296 CARE OF LAYING HENS 



ration of the right proportion, but no opportunity should 

 be lost to take advantage of seasonable fluctuations in the 

 market price of poultry food products. If the price of corn 

 is proportionately much lower than that of wheat, then corn 

 should be used in greater quantity and the ration balanced 

 by using larger proportions of by-products in the form of 

 bran, wheat middlings, oil meal, and the like. However, 

 the general principles underlying the compounding of a 

 good ration for farm animals should not be lost sight of. 



•Green Cut Bone. — When fresh and untainted, green 

 cut bone can be fed with safety and profit in the propor- 

 tion of one half ounce daily or one ounce every other day 

 per hen. When tainted or when fed in too large quan- 

 tities it may cause diarrhoea, oviduct eversion, or poisoning. 



Time to Feed Different Ingredients. — The time to feed 

 whole grain is the first thing in the morning and the last 

 thing at night, and in some cases for the noon meal. 



If a wet mash is fed, it should never be given before ten 

 o'clock and preferably at noon. The physiological reasons 

 for the above statements are clear : grain in the morning 

 induces exercise ; the mash fed in the middle forenoon is a 

 stimulant. Bran has a laxative effect, is a regulator and 

 makes a valuable addition to finely ground foods as it gives 

 them bulk and porosity, making it easier for the digestive 

 fluids to permeate the mash, thus preventing poor diges- 

 tion and consequent poisoning and general ill health. 



Cooking and Grinding Poultry Foods. — It is reasonable 

 to suppose that cooking poultry feeds makes them more 

 digestible, just as cooking food for human consumption does. 

 This holds true with starch foods better than with protein 

 foods. The digestion of ground feed requires less energy 

 and takes place much more rapidly than the digestion of 



