CHAPTER XXI 



Feeding for Eggs — Wholesome Nourishment — 

 Not Destructive Stimulants 



Unless a hen is properly fed she may have been 

 purchased from the greatest strain of layers that it is 

 possible to imagine, and still you may have an empty 

 nest so far as eggs go. 



The food which the hen takes into her system goes 

 first to supply her bodily wants, the surplus she turns 

 into eggs, and if properly bred she will turn that sur- 

 plus into profit very rapidly. 



Easy Assimilation 



She must be fed, then, so as to have what is gen- 

 erally termed a " balanced ration," which really means 

 a ration supplying all her different wants. 



She must be fed so as to be able to assimilate her 

 food with ease. She might be fed a ration which she 

 could easily digest, but the ration might not so as- 

 similate and combine as to be an egg maker. 



The greatest factor in assimilation is proper green 

 food, and the hen should have this in a crisp, succu- 

 lent state, and plenty of it. The egg being to such 

 a large extent formed of water, unless she is sup- 



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