220 POULTRY CULTURE 



attractive in form yet fed in such a manner that it may be eaten 

 quite rapidly. Being always before the birds, it gives the weaker 

 ones and the slow feeders an opportunity to eat all they want ; be- 

 ing unattractive in form, it does not tempt others to overeat ; and 

 so the food consumption of the flock is more equal. As far as 

 growth and production are concerned, full feeding, uniform through- 

 out the flock, is the principal advantage in the use of the dry mash. 

 Dangers in the use of dry mashes. Ground grains fed to poultry 

 in a dry state have a marked costive property. If the remainder of 

 the ration is too laxative for general use or for birds with a ten- 

 dency to looseness of the bowels, an appropriate quantity of dry 

 ground foods may be a corrective or preventive of diarrhea. Under 

 any other conditions a dry mash may be too constipating. The 

 costive property of dry mashes is particularly dangerous when a 

 mash contains a high percentage of animal food or other substance 

 rich in protein or fat, because it may prevent the slight diarrhea 

 which would give immediate warning of the injurious effects due to 

 an excess of concentrated food. Makers of commercial dry mashes 

 take advantage of this to use in their mixtures large proportions 

 of highly concentrated foods (not always of good quality), which 

 stimulate for a time but in the end bring about the usual results of 

 too heavy feeding of such articles. The tendency to produce con- 

 stipation may be offset by the liberal use of succulent foods, and 

 by feeding hard grain so freely that the consumption of mash is 

 small. The danger due to excess of concentrates is avoided by the 

 feeder mixing the mashes himself and limiting the percentage of 

 concentrates, or it may be greatly decreased by free feeding in 

 other parts of the ration. 



Examples of Rations 



Of the examples of rations which follow, some are common rations in gen- 

 eral use among practical poultry feeders who have worked them out in practice, 

 without considering their chemical elements, — often without acquaintance with 

 the science of feeding. Rations of this kind can rarely be accurately described. 

 Each one who uses them knows about what quantities of different ingredients 

 he uses, but few know exact quantities and proportions, and the more skillful 

 a feeder is, the greater and more frequent are his variations from the standard 

 which would express the general average of his rations. The skillful feeder 

 comes, in time, to have a nice judgment in varying rations to suit conditions. 



