350 POULTRY PRODUCTION 



Wheat Bran. — Wheat bran is a by-product of flour manu- 

 facture and consists of the outer layer of the wheat kernel. It 

 is one of the most popular means of adding bulk to the mash. 

 Its chaffy character has seemed to make it particularly well 

 suited- for mixing with some of the heavier concentrates, as 

 corn meal, oil meal, middlings, and gluten feed. It is also 

 said to have a cooling effect upon the digestive tract and be 

 slightly laxative in character. It frequently forms 50 per 

 cent, of the constituents of a mash intended for mature stock 

 and is just as frequently kept constantly before very young 

 chicks without addition of other feedstuffs. 



The only data as to its digestibility available represent 

 three experiments by Bartlett* which uniformly show a 

 decidedly low digestibility of the organic matter. He further 

 found that a mixture of equal parts of fine-cut clover and 

 corn meal was sufficiently bulky to feed with concentrates 

 and was more digestible and, for the East at least, a more 

 economical feed than bran. 



It may be that bran, like succulence, will continue to be fed 

 for its physiological effect rather than its feed value. There 

 is need of further light upon its exact value as a constituent 

 for mashes. 



The amounts of digestible nutrients found in 100 pounds of 

 wheat bran as determined by digestion experiments with 

 chickens are 11 pounds of protein, 1.48 poiftids of fat, and 

 24.79 pounds of nitrogen-free extract. It contains 5.8 pounds 

 of ash and has a nutritive ratio of 1 to 2.5 for chickens. The 

 crude fiber content is 9.5 pounds. 



Succulence. — Regarding greeli feed, Jaffa'' remarks that it 

 " must be considered from the stand-point of its medicinal or 

 hygienic value rather than from the stand-point of nutrition. 

 Some green stuff, like alfalfa and the legumes in general, 

 possesses a much higher food value, but the more tender and 

 succulent the green, the more it is enjoyed. Some green stuff 

 should always be given as a separate feed where it is possible 

 to do so. Alfalfa meal, fed in the mash, does not take the 

 place of a succulent feed. At the same time, it must be re- 



' Maine Bulletin No. 184. 

 « California Bulletin No. 164. 



