FOODS, AND FEEDING 
less caution, and indeed in most cases may be fed 
with comparative liberality. Always feed corn in 
the evening, rather than during the day. 
Oats are an excellent poultry feed, but fowls do 
not, ordinarily, take to them as readily as they do 
to wheat and corn. Oats are good for 
growing stock, going largely to build 
up muscle and flesh; and make an ideal summer 
food for old fowls, because they are neither heat- 
ing nor fattening, and are small enough to induce 
plenty of exercise when scattered in litter. Rolled 
oats are excellent for baby chicks, and ground oats 
for growing stock. 
That the sharp, pointed hulls of oats may dam- 
age or even pierce the fowl’s craw is a common 
belief in some sections of America, but this is a 
fallacy over which no one ordinarily need worry. 
If the fowls are allowed to frequently gorge them- 
selves on oats, or if the oats used are very sharp 
and stiff, some trouble may be experienced in this 
direction; but a good grade of oats used judiciously 
will do no harm whatever. 
Buckwheat, while no better than the three staple 
grains just mentioned, may often be used to good 
Miscellaneous advantage to make variety in the 
Grains ration. 
Kaffir corn is relished by fowls almost as much 
as Indian corn, and may be fed with less caution, 
as it is less fattening. 
Oats 
137 
