was completed. The objec- 

 tions to this system of feeding are the extra labor involved in 

 preparing the eggs, mixing the food with water and removing 

 the troughs at the proper time. 



There is no danger of underfeeding even though the morning 

 and noon feeds of hard grains should be scanty for the birds 

 have free access to supplies of food, in the troughs, twice a day, 

 sufficiently long to get full meals. 



Method 2. 



This is like Method I, except that fine beef scrap is used 

 instead of boiled eggs, and the mash is not moistened. 



Early in the morning the chicks are given the hard food on 

 the floor litter as described in Method I. At 9 o'clock they are 

 fed a mixture consisting of 2 parts rolled oats, 2 parts wheat 

 bran, 2 parts corn meal, 1 part sifted beef scrap and one-half 

 part linseed meal. This is given in the plates or troughs and 

 the dishes are removed after 10 minutes use. 



At 12.30 the hard grains are fed again and at 4.30 or 5 the 

 dry meal mixture is given to them for half an hour or left until 

 their bed time. The meal being dry the chicks cannot eat it as 

 readily as they can the egg and rolled oats, or the moistened 

 mash, and for that reason it is left for them to feed upon longer 

 than when moistened with the egg and water, but is never left 

 before them more than 10 minutes at the 9 o'clock feeding time. 

 The aim is to give them enough at each of the 4 meals so that 

 their desire for food may be satisfied at the time, but to make 

 sure that they have nothing left to lunch upon. It is desired to 

 have their crops empty of food before feeding them again. 

 When treated in this way they will have sharp appetites when 

 the feeder appears, and come racing out from the brooder to 

 meet him. If they have been over-fed at the previous meal, and 

 have lunched along, when they saw fit, they do not care for the 

 feeder's coming. If over-fed a few times the creatures become 

 debilitated and worthless. 



What has been said so far is with reference to chicks that are 

 hatched out in early spring before the young things can get out 

 of doors for work. 



