390 POULTRY PRODUCTION 



in a large number of cases, is given as being suggestive of 

 what a good routine may be: 



Give a light feed of grain, soon after the birds leave the 

 perch in the morning. This should be scattered in a deep 

 litter of straw to every part of the pen so that the birds will 

 be compelled to scratch vigorously for some hours in order to 

 search it all out. Fresh water should be supplied in the 

 morning. 



At noon as much succulence as the birds will clean up in 

 twenty minutes to half an hour should be supplied. Fresh 

 water should be given and the dry mash hopper opened. 



Two to three hours before the birds go to roost they should 

 be given a full feed of grain thrown in the litter. It is essential 

 to the best results that the birds go to roost with full crops, 

 and this feeding should not be stinted. An examination 

 of the crops of the birds should now and then be made after 

 they are on the perch to ascertain whether they are well 

 filled. 



It is better to overdo the matter of evening feeding a 

 little than to slight it. If a little grain is left in the litter 

 it will be eagerly scratched out in the morning. Great 

 care should be taken, however, to so feed that the straw 

 is scratched absolutely free of grain at least once a day. In 

 following this particular routine this should be the condition 

 at noon. The really skilled feeder is the one who so handles 

 the ration that he constantly piques the appetite of his fowls 

 that they will consume large amounts of feed with relish, yet 

 never gives quite all they would like to consume. As noted 

 in other connections, of the two evils, "overfeeding" or 

 "underfeeding" to a slight degree the latter is preferable. 

 It limits production slightly, by not furnishing quite all the 

 raw material that could be made over into a finished product, 

 but it keeps the appetite keen and the body in good working 

 order. Overfeeding, on the other hand, cloys the appetite 

 and clogs the system, thereby limiting production even more 

 than in the first case. 



Unless the weather is quite cool, fresh water should be 

 supplied at the time of the evening feeding. In the event 

 of freezing weather, the water pan should be emptied. 



