52 



CHICK BO,OK 



the monotony ' of a heavy corn ration and to give a wider 

 range of food material. 



We do not know whether or not Mr. Dudley has made 

 any extensive investigations throughout the poultry keeping 

 section of New England, but it is apparent from his state- 

 ment that he has not visited many of the plants supplying 

 the larger portion of the best table poultry and best table 

 eggs to Boston, Providence and New York markets. These 

 practical plants feed corn, cracked corn, oats and beef sciaps 

 very heavily, and feed a comparatively small amount of 

 wheat, chiefly on account of the high price of good, sound 

 feeding wheat. Some of the plants we have visited feed 

 wheat screenings heavily when they can be obtained at a 

 sufficiently low price, but in the main throughout New Eng- 

 land (and this is true of the larger part of the United States 

 also), yellow corn has been and still is the leading staple 

 grain for feeding layers and market poultry. If we were 

 obliged to confine ourselves to one grain we would take good, 

 sound yellow corn. Fortunately this state of things has 

 never been forced upon us. 



The conditions of the grain market in New England vary 

 greatly in different towns, even at a short distance removed 

 from one another. Early in the summer' season of 1908 it 

 was almost impossible for us to buy of grain dealers in our 

 nearest large towns corn and oats that were fit to feed, while 

 the price for a few weeks was so high as to be almost pro- 

 hibitive. With corn, wheat and oats at practically the same 

 price per hundred pounds, and the corn and oats of inferior 

 quality, wheat of course was the cheapest grain to buy. At 

 the same time in a town 50 miles removed from us the con- 

 ditions were very different; poultry keepers in that section 

 were buying oats of exceptionally fine quality at a reason- 

 able price, and plenty of good corn was to be had at 25 cents 

 less per hundred pounds than we were asked to pay for a 

 very inferior article. These conditions in greater or less 

 degree exist all over our country, and every poultry feeder 

 must be governed by the local conditions. 



The Much Discussed Kation 



The criticised ration under discussion is in all probability 

 our repeated recommendation of a main or staple ration made 

 up for hopper feeding practically as follows: Winter feed- 

 ing — two-thirds corn or a mixture of cracked corn and whole 

 corn, . with one-third either wheat or oats, or a mixture of 

 wheat and oats. Summer feeding — two-thirds wheat or 

 oats, or a mixture of wheat and oats, and one-third corn. 

 Either amber or hard red wheat recommended, and for oats 

 the best heavy clipped white oats running 38 to 40 lbs per 

 bushel. Corn preferred, sound hard yellow grain, or mixed 

 yellow and white. White may be substituted for yellow in 

 sections where yellow corn is not available. These mixtures 

 are hopper-fed in addition to either free range on grass land 

 or a liberal allowance of green and vegetable food. Beef 

 scraps, charcoal, oyster shell and a good grade of grit con- 

 taining an abundance of lime and silica to be kept before the 

 birds all the time. Pure water to be supplied constantly. 

 Occasional variation of this ration with feedings of buck- 

 wheat in fall and winter, and from one to three per cent sun- 

 flower seed during fall molting season, also kaffir corn and 

 barley when available at a sufiiciently low price at any season. 



Great care must always be taken in purchasing oats not 

 to obtain a light-weight oat that is practically all hull and waste, 

 or oats that have been spoiled in curing or otherwise dam- 

 aged. We have frequently found poultry keepers trying to 

 feed their birds on light-weight or an inferior black damaged 

 oat, at the same time expressing the opinion that oats were 

 not good food and that their fowls did not take kindly to 

 them. The purchase of such poor grain is only money 

 thrown away. Again, we have found musty corn, and corn 



green with mold, in use, and the poultryman condemning 

 corn rather than his own judgment in purchasing an inferior 

 article simply because it was. obtainable at a low price. 



Our critic referred to above finds that where oats, wheat 

 and corn are used together that his birds "hoe out" the 

 greater part of the corn and oats from the hopper in order 

 to get at the wheat. It is not probable that this condition 

 prevails at all seasons of the year. We have met a number 

 of poultrymen and poultrywomen who claim that their fowls 

 are given certain peculiarities in regard to diet, and it is 

 evident from the evidence submitted that they pamper their 

 fowls and encourage these notions by their feeding methods. 

 One woman told us that her fowls would never eat oats or 

 barley, could not be induced to. Another that she could 

 not make her hens eat wheat; a poultryman that his fowls 

 would not eat raw potatoes or parings of same, as we said 

 ours did. We had occasion to purchase fowls from these 

 flocks and after they had been in our yards for a few days 

 we did not notice that they exhibited any peculiarities so 

 far as food preferences were concerned. They ate the same 

 food given the other members of the flock and seemed glad 

 to get it. Frequently when fowls have not had a certain 

 kind of grain or other food for a long time they will be a 

 little shy of it for the first few feedings. This is particularly 

 true of grains having a coarse fibrous hull like oats, barley 

 and buckwheat. 



Experiment Stations Found Corn Good 



From time to time our experiment stations have at- 

 tempted to demonstrate the difference in feeding value be- 

 tween corn and wheat, and a dozen or more years ago many 

 poultry writers were exceedingly active in condemning corn. 

 This prejudice against corn has not entirely died out, and 

 not long ago one of our leading poultry journals made the 

 statement : 



"What a blessing it would be if the price of corn would 

 remain so high for a term of years that poultry feeders could 

 not reach an ear of it during that time! The fowls would 

 be able in three years to build up some bone and muscle 

 and thus increase their ability to produce eggs. The con- 

 stant feeding of corn is doing a great injury to the fowls of 

 the United States." 



With all deference to the writer of the above, that state- 

 ment is a manifest absurdity and we believe born of ignor- 

 ance of practical poultry feeding. Several investigators at 

 experiment stations in poultry feeding experiments to deter- 

 mine the relative feeding value of wheat and corn, were 

 much surprised to find, when their annual summary was 

 made, that the heavily corn-fed hens laid not only a greater 

 number of eggs than those fed heavily on wheat, but that 

 the eggs were larger and heavier and 'the fowls were in much 

 better condition at the end of the test. This experiment 

 has been repeated many times, but the experiment was not 

 needed to prove to practical men that corn', meaning good, 

 sound, hard yellow Indian corn, is a particularly valuable 

 feeding grain for fowls. As we stated earlier in this article, 

 the best eggs and poultry in our eastern markets are corn 

 fed. The fancy South Shore chickens which bring upwards 

 from 40 cents per pound in Boston market during the months 

 of June and July are raised on an almost exclusive diet of 

 cracked yellow corn, beef scrap and green food. 



During the last two seasons one grower tried to get 

 away from feeding corn because of the increasing price and 

 the difficulty then experienced of obtaining good yellow 

 corn, and in comment on the product of this plant a promi- 

 nent marketman said to us, " 's chickens are not 



nearly as good as they were when he raised them on corn 

 and beef scrap, and this season he can't touch the top price. 

 His stuff isn't up to it." 



