o4 POULTRY-CRAFT. 
-only when there can be no doubt of the advantage of using the lot in question. 
In wheat the food elements are combined in very nearly the proportions 
required by the system of the fowl. Under conditions of moderate temper- 
ature and exercise, it may be made almost an exclusive diet for a long 
time without perceptible harm to the fowls.* 
In cold weather and cold quarters wheat alone fails to keep up the heat of 
‘tthe body. Fed freely without exercise, in warm and moderate weather, it 
fattens quite rapidly. It is good food for chicks at any age, and should form 
one-fifth to one-third of their diet whenever purchasable at a price that allows 
of feeding it with profit.f. 
Wueat Bran —is used in nearly all mashes, the proportion of bran to 
other ingredients varying with the composition of the bran. Weight is a 
fairly reliable index of quality. Light bran is 47az—nothing else. Heavy 
bran contains more or less middlings. Bran alone is rarely fed to fowls, 
though some poultry keepers give their fowls free access to a dish of bran, 
wet or dry, and think it an advantage to supplement the regular meals of 
heavy laying hens in this way. The price of wheat bran seldom goes so high 
that there is anything to gain by using substitutes. 
Mipp.ines and Suorts are names for practically the same substance, the 
mill product between flour and bran. Quality varies as in bran. Both these 
by-products depend for quality on the processes used in the mills from which 
they come. Being rich in glutinous matter, middlings are most valuable to 
use with corn meal, and in the mashes of all rations containing much corn. 
A mash made largely of middlings is doughy, sticky, and not relished by 
fowls. One-fourth to one-third is the proportion of middlings commonly 
used, 
117. Oats.—Wuorre Oats — contain nutritious matter in nearly the 
same proportions as wheat, but because of their coarse indigestible husk are 
not as well liked by fowls. The husk constitutes about one-tenth of the bulk 
in good oats, and in poor oats much more. It is commonly thought that 
heavy weight oats are the best. Analyses have shown that the contrary is 
true. { 
When buying oats the quality may be tested accurately enough by hulling 
a few sample grains. An ordinary inspection does not detect poor quality in 
* Nore.— The experiment was made with laying hens, (Brown Leghorns), and a sixty 
per cent egg yield secured in a month from hens fed whole wheat three times daily in 
close confinement, with very little exercise. ‘ 
t+ NoTE.— Just how much more a poultryman can afford to pay for wheat than for corn, 
is an open question. Experiments with cattle indicate that the feeding value of wheat is 
not enough greater to justify the usual difference in prices of corn and the various grades 
of wheat on sale for poultry food. The results of these experiments give wheat a cash 
feeding value one-tenth to one-fourth above that of corn. 
tU. S. Government Bulletin. 
