FEEDING PRACTICES AND APPLIANCES 393 



little than to slight it. If a little grain is left in the litter 

 it will be eagerly scratched out in the morning. Great 

 care should be taken, however, to so feed that the straw 

 is scratched absolutely free of grain at least once a day. In 

 following this particular routine this should be the condition 

 at noon. The really skilled feeder is the one who so handles 

 the ration that he constantly piques the appetite of his fowls 

 that they will consume large amounts of feed with relish, yet 

 never gives quite all they would like to consume. As noted 

 in other connections, of the two evils, "overfeeding" or 

 "underfeeding" to a slight degree the latter is preferable. 

 It limits production slightly, by not furnishing quite all the 

 raw material that could be made over into a finished product, 

 but it keeps the appetite keen and the body in good working 

 order. Overfeeding, on the other hand, cloys the appetite 

 and clogs the system, thereby limiting production even more 

 than in the first case. 



Unless the weather is quite cool, fresh water should be 

 supplied at the time of the evening feeding. In freezing 

 weather commercial water heaters should be used, or other 

 means provided to keep the water from freezing. Water 

 must be available whenever the birds can see to cat if the 

 best production is expected. 



Feeding with the Aid of Lights.— Rice' has pointed out that 

 for best results at the nest, the period between feeds should 

 never be over ten to twelve hours. During the winter months 

 the time between the night and morning feeds exceeds this 

 by several hours. The use of lights to lengthen the feeding 

 day appears to have been first practised by iJr. E. (.'. AValdorf- 

 in 1895. Ilal]>in^ secured favorable results from the experi- 

 mental use of lights at Michigan Agricultural College as 

 early as 190G. It is only within cjuite recent years, however, 

 that practical use has been made of artificial light in con- 

 nection with feeding. The practice is now quite general in 

 the coast states where commercial jwultry farms abound. 



^ Cornell Countryman, \'ol. x\\, No. I. 



^ Reliable Poultry Journal, vol. xxvn', No. S 



3 lijid., vol. xxvi. No. 3. 



