PRACTICAL FEEDING OF POULTRY 



judgment and care in its use, and also involves more la- 

 bor than the dry mash system. It is particularly advan- 

 tageous where one desires to use the mash with other 

 materials, such as green feed or garbage, as they can be 

 easily mixed in a moist mash and a palatable well-relished 

 product secured. 



With all the dry mash kept in an open hopper all of the 

 time the fowls can eat a little feed at frequent intervals 

 and are always sure to have enough feed without stuffing 

 or gorging themselves at any one time. On the other 

 hand where a moist mash is fed just the right amount of 

 mash must be given or poor results will follow. If too 

 little moist mash is fed some of the hens will eat more than 

 their share of the feed, while the others which are not so 

 well able to take care of themselves as the stronger fowls, 

 will get hardly any feed. If more moist mash is fed than 

 the hens will consume within an hour or so the surplus 

 will become stale and is likely to ferment. If the fowls 

 eat this spoiled feed digestive troubles are likely to fol- 

 low. 



A wet mash must be mixed and fed each day, while a 

 sufficient quantity of dry mash can be mixed at one time 

 to last from i to 4 weeks, if large hoppers are used. A 

 combination of these systems is sometimes found useful, 

 especially in the fall to get pullets to commence to lay, 

 and also for hens during the molting period as the hens 

 are inclined not to eat mash freely during that period. In 

 this combination a dry mash is fed in the usual manner 

 with a light feed of moist mash given once daily, to get 



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