POULTRY FEEDS AND FEEDING 



Bone in some form is also of value where the birds are 

 closely confined. The importance of green feed both as a 

 source of bulky feed and a conditioner for poultry can- 

 not be overemphasized. Green feed contains a consider- 

 able amount of the substances now recognized as abso- 

 lutely essential to growth and health. The larger and 

 greater the variety of green feed that can be produced 

 and fed at a reasonable cost the greater will be the returns 

 from the fowls in addition to the beneficial effect on their 

 health. 



Good kinds of green feeds are green grass, kale, rape, 

 growing grains, sprouted oats, mangel beets, cabbages, 

 chopped alfalfa and clover hay, and alfalfa meal. Kale, 

 rape and all green crops should be put through a feed 

 cutter and chopped into pieces one-half to three-fourths of 

 an inch long. The fowls will eat a much greater amount 

 of green feed where it is prepared in this manner and 

 either mixed with a moist mash or fed as a separate feed 

 daily by itself in troughs than if hens are allowed to range 

 in a field where these crops are growing. However, the 

 soil should be kept fresh and sweet by ploughing and 

 seeding the yards with a quick growing green crop and 

 the fowls allowed to range on these growing crops in thq 

 yards when the grain is 2 to 3 inches high. This method 

 of handling the yards keeps the soil fresh and sweet and 

 in addition provides considerable green feed. 



Where extra green feed is grown it can be fed to the 

 fowls while fresh to better advantage than to allow the 

 hens to harvest the crops themselves as by the latter 



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