POUL TRI-CRAFT. 101 
greatest danger in using such foods is that they are so cheap when they can 
be had in quantity that the feeder is tempted to use too large a proportion of 
them, — especially of meats and vegetables, —keeping the fowls short on 
grain to compel them to eat the other stuffs. As far as the effect of slightly 
damaged food on the health of fowls and the flavors of meat and eggs is con- 
cerned, if the food is such that a well fed fowl eats it well, no bad effects can 
be discerned. Asa simple matter of fact, the most common unpleasant flavors 
of eggs and flesh are due to foods (as, say, onions), rightly considered par- 
ticularly healthy ; or (of eggs) to absorption of bad. odors after becng laid. 
137, A Balanced Ration— is a complete ration, containing in proper 
proportion and in sufficient quantity all necessary food. The food eaten by 
a fowl goes:—to growth, including reproduction, egg production ; —to 
warmth ;—to strength. Nitrogenous elements are duz/¢ into the body, 
replacing worn, and adding new, substance. Carbonaceous elements are 
burned in the body, giving warmth and energy—capacity for muscular 
action. The needs of the fowl’s system are not always the same. It does 
not always use the different elements in the same.proportions. It has in itself 
limited power to balance its ration, making a surplus of either class of food 
elements compensate for a deficit of the other. In the foods and combinations 
of foods used by expert feeders, the food elements are about right for average 
normal conditions. Observation and experience soon teach a feeder how to 
vary his ration to meet changes in the weather and apparent changes in the 
condition of the fowls. The commonest fault in the ration of well fed 
fowls is an excess of heat and fat producing matter. For this the feeder 
has an ever present remedy in the power of compelling the fowls to expend 
it in exercise. 
138. The Need of a Variety of Foods.— A ration which is sufficient in 
quantity, and provides the variety of foods necessary to make it appetizing, 
will be on the whole a pretty well balanced ration. Such a ration for fowls 
in confinement would comprise two or more kinds of whole grain: a mash 
of vegetables — or hay—corn meal, wheat middlings, bran—or mill stuffs 
equivalent to these in feeding value—some kind of meat food, and a little 
green vegetables—a simple diet, yet varied enough to keep the digestive 
organs in good condition and the appetite normal. When fed grains of which 
they are fond, under conditions which invite gluttony, hens will over-eat, as 
they also will of a mash containing too much corn meal. If fed a little short 
on grain stuffs, fowls that get meat and vegetables regularly may be allowed 
to let their appetites regulate the quantities of them to be eaten. 
Llaborate compounds of foods are not needed in mashes. In general a 
mash will be as well balanced — as complete — as a ration can be, with three 
or four ingredients. Good feeding is systematic. Large bills of fare make a 
system too cumbersome. That the fowls may be trained to eat what is given 
