THE FEEDING PROBLEM 43 



Feeding Beans 



Our readers know our "Rule of three"— or the three essentials 

 of egg production — Comfort, Exercise and Proper Food— and how 

 very necessary each of this trio is for filling the egg basket. 



The successful poultry breeders, those that are really making 

 money in the poultry or egg business, all and each follow our Rule 

 of three. Some put more emphasis on one of the three conditions, 

 and some on the other, but I find the man that uses all three essen- 

 tials about evenly balanced is the successful man. 



Just at present there are several of our readers who are seek- 

 ing for advice on the problem of the proper food and have appealed 

 to me for information about the use of beans and some other foods 

 which are available or cheap in their locality. I would like to 

 help them discuss this subject together with the different breeds 

 they are feeding. 



We all know that food is first necessary to sustain life, to enable 

 the young fowls to grow and make their feathers, while it also 

 enables the mature fowls to make and produce eggs. We have 

 learnt that the body of the hen and the egg also is composed of 

 water, mineral matter, nitrogenous matter and fat, and that to sus- 

 tain life and growth and to produce eggs, the hen must be supplied 

 with these elements. It is exceedingly interesting to learn the 

 right proportion of these different elements that have to be supplied 

 to the hen, all of which may be found in the analysis of the differ- 

 ent foods given in the valuable bulletin "Poultry Feeding and Pro- 

 prietary Foods," by Professor Jaffa of the University of California. 



Professor Rice of Cornell, in one of his lectures, says, "Feeding 

 poultry is a science and an art." The science is in the knowing 

 why, and the art is in the knowing how to do it. Our Professor 

 Jaffa divides the food (this is the science part) into three classes : 

 The protein, carbo-hydrates and fat. He explains that the word 

 protein comes from a Greek word which means the chief thing — 

 or the first thing — and the protein is the most important part of the 

 food, for by it is made or produced the bone, muscle, blood, nerves, 

 tendons, etc. The protein or nitrogenous matter of the hen's body 

 and of the egg is formed by the nitrogenous matter (the protein) 

 that is fed to the hen or that she finds in hunting on the range for 

 her food, so anyone can see how important this element is in the 

 food. ■ 



The carbonaceous part of the food, which includes the fat and 

 carbo-hydrates (sugar and starch), is mainly used as a fuel supply 

 to the body and is the substance which is consumed in the pro- 

 duction of heat and energy. We know or have learnt that an 

 active fowl, such as a Leghorn that is always on the move, scratch- 

 ing, running, flying, uses up more of the fat-producing food than a 

 quieter, tamer, heavier fowl, such as the Plymouth Rock or Wyan- 

 dotte or one of the Asiatics. 



The scientists have analyzed the food as well as the hen and 

 have decided that a hen requires as a balanced ration for egg pro- 

 duction one pound of protein to four pounds of carbo-hydrates, and 



