FEEDING FOR WINTEiR EGGS 75 



stitutes. Hens lay best in the spring when green food is 

 plentiful and in the winter either alfalfa meal or roots of 

 some kind should be given at least every other day. As a 

 regulator and blood purifier nothing is better than gran- 

 ulated charcoal and it is not expensive. It should be with- 

 in reach of the fowls the year round. Hens lay very littlie 

 while molting. Sunflower seed fed every other day dur- 

 ing the molt will furnish the oil necessary for new feathers, 

 and a good prepared poultry food fed each day in slightly 

 dampened mash will give the fowls the strength to with- 

 stand the weakening process of molting. 



The main food for poultry is whole and ground grains 

 and seeds, and I will not attempt in this short article to lay 

 down any definite rules for feeding, but will give my method 

 of feeding in a general way. First, it is important that 

 quite a variety of grain and seeds be supplied, for fowls as 

 well as people require more than one kind of food. The 

 proper way to feed grain is to scatter it in the litter so that 

 the chickens will have to exercise to find it. Some poultry- 

 men claim to get best iresults by feeding only dry grain 

 while others feed a mash either morning or night. Person- 

 ally I prefer scattering millet and small grain in the litter 

 in the morning as this will keep the fowls busy most of the 

 day and the exercise will warm them up and keep them in 

 health. At noon give a light feed of green cut bone and 

 coarse grain. Just before roosting time feed a mash com- 

 posed of one fourth alfalfa meal, one fourth bran, one fourth 

 ground oats and one fourth coarse corn meal. Add to this 

 your table scraps and a little prepared poultry food. Feed 

 only what will be cleaned up in ten or fifteen minutes. In 

 mixing the mash scald with boiling water but do not make 

 it sloppy. The mash should then be covered and allowed 

 to stand until cool enough to feed. I would only feed a mash 

 during cold weather depending on grain and seeds during 

 the warm months. My reason for feeding mash at night is 

 that it warms the fowls and can be easily digested while 

 they are at roost. 



To put it all in a nut shell, provide variety, do not over- 

 feed and do not use shrunken grain or half spoiled food; 

 if you want eggs that are sweet and of good>flavor use the 



