46o 



Animal Food for Poultry. 



[NOV., 



killed but once a week. In such places fresh bones cannot 

 probably be procured regularly or often enough, but a supple- 

 mentary supply may perhaps be obtained from one of the 

 neighbouring towns. . . ; : 



All kinds of bones from the animals which are used for 

 human food may be utilized for fowl feeding. The bones which 

 are hardest to cut are those of the lower parts of the legs of 

 oxen, and also the ribs. The large leg and body bones are 

 comparatively easy to dispose of in the machine, and when 

 such parts as the head are being prepared it is as well first to 

 strip off the adhering meat so that the bone can be more easily 

 reached. The meat may be cut separately in the machine or 

 with a knife or mincer. 



Dried Bones. — It sometimes happens that fresh bones 

 cannot be got at all or in sufficient quantities, but that dried 

 bones can easily be procured. It must not be imagined, 

 however, that dried bones will serve as a substitute. Dried 

 bones are practically lime and little more, the animal matter 

 having been extracted from them by cooking or drying. Bone 

 meal can be made from dried bones and is a useful food to 

 supply mineral matter to the system and to make egg shells. 

 Some poultry-keepers burn old bones and break them into 

 small pieces to be used by fowls instead of grit and charcoal. 



Other Animal Food. — The best substitute for cut green bone 

 in a ration is fresh butchers' scraps and offal. These contain 

 about the same proportion of protein as green bones, and may, 

 therefore, be fed to fowls in about the quantities advised 

 above. The offal would include heads of sheep, oxen, &c., 

 livers, lights, heart, and blood. All of these, with the exception 

 of blood, can be fed raw, having been finely chopped. But 

 they may also be boiled if it is so desired, and they will still 

 retain full feeding value provided that the water in which they 

 are boiled is mixed with meal as a mash for the birds. Blood 

 must always be cooked, as it seldom agrees with fowls when 

 fed in a raw state, and being rich in albumen it must be fed 

 sparingly. The best way of cooking blood is to put it into a 

 small canvas bag and suspend by means of a cross stick in a 

 large pot of water, in the same way that a plum pudding is 

 cooked. In this way it can be boiled without burning. 



