348 PRODUCTIVE FEEDING OF FARM ANIMALS 



mercial fish scrap fed in normal amounts to laying hens will not 

 taint the eggs laid. 



Green cut bone from the butcher shop, which consists of waste 

 trimmings with adhering particles of meat, is a very desirable 

 poultry feed, when finely ground and fed perfectly fresh. It is 

 more palatable than dried scraps because it is fresh and succulent. 

 It is usually fed at the rate of about one-half ounce per hen per 

 day. If fed alone, the fowls, may be given all they will clean up 

 in fifteen minutes about noon. 



Bonemeal or dried commercial ground bone is added to poultry 

 rations to supply calcium phosphate to build strong bone in growing 

 stock, to furnish lime for shell-making in laying stock, and for 

 other purposes. Commercial meat scrap usually contains enough 

 bone for adult stock, but for young stock a small amount of bone 

 meal should be included in the ration. When feeding meat scrap 

 with a very high protein content, ground bone should also be fed 

 with it as the very high grades of scrap do not contain as much bone 

 as the average grades. 



Dried blood is used to some extent for poultry but is not as 

 suitable as the feeds mentioned above. It is very concentrated and 

 must be fed with great care. It is also not very palatable. 



Linseed meal and soybean meal are very desirable high- 

 protein vegetable feeds to be included in a poultry-laying ration 

 because ( 1 ) they are rich in protein and may be used to advantage • 

 as substitutes for a part of the animal protein usually ~f ed ; (2) 

 these feeds have a gently laxative and natural tonic effect on the 

 digestive system and have been found very beneficial in helping the 

 birds to come strongly through the molt as well as in promoting 

 health and production at all times. The two feeds are quite simi- 

 lar in feeding value but soybean meal is perhaps somewhat more 

 palatable than linseed meal. Such feeds may constitute five to ten 

 per cent of the mash. 



Cottonseed meal may be given in the dry mash either in place 

 of or along with the linseed meal ; but its use should always be under 

 the watchful eye of the feeder, as it tends to constipate. 



Green Feeds. — Some sort of vegetable feed is as essential to the 

 continued health and vigor of poultry as is the grain ration. Its 

 function in the bird's economy is not so much to furnish nutriment, 

 although it does this to some degree, as it is to act as a natural tonic 

 on the fowl's whole system. Green feeds stimulate the liver, induce 

 a copious secretion of digestive fluids and instil into the very cells 



