410 POULTRY PRODUCTION 



on it. Such a hopper, of proper size to hold 200 pounds of 

 grain, is shown in Fig. 178. 



Feed Hoppers. — Hopper feeding is finding its way into 

 all hnes of feeding practice with the exception of crate 

 fattening. In some cases it is restricted to the feeding of 

 mineral foods. Usually it includes the feeding of the dry 

 mash and in the case of growing stock at certain seasons of 

 the year may be extended to include the feeding of whole 

 ration. 



A hopper should have capacity enough not to require too 

 frequent filling, should allow the birds free access to what- 

 ever it contains, when open, without waste, and in some cases 

 should be capable of being closed. If in addition it can be 

 rat-proof, it is a great advantage. 



The most popular type of hopper is what is called the 

 force-feeding, or self-feeding, hopper, by which is meant 

 that only a small part of the feed contained in the hopper 

 can be reached by the fowls at one time. As fast as it is 

 consumed, however, more feed slips down from the storage 

 compartment to take its place. An outdoor hopper covered 

 over with prepared roofing is shown in Fig. 183. Fig. 184 

 shows working plans of the same hopper. Figs. 181 and 182 

 gives the plans of a home-made indoor hopper that is capable 

 of being closed. Fig. 185 shows a three-compartment and 

 Fig. 186 a single-compartment hopper for grit, charcoal, 

 granulated bone, or oyster shell. 



Feeding Troughs. — For those mixtures which will not serve 

 as scratching feeds and are not suited for hopper feeding, 

 troughs or trays of some sort are usually necessary. This 

 applies to moist mashes for young and old stock and for the 

 finely ground dry material fed little chicks before they are 

 big enough to eat from a self-feeder. 



The desirable features of such appliances are ease of 

 cleaning where moist feeds are given and the prevention 

 of waste with the dry. For little chicks the latter may be 

 accomplished by putting a piece of half-inch mesh hardware 

 cloth into the top of the tray, as shown in Fig. 188. The 

 chicks are able to eat through this, but cannot scratch it 

 out and waste it. 



