FEEDING A LITTLE FLOCK 47 



and Kaffir corn. Corn, oats and wheat are the 

 grains to be depended upon month in and month 

 out. The others are fed to give variety, but really 

 are not necessary. Many warnings against the ex- 

 cessive use of corn have been sounded, so many, 

 indeed, that some breeders have come to be almost 

 afraid of this grain. Yet corn is the best poultry 

 food there is and the danger that it will make the 

 fowls too fat to lay is a bugaboo to which little at- 

 tention need be paid, so long as pullets and one- 

 year-old hens are kept — and nothing older ought to 

 be found in the poultry yard. A fat hen will lay 

 better than a thin one, anyway, and pullets with 

 ordinary freedom and an average amount of mixed 

 feed will seldom become unduly afflicted with avoir- 

 dupois. 



Corn, then, may well constitute one-third of the 

 ration the year around, and in Winter no harm will 

 be done if half the scratch ration is corn. Of course 

 this grain is heating, and in extremely warm weather 

 the quantity may be reduced to a very small amount 

 for the time being. 



Many amateurs get satisfactory results feeding 

 equal parts of cracked corn, oats and wheat. 

 Cracked corn is better than whole corn simply be- 



