362 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
May 23 
FEEDING A HEN. 
Part XVII. 
On page 350, you will find some more 
comments on Mr. Truslow’s questions 
about duck feeding. We. have now to take 
up another matter that has often caused 
poultrymen considerable thought. Let 
us take the following note for our text : 
Dry Bran for Poultry. —The man who feeds 
dry bran and ground grain to his fowls, has made 
no report yet. Please tell us why it won’t work. 
It is better for cows, ary than wet, and for poul¬ 
try, it would be much easier to feed, would not 
sour in the summer, or freeze in the winter, and 
will keep the hens busy for a long time. Water 
must be kept handy, for they will drink large 
quantities. I have fed in this way some, but 
hardly enough to determine whether it is as good 
as a mash, or not. Bran is so much cheaper than 
wheat—it costs only about two-thirds as much, 
pound for pound—that if the dry bran and ship 
stuff will answer, it has many advantages. 
Claremont, Va. a. f. a. 
We also asked some of our poultry- 
men to explain why a mash is ever de¬ 
sirable, and why it is usually fed in the 
morning. Here is the first direct answer: 
The only reason I have for feeding a mash, is 
that, in that way, I can feed to an advantage, ani¬ 
mal meal that I cannot feed in any other way. In 
feeding dry bran, enough would likely be wasted to 
make the difference between it and higher-jjriced 
grains. The exercise hens get in working over 
a dough dish, is likely to be fattening. In five 
minutes, they should have their dishes all 
cleaned. I fed mash at night one winter, and the 
result was that the number of eggs did not come 
up to the average. v. k. hasertck. 
. New Hampshire. 
The chief arguments in favor of a mash 
seem to be that it is easier to feed warm 
food in this way. The mash is also the 
best form in which to feed meat or other 
strong materials, because they can be 
mixed all through it, so that individual 
fowls will not be likely to receive more 
than a fair share. The mash, too, gives a 
chance to utilize bulky foods like vege¬ 
tables, stalks, etc., which may be soft¬ 
ened and “ balanced” by adding meat. 
The following note from Mr. Seely 
gives the result of actual experience, 
and is, therefore, of considerable value. 
as readily as cows and horses. It takes 
hens a long time to eat much dry ground 
grain. They experience some difficulty 
in picking it up, and choke frequently. 
It is rather against their nature to take 
it in this shape. I have known of this 
practice being followed : Dry bran was 
mixed with corn meal and kept before 
the fowls during the forenoon. It is no 
uncommon thing for poultry keepers to 
feed dry ground beef scrap by itself, 
just as they would cracked corn. I have 
not followed the results closely. A 
mixture of middlings, corn meal, bran 
and beef scraps might be fed dry in¬ 
stead of wetting or soaking it, but I 
think it is best fed when j ust wet enough 
to be crumbly. A scalded mess is sup¬ 
posed to be more easily digested. 
Messes, as usually mixed, whether 
scalded or not, contain an excessive 
amountof water. The same mess baked 
like a johnny cake would be less objec¬ 
tionable. Many feed such a johnny 
cake to their little chickens, but if this 
be given frequently without hard grain 
and an abundance of grass, they do not 
do so well as on raw, cracked corn. 
They become cloyed or surfeited, and 
lose their appetites. It is good for a hen 
to grind her own grist. It is natural 
that the gizzards of fowls should have 
plenty to do. If you feed ground stuff 
entirely, you deprive the gizzard of ex¬ 
ercise, put the fowl out of condition, 
and it will lose its appetite. The noise 
made by the grinding m the gizzards of 
a flock of fowls on the roost, or a lot of 
growing chickens in their coop, is amus¬ 
ing to one unaccustomed to it. Hold a 
half-grown chicken to your ear, and you 
can hear the pebbles grind together. 
This brings up the subject of grit for 
fowls. I believe that crushed flint is 
the best grit. Crushed granite is not 
hard, sharp or lasting enough. Crushed 
limestone is not much better. The 
hardest flint broken up to suitable size, 
ought to sell well and be in great de¬ 
mand. Some broiler raisers grind up 
window and bottle glass for grit for 
their chickens and we have tried it; 
they take it readily, and we saw no ill 
effect, but this seems like going to ex¬ 
poultry raisers soak the grain in cold 
water, and let it swell before feeding. 
Doubtless a greater amount of nutritive 
material may be assimilated by the fowi, 
if a cooked mess is fed once a day, as 
well as the grain rations, but it should 
not be mushy or sloppy. Food and drink 
should be kept separate as much as pos¬ 
sible. Bran, ship stuff, or middlings 
and beef scraps cooked up with pota¬ 
toes, make a cheap food and a fairly 
balanced ration. I do not know the 
effect of feeding middlings or ship stuff 
dry. 
There are fads in poultry feeding as 
well as in other matters. Methods are 
recommended and very often quite gen¬ 
erally adopted and looked upon as 
modern, and as a great improvement, 
before the several sides of the question 
have been considered or tested. 
In regard to whether the mess should 
be fed in the morning or at night, I have 
always fed in the morning, and now 
think that a very light, cooked mess may 
be best in the morning ; but a full feed 
makes the birds sluggish, dull and heavy, 
(Continued on next vaae.) 
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Dry Bran Dried Up the Hens. 
What do I think of dry hran for feed ? 
I made an experiment in 1890. I had 100 
early pullets that I had taken from the 
brooder house for fall laying ; they were 
hatched in February, and in July, I was 
getting from 50 to 60 eggs from them. I 
did not care for the eggs at that time, 
but wanted them in September or Octo¬ 
ber. In order to check the eggs, I filled 
up their trough with dry bran, and kept 
it filled. In a week from that time, I 
was not getting an egg, although the 
fowls kept in fine form, and filled up in 
size. When I was about ready to use 
the eggs, I commenced to feed them with 
a mash composed of corn meal, mid¬ 
dlings and bran, scalded, in the morn¬ 
ing, and wheat at night. In two weeks, 
I was getting eggs, and they soon got up 
to 80 eggs per day, and continued all 
winter. 
I prefer the mash in the morning, be¬ 
cause it does not take it so long to 
digest, and then they will hunt for some¬ 
thing more. But in a cold climate like 
this, I think that I can get more eggs by 
giving dry feed all of the time, except 
about twice a week, when I prefer to 
give them some animal food. The hens 
will not be so likely to take colds as 
they are with the wet feed. I can make 
them work for their dry feed, while the 
mash must be put where they can get it 
without work. james h. seely. 
We may now add the following article 
by Mr. Cushman. The question has been 
asked why bran is laxative in its effect 
on the system, while wheat flour is con¬ 
stipating : 
Dry Bran for Poultry. 
As a matter of theory, I favor feeding 
dry hran as well as dry corn to poultry, 
for the reasons given in my last article. 
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