THE MATURE FOWLS 



erly applied have been found to give equally as good results 

 as any of the elaborate mixtures adopted by those who have a 

 passion for so-called scientific feeding. 



EXERCISE IS IMPORTANT 



As birds in winter are more or less confined to the poultry 

 house we must supply an incentive to exercise to keep them 

 out of mischief in the form of acquiiing bad habits, like feather 

 pulling and egg eating, as well as to keep them in good con- 

 dition with keen appetites. The best exerciser is an abundance 

 of deep, clean litter. Sweet new straw undoubtedly makes the 

 very best litter material, though leaves, chaff, and even planer 

 shavings may be used. Hay is not desirable for litter, since 

 the birds are almost certain to eat it and become crop bound. 

 Litter material must always be clean and sweet, never mouldy, 

 musty, damp and rotten litter will give rise to canker, chicken 

 pox, and other diseases even more dangerous to the Hfe and 

 welfare of your flock. Prevention of sickness by good manage- 

 ment is far preferable to treatment and cure after disease is 

 established. 



DRY FEEDING-A SIMPLE RATION 



One of the simplest and most successful food rations is a 

 combination of two or more good sound grains, fed together 

 with a plentiful supply of animal and vegetable food. Two- 

 , thirds dry, sweet, sound, cracked com or whole com mixed with 

 one-third heavy cUpped white oats (wheat or barley may be 

 substituted for the oats if the price makes it advisable), makes 

 an excellent ration for both laying and breeding stock. It may 

 be given in a food hopper or the grains may be fed separately 

 in different compartments of a trough or hopper, or used as 

 daily scraching food rations in deep litter. The method of feed- 

 ing is adaptable to suit the convenience of the feeder. Where 

 the birds are hopper fed it is advisable to occasionally scatter 

 a few handfuls of grain in the litter. This is best done daily 

 at watering time, and we usually make it a practice with our 

 hopper fed birds to take a few handfuls of whole grain from 

 the food hoppers and scatter it in the litter when we make our 

 morning round to fill the water pails. For these birds we keep 

 a food hopper containing mixed grain in one compartment and 

 pure beef scrap in another before them all the time. They also 

 have a plentiful supply of grit, oyster shell, charcoal and pure 

 water. Vegetable food like raw potatoes, raw turnips, beets, 

 cabbages, and any other available green food is fed freely, as 

 much as experience has taught us that they will clean up dur- 

 ing the day. If the last supply was not promptly cleaned up 

 they get less at the next feeding. This plan of feeding has 

 given quite as good results as any other that we have tried, and 

 it is a plan followed by many poultrymen who make their Uveli- 

 hood by supplying fresh eggs to the markets. 



SIMPLE RATION POPULAR FOR HALF A CENTURY 



There is nothing new about this simple method of poultry 

 feeding. As long ago as 1864 the State Board of Agriculture 

 of Massachusetts advocated a similar ration for lajdng fowls. 

 We quote the following from an article by Mr. E. A. Samuels 

 published in the report of the Board of Agriculture for that year: 



"The poultry house prepared and the flock selected, the 

 fanner should see that they have proper care and food; that 

 unhealthy fowls are restored or removed; that those hens which 

 incline to sit are provided with eggs; and that the chickens when 

 hatched are taken proper care of. Fowls in confinement re- 

 quire an abundance of pure water, ashes to dust in, and nourish- 

 ing food. Of grain, equal parts each of Indian com and oats 

 is very acceptable; at least three times a week scraps of meat 

 should be thrown in to them, and a supply of crushed oyster 



shells or clam shells should be accessible at all times. Green 

 sods also thrown frequently into the fowl-yard will be of great 

 advantage. These few attentions are all that are necessary 

 with laying hens." 



These simple rules for poultry feeding have continued to 

 give satisfactory results for nearly half a century. They have 

 been improved upon by keeping a supply of beef scrap always 

 before the birds instead of throwing in meat scraps three times 

 a week, and prepared green foods together with raw vegetables 

 are now freely used to supply a substitute for the green sods 

 that are not always obtainable. 



Another excellent dry food ration for winter feeding is the 

 plan of keeping before the birds all the time a supply of dry 

 mash consisting of one-fourth com meal, one-fourth beef scraps, 

 and one-'half wheat bran thoroughly mixed. together and fed 

 dry in boxes or hoppers. In addition to this either two or three 

 regular feeds are given daily, of dry grains scattered in the litter, 

 consisting either of a mixture of cracked com, oats, wheat and 

 barley, or the grains fed separately, making com about 50 per 

 cent of the total amount fed. Green food, consisting of cut 

 clover or alfalfa or else a supply of fresh raw vegetables, is fed 

 freely. The cut clover or alfalfa may be fed dry, but gives 

 best results, as a rule, if scalded and lightly seasoned with salt. 



MAINE EXPERIMENT STATION RATION 



A third and more elaborate dry ration is that recommended 

 by the Maine Experiment Station . The method of feeding breed- 

 ing and laying birds in winter employed at this station is as 

 follows: 



Early in the morning each one hundred hens receive an 

 allowance of four quarts of screened cracked com scattered in 

 the Utter. The litter consists of clean straw 6 or 8 inches deep. 

 At ten o'clock the birds have another feed in the litter consist- 

 ing of two quarts of wheat' and two quarts of oats. No other 

 regular feeding is done. A food trough with a slatted front 

 extends along one side of the pen. In this is kept a supply of 

 mixed dry meals, the so-caUed dry mash. This dry meal mix- 

 ture is composed of the following materials: 200 pounds wheat 

 bran; 100 pounds corn meal; 100 pounds wheat middlings; :^00 

 pounds of either gluten meal or dry brewer's grain; 100 pouiids 

 linseed meal; 100 poimds beef scrap. These meals are thor- 

 oughly mixed together before being used in the food trough. 

 The trough is never allowed to remain empty. Oyster shell, 

 dry cracked bone, grit and charcoal are kept accessible to the 

 fowls at all times. Pure water is always before them. They 

 are also given a supply of mangolds or other raw vegetable food, 

 and have an allowance of about five pounds of cut clover fed 

 dry daily to each one hundred birds. 



The Maine Station reports that birds fed on this ration 

 average to lay twelve dozen eggs each during the year, this 

 average being for the entire flock. This station has in one yard 

 80 birds each one of which has laid from 200 to 250 eggs in a 

 year on this same ration. 



There is less labor involved in feeding hens according to 

 the dry method than in any other plan of caring for them, and 

 this appeals strongly to many poultry keepers who cannot devote 

 much time to their birds. To date all experiments tend to show 

 that the results in fresh eggs in winter are quite as satisfactory 

 where the birds are fed by the dry methods as they are where 

 moist mashes are used. There are, however, many who still 

 adhere to the moist mash plan of feeding and for the benefit of 

 those who prefer this method we give a few of the least elaborate 

 and most satisfactory moist mash rations. 



MOIST MASH RATIONS 



In feeding moist mashes it apparently makes Uttle differ- 

 ence whether the mash is fed in the morning, at noon or at 



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