1 90S-] 



Dry Feeding oe Chickens. 



683 



weight; and that in purchasing grains it is desirable to measure 

 the amount received from time to time and to ascertain by 

 experiment which dealers give the best value of grains in pro- 

 portion to cost, including price of grains and carriage. 



The following note on the Dry Feeding of Chickens has 

 been prepared by Mr. Edward Brown, of University College, 

 Reading : — 



Dry Feeding- of 0 ne of the great difficulties which for- 

 Chickens. , , . , 



merly attended the artificial rearing 01 



chickens, more especially upon a large scale, was the excessive 

 mortality among the young birds when from ten to twenty days 

 old. In some cases the percentage of loss reached 50 to 60 per 

 cent, of the chicks hatched. Naturally, winter chickens, or those 

 brought out during cold, wet weather, suffered much more than 

 those which were produced during the later spring months ; and 

 it was found that the loss was most pronounced on damp soils, 

 especially in valleys. 



After careful experiments and observations during several 

 seasons, the conclusion arrived at was that the primary cause 

 was want of exercise, with consequent weakness of constitution 

 and inability to withstand rapid changes of atmosphere or 

 damp foggy mornings. When chickens are with a hen she 

 encourages them to seek and scratch for food, and they are 

 kept busily engaged all day, with the result that the organs 

 and muscles of the body are strengthened. On the other hand, 

 chickens reared artificially are frequently fed so abundantly 

 that there is no incentive to search for food, while the food 

 itself is generally such as to induce softness of tissue in the 

 body and to force growth, the digestive organs being called upon 

 to a very limited extent, and the birds having no inducement 

 to take exercise are liable to be affected by wind or cold. 

 So long as the food supplied was what is called " soft," that is 

 consisting of meal mixed with water, it was impossible to secure 

 an alteration in this respect, and this led to the introduction of 

 the system of " dry feeding." Dry feed consists of grains and 

 seeds given in their natural state. To compel the birds to 

 obtain exercise these grains and seeds are scattered among 



