216 Profitable Poultry Keeping. 



suitable for rearing purposes, and for egg production, though 

 in cold weather some food with more fat in it should be 

 given, so as to make up for the deficiency in this respect ; but 

 in summer this is not necessary, and then barley is one of 

 the best foods we have for the purposes named, whether 

 whole or ground. If used in the latter way, care must be 

 taken to have the meal good, pure, and freshly ground, for 

 often it is made of inferior grain, or the good meal is mixed 

 with some other stuff to cheapen it. The pure can 

 easily be told, as it is rough, and there is not much fine dust 

 about it. 



We come next to oats, which are, perhaps, the best 

 balanced of all the grains, having 6 per cent, of fat or 

 oil, 15 per cent, of flesh-forming, 47 per cent, of warmth- 

 giving, and 2 per cent, of bone-making properties. The husk 

 or fibre is extremely great, being 20 per cent, of the whole. 

 Oats are not, however, .very much used,, as only the best 

 kinds are relished by the fowls, and these are somewhat 

 expensive. Poor kinds, such as are known as long or Tartar 

 oats, are not good food, and contain more husk than anything 

 else, which, though good in its place and in proper quantities, 

 is not of much use. Provided the best oats are ground up, 

 husks and all, they make an admirable food ; but we have 

 commonly found great difficulty in obtaining these ground 

 oats, and millers do not appear willing to take the trouble 

 involved in the making of this meal, especially as so little is 

 used. Oatmeal is of a different nature to either whole or 

 ground oats, for the process it undergoes on the kiln, and 

 the removal of the husk, gives it different qualities. It is, 

 however, splendid for chickens, and for fattening purposes, 

 and a fowl fed upon it makes splendid eating. 



The chief of all the grains, wheat, is not much used for 

 fowls, except on farms where there is plenty on hand, for it 

 is an expensive food. There are, however, large quantities of 



