122 MAKIXG POULTRY PAY 



the feeding of mash once a day gave rather disappoint- 

 ing results. There were over 7000 hens in this contest. 

 The greatest egg yield and profit was obtained from 

 those flocks which had dry ground grain constantly 

 before them in hoppers. They produced an average 

 of fifty-six eggs per hen during the five months at a 

 food cost of forty-five cents. The flocks fed entirely 

 ■on whole grain produced an average of forty-seven 

 eggs per hen at a food cost of thirty cents, while 

 those fowls which had one or more feeds a day of a 

 mash averaged thirty-eight eggs each at a cost of forty 

 cents for food. 



The mash is commonly fed in troughs. A good 

 ■one is shown in Figure 46. This is made of a piece 

 ■of board six inches wide and three feet ten and one- 

 half inches long. That is nailed securely to two "feet,'' 

 which are pieces of two by four-inch scantling a foot 

 long each on the bottom, but scarfed off to about seven 

 or eight inches on top ; these are set about five inches 

 in from the ends. The end pieces are seven inches 

 liigh, six inches wide at base, and narrow to two and 

 one-half inches at top; the sides being perpendicular 

 for one and one-half inches, and then narrowing. The 

 ends are nailed on to the bottom board, and the top 

 strip, of two and one-half inch furring, is inserted 

 between the ends and nailed — this last point being to 

 .guard against the nails drawing out when the trough 

 is lifted by the top, which serves as a handle. Good 

 clear laths nailed along the sides and to the end pieces, 

 make a sufficient side guard to the trough, projecting 

 three-quarters of an inch to an inch above it, which is 

 .ample protection for the food put upon it. \Mien this 

 ■trough is intended for outdoor use a quarter-inch hole 

 is bored in each comer,, to allow the water to run off 

 ■during a rain. 



