FIFTY-FIRST ANNUAL CONVENTION 91 



cure for themselves all that is necessary if they are on green 

 range. At other seasons it is frequently worth while to give 

 fresh green feed daily. Some of the feeds that may be used 

 are cut clover or alfalfa, cabbage, mangel beets, and 

 sprouted oats. Mangels of the half-suger type form a very 

 satisfactory succulent feed for winter use. Cabbage is ex- 

 cellent feed for fall and early winter. Sprouted oats are 

 costly from the labor standpoint, but they are very well 

 liked by hens. 



Mangels can be fed easily, and without waste, by cut- 

 ting them in half and hanging them on nails driven in the 

 wall of the poultry house, about a foot above the floor. 

 Cabbage may be fed whole. Any cut greens, such as clover 

 or alfalfa, must be fed immediately after cutting or the 

 fowls will not eat them readily. 



Some Minerals Are Needed. 



Grit is a necessary aid to the gizzard in crushing and 

 grinding feed. Fowls ranging over gravelly soil can easily 

 find their own grit. Most Illinois soils contain so little 

 gravel that it is well to supply commercial grit for the poul- 

 try flock. Not over three-fourths of a pound of hard grit 

 will be needed by a hen in a year's time, so the cost is small. 

 Soft grits are not so efficient as hard and if used should be 

 furnished in a somewhat larger quantity. 



A small part of the lime that goes toward the making 

 of the egg shells is supplied in the grain and meat feeds, 

 but for the larger part of the necessary lime, oyster shell 

 must be provided. Without sufficient lime there will be 

 fewer eggs and they may be soft shelled. In the spring and 

 summer, when the hens are laying heavily, special attention 

 must be given to supply this mineral. 



Both grit and oyster shell should be kept constantly 

 available in hoppers. One hundred hens will consume in 

 a year about seventy-five pounds of grit and from two hun- 

 dred to three hundred pounds of oyster shell if they are al- 

 ways available. 



It is a well established fact that all animals require a 

 certain amount of salt. Hens are no exception. There is 



