Feeding 83 



One great trouble with the poultry business is that the 

 successes are pointed out, and the failures are allowed to 

 pass unmentioned, but I believe that the failures are as 

 important as the successes. You want to know why this man 

 failed and why; the other man failed, but you will never see 

 in any poultry book an account of such failures. 



In many localities you will hear it said that the hens are 

 deteriorating and that they need new blood, but the fact is 

 that by wrong feeding and constant bowel-trouble the hens 

 are gradually weakened and killed. There is nothing the 

 matter with the hens; the trouble is in the feed. 



It is generally believed that any one can feed poultry, and 

 millions of dollars are lost yearly through that mistaken 

 belief. 



An improperly balanced ration causes bowel-trouble or 

 creates a craving, which if not satisfied will cause serious 

 results, as will also many combinations of food. I have fed 

 laying hens on chick-food for quite a while and they laid 

 very well on it, as some chick-foods contain enough protein 

 to keep a hen laying. 



A mistake in not balancing a ration for hens may not 

 always result in serious trouble, but a mistake in not properly 

 balancing the ration for chicks either proves fatal or so 

 injures the chick that they are set back and sometimes never 

 amount to anything. 



Baby chicks that develop leg weakness are victims of an 

 unbalanced ration and over-feeding. The knowledge you gain 

 from experimenting with hens is very valuable in raising 

 baby chicks. 



I have given ten rations for making hens lay, and could go 

 on indefinitely giving ration after ration, all of which I have 

 used with more or less success, providing I used the right 

 grains — the right grade of those grains — and the right 



