48 THE HOME POULTRY BOOK 



cause it makes the hen work harder to fill her crop, 

 and exercise is important. If it is necessary to 

 defer the afternoon feeding to only a short time 

 before darkness falls, whole corn should be given, 

 so that it will be cleaned up quickly. The different 

 grains may be mixed and fed together or divided 

 in any way one prefers. The author's plan is to 

 feed oats and wheat, or barley and wheat in the 

 morning and cracked corn at night, giving the hens 

 at least an hour in which to clean up the last feeding 

 before they feel inclined to seek their perches. 

 Clipped oats are especially desirable. 



Most families have many table scraps which may 

 be fed the hens to advantage. They may be run 

 through a meat grinder or made into a mash by 

 soaking them and mixing in a little bran or meal. 

 Some amateurs practice the plan of keeping a ket- 

 tle on the back of the kitchen range into which go 

 all the scraps as fast as they accumulate. In this 

 way they get softened and cooked and may be made 

 into a mash as needed. Feeding this mash at noon 

 breaks the monotony of the day for the hens, but it 

 may be given in the morning or at night just as 

 well. Experience has shown that if a mash be fed 

 about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the hens will still 



