186 FEEDING STUFFS 
Feeding for fattening poultry, no other grain equals corn. Corn 
is the cheapest feed for poultry, from the fact of its high feeding 
value and it can be raised at home. Corn is very easily digested 
and assimilated. The facts that corn is easily digested and is a 
rapid fat former make it a very undesirable feed for mature birds 
in close confinement if egg-laying is desired. A great many of 
the farm flocks throughout the country are maintained almost 
entirely upon an exclusive corn diet, which results in a very small 
and usually an unprofitable egg yield. Corn does not contain 
the nutrients in the proportion in which they are required in the 
manufacture of eggs, and therefore it should be used in connection 
with other grains, its particular function being to supply heat 
and energy. 
Care should be taken in feeding whole or cracked corn to avoid 
the use of moldy feed. New corn which has not been properly 
dried may mold and heat; in this condition it is a very unsafe feed. 
Corn meal, as the term is usually used, simply means the 
whole corn kernel ground fine. This material is used quite exten- 
sively in the feeding of all kinds of poultry, especially in making 
mashes for the fattening of poultry for slaughter. 
Oftentimes corn together with the cob is crushed and ground 
at the same time. The product obtained is called corn-and-cob 
meal. When the preparation is ground exceedingly fine, so that 
the coarse fibres of the cob are reduced to fine particles, this 
mixture may he economically used in poultry mashes. In general, 
corn cobs consist largely of crude fibre and consequently have a 
low value. When fed to poultry, this becomes a serious objec- 
tion. When corn-and-cob meal is used in place of corn meal, the 
ground oats and wheat can be eliminated from the mash. It is 
desirable to use all possible means to keep the fibre content low. 
Gluten meal is a by-product of corn, resulting from the manu- 
facture of starch. In the manufacturing process the starch is 
separated from the gluten cells and husk by gravity. Gluten is 
really the corn grain less the starch. Gluten meal is rich in fat 
and protein, is ately concentrated; and should be used in poultry 
by-product : from the manufacture of starch, “consists of the. shell 
or hulls of the corn grain, and is rarely used for poultry. Gluten 
is one of the best sources of concentrated vegetable protein. 
Gluten feed is a term used for defining prepared rations or feed 
mixtures containing a certain percentage of gluten meal combined 
