1906.] 



Animal Food for Poultry. 



459 



Quantity to be given. — The quantity of fresh bone which can 

 safely be fed to poultry varies with the age and kind of the 

 poultry, and also in accordance with the conditions under which 

 they are kept, and the season of the year. For adult hens in 

 full lay the customary allowance is from half an ounce per bird 

 per diem in summer to one ounce per diem in winter, but ex- 

 perience and results alone can guide the individual as to the 

 proper quantities to feed in the special circumstances in which 

 his fowls happen to be kept. The allowance would naturally be 

 affected by the nature of the other foods given. If these were 

 poor in protein a liberal allowance of bone might be fed, but if 

 rich in protein then it would be inadvisable to supply bone too 

 freely. Fowls kept in small runs where there is a scarcity or 

 complete absence of natural animal foods can be fed a larger 

 allowance of green bone than birds which run at large over a 

 farm. The health of the fowls may, however, be taken as a 

 fairly safe guide, and so long as the fowls keep healthy there is 

 no great danger that too much bone is being fed. 



During the moulting time hens and poultry of all kinds ought 

 to be fed liberally on animal food, because the growth of feathers 

 requires plenty of nitrogenous matter, and there is no form in 

 which it can be more effectively and safely fed than in the form of 

 green bone. It is not, therefore, advisable to drop off the supply 

 of animal food as soon as the hens stop laying for the moult. 



Green bone has somewhat the same effect on growing chickens 

 that it has on moulting hens. It is, however, necessary to feed 

 bone to young chickens with the utmost care, for their powers 

 of digestion are not very great and are easily upset. Very 

 small quantities may be fed daily, and the important points are 

 to have the bone finely cut and to feed it in a strictly fresh con- 

 dition. As chickens attain the age of four months or so they 

 can be fed almost as liberally as adult fowls, and from that time 

 forward there is but little danger of bowel trouble when ordinary 

 precautions are taken. 



There are two things which militate against the use of green 

 bone amongst poultry-keepers. The first is the difficulty of 

 procuring a regular supply of raw bones, and the second is the 

 labour of cutting them. In remote country districts the nearest 

 village may contain but one butcher's shop, where animals are 



