FEEDING IN GENERAL 



189 



seem to like the green feed better at 

 those time than at noon. 



Answer — The reason Professor Jaffa 

 thinks it best not to mix foods is be- 

 cause some hens will pick out all of a 

 certain grain in a greedy manner, and 

 by giving only one grain at a time, they 

 are forced to eat what he chooses to 

 give them. I would not venture to dif- 

 fer from so learnred a man, but, like 

 you, I notice my hens enjoy a variety, 

 so I give it to them, and for the little 

 chicks I am positive a great variety is 

 by far the best for them. I found that 

 the hens enjoyed an occasional feed of 

 soaked barley, so I poured scalding wa- 

 ter over a few pailsful of barley, cover- 

 ing it with gunny sacks to keep in the 

 steam and when thoroughly soaked, fed 

 it to the hens. 



How Much to Feed— Can you tell me 

 how much feed an average Leghorn 

 should have in weight with a free range 

 of two acres of alfalfa? Is green ground 

 bone necessary all the year round or 

 only in the winter? My hens will not 

 lay and I may not be feeding right, al- 

 though a few Wyandottes I have are too 

 fat, but they get exactly the same food 

 as the Leghorns. I have 72 hens and 

 only got 12 eggs yesterday. Am not 

 satisfied with the results and desire to 

 have them do better. 



Answer — An average Leghorn hen 

 should have in weight for every pound 

 weight of hen an ounce of food. As 

 Leghorns weigh about four pounds 

 each, they would require about four 

 ounces of food each per day. Animal 

 food of some kind is necessary for hens 

 if you want them to lay. If_ you can 

 give them milk in large quantities, that 

 will give them all the animal food nec- 

 essary. Green ground bone is, of course, 

 the best food, but it is very difficult to 

 keep it fresh and sweet in the summer 

 time, therefore dried bone and dried 

 blood, or beef scrap or milk must take 

 the place. A hen requires about half an 

 ounce of green ground bone every day 

 or of the dry stuff (bone and blood) 

 half an ounce every other day. If the 

 fowls have plenty of green food and are 

 not laying well, give' them more animal 

 food. Perhaps your Leghorns are two 

 years old, in which case you had better 

 get younger fowls, as their days ot 

 greatest usefulness are over. 



How Much Grain — I have been feed- 

 ing three times a day, grain morning 

 and night and a mash at noon. I feed 

 a good handful of kaffir corn, wheat or 

 Indian corn in the scratch pens. I have 

 a mixed flock; I cannot well use the 

 dry mash. How much of the grain 

 should I give if I only feed once a day? 

 I have fifty or sixty hens kept only for 

 eggs and no good way of weighing 

 grain, so please state quantity per hen 

 and not weight. — C. A. B. 



Answer — It is a good rule to feed a 

 quart of grain for every dozen hens, the 

 grain to be buried in the scratching 

 pens, so they will have to dig it out. 

 Give all the green food, clover, lawn 

 clippings, alfalfa, lettuce, cabbage, veg- 

 etables, that they will eat, and one table- 

 spoonful of green cut bone for each hen, 

 three times a week. You do not men- 

 tion how you make your mash. Re- 

 member that a hen needs animal food, 

 green food and cereals ; that is the bal- 

 anced ration that will give plenty of 

 eggs at all times. 



Broken Glass for Chickens — Have 

 started in poultry in a small way. Have 

 had very good success so far. How- 

 ever, it is somewhat of a trial to get 

 enough gravel or grit for a good sized 

 flock on a small lot. Now, what I want 

 to know is, is pounded glass fit to feed 

 hens? Two of my neighbors have ad- 

 vised its use in the poultry yards, but 

 I am afraid it would act on the chick- 

 ens the same as it did on foxes we used 

 to poison with it up in the wilds of Wis- 

 consin. — J. G. F. 



Answer — Broken glass or broken 

 crockery make a very fair substitute for 

 grit and gravel. It should be broken 

 not smaller than a grain of wheat and 

 have three sharp edges or corners to 

 each piece. In using glass, be sure not 

 to- take pointed pieces like slivers, be- 

 cause they may pierce the crop or gi- 

 zard. For several years, when I could 

 not get grit, I used broken crockery for 

 the chickens, and I know it does well. 



Substitute for Green Food — Will 

 you kindly tell me what would be the 

 quickest and best vegetable for green 

 food I could grow for my poultry? I 

 planted a patch of white clover, but it 

 does not seem to grow at all. Is al- 

 falfa meal a good substitute where green 

 cannot be had? — G. K. 



