SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 



51 



excessive. lu feeding these beets to flocks of hens, a very 

 good practice is simply to split the root lengthwise with a 

 large knife. The fowls will then be able to pick out all of 

 the crisp, fresh food irom the exposed surface. These large 

 pieces have the advantage over smaller pieces in this re- 

 spect: The smaller pieces, when fed from troughs or dishes, 

 will be thrown into the litter and sojled more or less before 

 being consumed by the fowls, and, in fact, many pieces will 

 become so dirty that thoy will nOt,' nor should they, be eaten. 

 Large pieces can not be thrown about, and they remain clean 

 and fresh until wholly consumed. 



' ' Clover, during the early spring, is perhaps one of the 

 cheapest and best foods. It is readily eaten when cut fine in 

 a fodder cutter, and furnishes a considerable amount of nit- 

 rogen. If clover is frequently mowed, fresh food of this 

 kind may be obtained nearly all summer, Tjarticularly if the 

 season is a wet one. Should the supply of clover be limited, 

 or the season be unusually dry, green food may be cheaply 

 and easily grown in the form of Dwarf Essex rape. This 

 should be sown in drills and given cultivation as corn and 

 potatoes. When the rape is from eight inclies to a foot in 

 height, it may be cut and fed. It furnishes a fresh, crisp 

 food that is readily eaten. If cut a few inches from the 

 ground, a second, and sometimes a third crop will be pro- 

 duced from one seeding. Alfalfa will also furnish an abund- 

 ance of green food. It must, however, be cut frequently, 

 each cutting being made before the stalk becomes hard and 

 woody. 



"A good quality of clover hay cut fine and steamed 

 makes an excellent food for laying hena if mixed with the 

 soft food. 



' ' Cabbages can be grown cheaply in many localities, and 

 make excellent green food so long as they can be kept fresh 

 and crisp. Kale and beet leaves are equally as good and, are 

 readily eaten. Sweet apples are also suitable, and, in fact, 

 almost any crisp, fresh, green food can be fed with profit. 

 The green food, in many instances, may be cut fine and fed 

 with the soft food, but, as a rule, it is better to feed separ- 

 ately during the middle of the day in such quantities that 

 the fowls have about all they can eat at one time. 



Grit. 



t 



"It is necessary that fowls have access to some kind of 

 grit if grain food is fed in any considerable quantities. Dur- 

 ing the summer months, when they have free access to the 

 yards or runs, it will not be necessary to provide grit, pro- 

 viding the soil is at all gravelly. If on the other hand, fhe 

 soil is fine sand or clay, it will be necessary not only to pro- 

 vide grit during the winter months, but throughout the whole 

 year. 



"Small pieces of crushed stone, flint, or crockery ware 

 will answer the purpose admirably. There are many poul- 

 try supply houses which keep constantly on hand crushed 

 granite in various sizes, suitable for nearly all kinds of do- 

 mestic fowls. 



' ' Crushed oyster shells/ to a large extent, will supply th© 

 necessary material for grinding their food, and at the same 

 time furnish lime for the egg shells. Chemical analysis and 

 experiments, together with the reports from many practical 

 poultrymen, show conclusively that the ordinary grain and 

 the green food supplied to laying hens do not contain enough 

 lime for the xormation of the egg shells. It will require sev- 

 eral times as much lime as is ordinarily fed if good, strong 

 egg shel-ls are to be produced. Crushed oyster shells will 

 supply this necessary lime if kept constantly before the 

 fowls, trusting to them to eat. the amount needed to supply 



lime rather than mix the shells with food. The judgment of 

 the fowls can be relied upon in this respect. 



Meat Food. 



"Where fowls are kept in confinement it will be neces- 

 sary to supply some meat food. Finely cut fresh bone from 

 the meat market is one of the best, if not the best, kind of 

 meat food for laying hens and young chickens. Unfortu- 

 nately, it is not practicable for many poultrymen to depend 

 wholly on this product, for the reason that it is often incon- 

 venient or impossible to obtain, and when once secured it 

 can not be kept in warm weather without' becoming tainted. 

 Tainted bones should be rejected as unfit for food. Skim 

 milk may be substituted wholly or in part for meat food 

 without a decrease, in egg production, provided the proper- 

 grain ration is given. 



Feeding Small Cblckens. 



"Chickens do not require food for the first twelve to 

 thirty-six hours after hatching.. One of the best foods that 

 can be fed the first few days is stale bread soaked in milk. 

 This should be crumbled fine and placed where the chickens 

 have free access to it, and where they can not step on it. 

 One of the difficult problems for the amateur poultryman is 

 to devise some means for feeding little chickens so that they 

 can consume all the food without soiling it. 



' ' A simple and efficient feeding trough may be made by 

 tacking a piece of tin about three and a half inches wide 

 along the edge of a half-inch board so that the tin projects 

 about an inch and a half on either side of the board, bending 

 the tin so as to form a shallow trough, and fastening the 

 board to blocks which raise it from one to two inches from 

 the floor. (See Pig. 4.) 



JFlS. 4 Feeding Trough. 



"The trough may be from one to three feet long. It is 

 within easy reach of the c-hickens and so narrow that they 

 can not stand upon the edges. Food placed in such feeding 

 troughs can be kept clean until wholly consumed. 



' "Granulated oats (with the hulls removed) make an ex- 

 cellent food for young chickens. There is, "perhaps, no bet- 

 ter grain food for young chickens than oats prepared in this 

 manner. It may be fed to good advantage after the second 

 or third day in connection with the bread .sopped in milk. A 

 good practice is to keep it before them all the time. 



' ' The chickens s.hould have free access to some kind of 

 grit after the first day. Coarse sand makes an excellent grit 

 for very young chickens. As they get a little older some 

 coarser material must be provided. Milk is an "excellent 

 food for these young fowls, but requires skill in feeding. 



' ' One of the great difficulties in rearing fowls is to carry 

 young chickens through the first two weeks without bowel 

 disorders. Too low temperature in the brooder, improper 

 food and injudicious feeding, even if the right kinds of food 

 are given, each plays an important part in producing these 

 disorders. After the first ten days milk will be given more 

 freely, perhaps, than during the earlier stages of the chick's 

 existence. As a chick becomes a little older, more uncooked 

 food may be fed. A' mixture of fine middlings, wheat bran 

 a little corn meal, and a little linseed mixed with milk 



