46 THE HOME POULTRY BOOK 



So much has been written about egg-producing 

 feeds and growing feeds and balanced rations that 

 the bewilderment of the beginner who tries to com- 

 prehend it all can hardly be wondered at. It is 

 needless to puzzle long over balanced rations. 

 Place a trough of mixed grains before a flock of 

 hens, and no matter how carefully the proportions 

 have been balanced, the birds will unbalance them 

 in about three minutes. That is to say, each fowl 

 picks out the particular kind of grain which she likes 

 best — and some poultry have very decided prefer- 

 ences. 



Good sound grain in variety, with a mixture of 

 ground grains served as a mash, a certain amount 

 of meat in some form and green food in abundance 

 will fill all the requirements. It must be remem- 

 bered that hens forced for eggs do not make good 

 breeding stock, besides demanding more care. The 

 amateur's flock need not be fed oftener than twice 

 a day, although it often is convenient to give the 

 hens the scraps from the family table at noon. On 

 one famous egg-producing plant the hens are fed 

 at least five times a day. But those hens are forced. 

 They might be termed specialized hens. 



The grains to use are corn, oats, wheat, barley 



