204 



COMMERCIAL POULTRY RAISING 



provision consists chiefly in giving the fowls access to the right 

 sort of foodstuffs. 



As explained in a preceding chapter, poultry must be fed those 

 products which yield certain elements, such as protein, fats and 

 mineral substances, which are necessary to meet the daily de- 

 mands of the body. Moreover, these elements must be fed in a 

 mechanical condition which will render the greatest good at the 

 least expense. Expense in this instance embraces both the 

 poultryman's pocketbook and the fowls' health. 



(Courtesy Kansas Experiment Station) 

 Fig. 137. — The farm flock can be made to forage for the greater part of its 



keep. 



Exclusive Grain Diet. — Time was when poultry was fed al- 

 most exclusively on whole grain. Such a diet was expensive and 

 improperly balanced. Also, it was wasteful /j^because certain 

 portions of whole grain were not necessary to^a fowl's welfare. 

 They were of greater value as human food. For example, wheat 

 middlings and wheat bran are better poultry foods than wheat 

 flour, whereas the latter is considered more desirable as human 

 food. Therefore the logical thing is to mill and separate the 

 whole grain. In recent years this has been done, with the result 



