THE FEEDS 351 



have become listless and dumpish. When they once become 

 acquainted with it, chicks will scrap and tussle o^■er pieces 

 of onion about as quickly and freel.y as over worms. 



Care must be exercised, in feeding onion to laying stock, 

 not to overdo the matter. If fed to excess to laying hens 

 onions will impart their flavor to the eggs. 



Pumpkins. — Pumpkins form a good feed for fall and 

 early winter, but keep poorly. 



Rape. — Rape can be planted in drills and, if not cut below 

 the crown, may be gathered several times during the summer. 

 It furnishes an excellent source of succulence for birds 

 confined on bare lots. 



Ri/e Pasture. — Because of its early greenness in the spring, 

 rye is often planted in the fall. It is liable to cause scours 

 if the fowls are allowed to eat too large quantities at first, 

 but, if fed with caution, makes an excellent early source 

 of succulence. 



Silage. — Little is known concerning the value of silage in 

 poultry feeding. Apparently, the fowls relish it and it seems 

 to have no bad effects, unless it has been frozen or partially 

 spoiled. 



Sprouted Oats. — One of the increasingly common means of 

 supplying succulence during the winter is sprouted oats. 

 It should be recognizetl that sprouting only changes the form 

 of the feed and does not increase the nutriment. 



There are several ways of s]>routing oats. The necessary 

 conditions are warmth and moisture. They may be placed 

 in a bucket or tub which is filled with water as warm as 

 the hand can bear, and left over night. They may then be 

 drained oft' and placed in racks as shown in Figure 173, being 

 spread out until they are about an inch deep. If there is 

 a good, warm furnace cellar with a cement floor available, 

 they may be spread out on the floor. In either case they 

 should be sprinkled with warm water daily. 



In order to prevent mould. Rice and Rogers' recommend 

 that the oats be treated with formalin. " One pint of formalin 

 should be added to thirty bushels of oats. The liquid should 



1 Cornell Bulletin No. 248. 



