162 POULTRY SECTION. 



water will infect the whole flock. For this reason a sick fowl should be kept 

 entirely- away from the remainder of the flock. In cold weather the water should 

 be warmed ciiouL^h to lake the chill off, and if cold enough to freeze, see that fresh 

 water is given twice or three times during the day. 



SUCCULENT GREEN FOOD. 



Every variety of poultry requires green food of some kind. This is as much 

 a necessary part of their ration as hay is to horse or cow. They must have it all 

 the year round in some form or other to insure the best results. There are various 

 ways and methods of supplying this need. Garden vegetables, such as cabbages, 

 carrots, or mangels, are good. In feeding turnips, beets, or mangels, or other large 

 roots, cut them in half and lay them with the flat side up and the chicken will pick 

 them out clean. Or drive a spike or two through boards two or three feet long, 

 fasten them to the wall of the coop and stick the roots on these. This is a cleaner 

 method than leaving them on the floor. Smaller vegetables, such as carrots, pota- 

 toes, etc., may be chopped fine or boiled and fed in the mash. 



One of the best green foods is sprouted oats, especially in winter time, when 

 other fresh green stuff is hard to obtain. Soak the oats in warm water about ten 

 hours, or over night. Drain off the water, but leave the oats in a deep pail or 

 box, well drained ; sprinkle daily until they begin to start roots. As soon as the 

 roots start, put the oats in shallow boxes to a depth of about three inches. These 

 boxes should have holes in the bottom to let the water drain off, but the oats must 

 be wet daily to keep them growing. In a very few days sprouts will start and the 

 feed is ready for the chickens. Sprinkle a little salt on them to make them a 

 little more appetizing, and the chickens will leave all other food for the oats. The 

 resulting increase in egg production more than pays for the trouble of sprouting 

 the oats. 



In the summer time, where the fowls are confined and do not have access to 

 grass or other green stuff, a parcel of ground in the yard may be spaded up and 

 oats sown. Soak them in warm water about ten hours and sow very thick. They 

 will soon sprout and the chicks will scratch them out, getting green food and exer- 

 cise at the same time. 



Corn silage is excellent as a green food for poultry. They will quickly clean 

 up every bit but the cobs and joints of the stalks that do not get broken up. This 

 makes a cheap green food on the dairy farm where silos are in use. 



FATTENING FOR MARKET. 



Before marketing fowls of any kind it is advisable and profitable to separate 

 them from the rest of the flock and give special feed until they are in a suitable 

 condition for the table. It takes but little to fatten poultry, and a much higher 

 price can be obtained for birds thus conditioned than for the ordinary run of fowls 

 marketed without this finishing touch. 



To fatten a fowl, food is required that is rich in carbohydrates and fat, rather 

 than being rich in protein, as these elements are converted into fat whenever the 

 fowl is fed more than enough to keep it warm and keep it strong enough to per- 

 form the work it has to do. Give all feed in troughs in order to keep the fattening 

 stock inactive as much as possible, so the food consumed will develop fat instead of 

 bone and muscle. 



For the first day or two feed a little less than they will eat up clean. This will 

 make their appetites keen for the forcing feed that is to follow. The addition of 

 Poultry Tonic to the ration will also have the effect of sharpening the appetite and 

 more benefit will be gained from the food consumed. A good ration for fattening 

 may be made up of equal parts of wheat bran, corn meal, and cut clover, or alfalfa. 

 To every four quarts of the mash add a tablespoonful of Poultry Tonic. Dampen 

 slightly with water or milk and feed once a day as a mash, preferably in the morn- 

 ing. At noon feed any kind of meat scrap, or table scraps, that you may have, 

 together with equal parts of wheat and cracked corn. The night feed should be 

 mostly of corn. Be sure there is no food left over from one feeding to another. 

 The sight of food before them all the time is apt to spoil their appetites so they will 

 not relish the fresh supplv as they should. If you have no clover, or alfalfa meal, 

 feed any other green stuff that you may have. Green food is necessary since the 



