608 
Tht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
April 10, 1021 
The Henyard 
Poultry Feeding as a Science 
I was interested in Mr. Cosgrove’s 
article on page 302. Twenty years ago 
this Spring I tried an experiment with 
hatching large and medium size Plymouth 
Rock eggs. As in Prof. Rice’s experi¬ 
ment, 1 found the large eggs hatched 
larger chicks, hut the per cent of the 
large eggs that hatched was too small for 
me. From 10 or 12 sittings the average 
was less than four chicks per 13 eggs, 
while the average from the medium-sized 
eggs was better than 11 chicks per 13 
eggs. The hatching was done with Ply¬ 
mouth Rock hens. 
A year or so ago Mr. Cosgrove gave 
the number of yolks and whites contained 
in the different feeds. I wish he would 
repeat that, statement and go a step 
farther and include the per cent of lime 
or number of egg shells contained in the 
same feeds. 
In talking with a neighbor recently 
who. like myself, is making a specialty of 
eggs for market. I made the statement 
that if hens had plenty of other grit it 
was not necessary to buy oyster shells 
for them. lie thought they needed the 
shells for the lime they contain. I said 
I believed that the different grains and 
feeds we were using contained all the lime 
the hens required for shell-making, and 
told him that ’way back in the seventies, 
when I was a boy on an Illinois farm, I 
sent off and bought 10 Brown Leghorn 
pullets and a cockerel that arrived a few 
days before Christinas, and laid their first 
egg New Year’s Bay. and during the year 
laid 1.087 eggs. At that time I had never 
heard of oyster shells, dry mash, meat or 
beef scraps or green cut bone for poultry. 
My pullets got a mixture of the grains 
we raised on the farm, a few table scraps 
and plenty of sour skim-milk. I have 
never seen eggs with better shells. 
Bristol Co., Mass. M. A. u. 
The point M. A. B. makes regarding 
the hatehability of large eggs is worth 
considering. In Prof. Rice’s experiments 
he said nothing about that. It is some¬ 
thing that our poultry experiment sta¬ 
tions might take up and determine. Many 
of our White Leghorns—the Browns and 
Blacks and Buffs, too—are too small. If 
by selecting the largest eggs for setting 
for several generations we could increase 
the average size a pound or so, without 
decreasing the egg production, it would 
add many dollars to the value of our 
poultry, for it all goes into the pot at 
last. 
>1. A. B. asks me to repeat the list of 
the number of white and yolks contained 
in certain feeds. This has been pub¬ 
lished twice in Tite R. N.-Y., but as there 
are always new subscribers and others to 
whom it might be of interest I will give 
it again. This list is the result of ex¬ 
periments carried on at the Missouri Ex¬ 
periment Station by Prof. C. T. Patterson 
and others. These experiments were car¬ 
ried on in war time, so wheat was pur¬ 
posely left out of the ration. Prof. Pat¬ 
terson writes: “There is no one ‘best’ 
feed ration, but a balanced ration may be 
made by using any number of different 
feeds. The secret is to use in the feed 
ration the proper elements to make an 
equal number of whites, yolks and shells. 
A hen has to make her eggs from the food 
she eats. If her food contains carbohy¬ 
drates enough for 100 yolks, but only 
protein enough for 50 whites, all she can 
lay is 50 eggs; the surplus carbohydrates 
will go into fat. But if there is plenty of 
protein and not enough carbohydrates a 
hen will draw on the fat in her own tis¬ 
sues for yolks, and become thin in flesh.” 
I can verify that by personal exper¬ 
ience. I had 40 R. I. Reds and was feed¬ 
ing them the same ration as my Wyan- 
dottes were getting. But the Reds were 
laying heavily, up to 30 eggs some days. 
90 per cent. Picking up some of them I 
was astonished to find how thin in flesh 
they were. They had been drawing on 
their bodies for the fat for yolks to even 
up the whites in their ration. I imme¬ 
diately increased the corn in their ration, 
and brought them back into proper con¬ 
dition again. 
I will give the 
war time 
ration 
as used 
at the Missouri Station : 
Lbs. 
Yolks 
Whites 
Grain—Corn ... . 
. . 200 
510 
26S 
M ash—Middlings 
.. 20 
41 
44 
Bran ..., 
. . 20 
31 
41 
Oats .... 
.. 20 
39 
31 
Cornmeal. 
.. 20 
52 
28 
Meat scrap. 
... 20 
27 
288 
310 
700 
700 
One and half pounds of salt and 5 lbs. 
of bone meal should he added to this 
mash mixture. 
The reason hens will not over-eat of a 
dry mash mixture is because they cannot 
furnish saliva enough to moisten more 
than a few mouthfuls at a time. 
Anyone can use the feed easiest secured 
and balance the ration by the following 
table, which shows the numbers of whites 
and yolks in 100 lbs. of each feed: 
Grain— Yolks Whites 
Cracked corn . 
255 
134 
Kaffir corn . 
• • 
254 
125 
Wheat . 
• • 
243 
182 
Cow peas . 
• • 
189 
305 
I ) d t S ••■•••••••••• 
• • 
195 
155 
Barley . 
• • 
203 
145 
Buckwheat . 
178 
128 
Sunflower seed. 
• • 
233 
200 
Mill products— 
Wheat bran . 
• • 
155 
205 
Middlings . 
• • 
205 
212 
Cornmeal . 
• • 
260 
1.35 
Ground oats . 
m m 
195 
155 
Blood meal . 
230 
430 
Alfalfa meal . 
133 
205 
(>. P. oilmeal. 
190 
500 
Cottonseed meal ... 
148 
620 
Meat foods— 
Beef scraps . 
• • 
106 
1107 
Fish scraps . 
• • 
87 
800 
Dried blood . 
19 
871 
Fresh cut bone. 
• • 
190 
336 
Liquids— 
Whole milk . 
• • 
44 
00 
Skim-milk . 
• • 
22 
52 
Buttermilk . 
22 
65 
Vegetables— 
Apples . 
• • 
• • • 
62 
12 
Mangel beets . 
19 
IS 
Mangel beet leaves.. 
• • 
28 
10 
11 
25 
Potatoes . 
65 
15 
Turnips. 
26 
16 
Pumpkins . 
22 
23 
Corn silage. 
.... 43 
15 
Dry fodder— 
Alfalfa hay . 
.... 140 
180 
Clover hav . 
113 
Cow pea hay. 
.... 114 
71 
Of course, in making up a ration there 
is something more to be considered than 
just the elements contained in the feeds. 
Palatability and appetite are of the first 
importance, and must never be lost sight 
of. Also it is reasonable to suppose that 
these elements for egg production are 
available only after the hen has satisfied 
the needs of her own body. A hen is 
not a machine: she has an individuality 
of her own. Two hens may be fed ex¬ 
actly the same amounts of the same kinds 
of food, and one may lay twice as many 
eggs as the other. 
M. A. B. asks about shells (oyster 
shells) for lime for egg shells. In old 
times no one used oyster shells ; the hens 
found lime enough in their food, espe¬ 
cially if on free range. But the fact that 
hens will eagerly eat ground oyster shells 
is sufficient proof of its value. 
My hens ate large quantities of ground 
charcoal, too. I used to buy it by the 
100 lbs. It was wonderful bow quickly 
it would transform the character of the 
droppings and give them a healthier look. 
The well-trained poultryman does not 
neglect to notice the droppings, and if 
he sees a green tinge on any of them 
knows there is canker in the flock, and 
he must find and fight it. But the poul¬ 
try business cannot be told in one article. 
GKOUGE A. C'OSGKOVE. 
Incubator in Damp Cellar 
I would like to operate an incubator 
that has been in a damp cellar for four 
years, but am told it will not work well: 
the chicks will he weak. What is your 
opinion about ii V .t. ii. s. 
Severance, N. Y. 
A damp cellar is a better place in 
which to operate an incubator than one 
that is too dry. It is usually necessary 
to add moisture to a cellar by sprinkling 
the floor at frequent intervals with water. 
If this incubator has been kept in a damp 
cellar for four years, however, it may he 
warped or rusted, and may need over¬ 
hauling before eggs are entrusted to it. 
M. b. n. 
Westclox 
—that s Big Ben's family name 
Let Pocket Ben 
time your day 
pOCKET BEN tucks 
* into the pocket of 
your work-shirt and is 
right there when you 
want to know if there’s 
time to start that other 
job before dinner. 
Yet you don’t have the 
uncomfortable fe eling 
of risking damage to 
that high-priced watch 
of yours when you’re out 
on the job. Pocket Ben’s 
sturdy, double-back case 
helps him stand the 
racket. 
Pocket Ben got his 
education in the same 
school Big Ben came 
from; they both bear the 
Westclox family-name 
which means good time¬ 
keeping wherever you 
find it. 
See Pocket Ben at your 
dealer’s. He’s built for 
service rather than for 
show. But you’ll be sur¬ 
prised at the amount of 
good timekeeping you 
get out of him for a very 
little money. 
WESTERN CLOCK CO., LA SALLE, ILLINOIS, U.S.A. 
Makers of Westclox: Big Ben, Baby Ben, Pocket Bcn,Glo-Bcn, America,Sleep-Meter, Jack o’Lantern 
Factory: Peru, Illinois. In Canada: Western Clock Co., Ltd., Peterborough,Ont. 
How doyou buy 
your Cattle? 
Sick, scrub cattle cost as much to 
keep as healthy ones of good stock 
—and take twice as much care.vr. 
So with a scrub furnace. Poor con¬ 
struction means short life and a big 
coal eater. Buy your furnaces as 
you do your cattle. The pedigree 
means much. “Healthy - "' construction 
means more. Whether they are prof¬ 
itable or not in service rendered for 
fuel used is the real test. 
N P Sterling Furnace 
‘The One Register Furnace 
that is built right. It costs a few dollars 
more but more than repays this cost by 
saving in fuel bills and the long life of 
the furnace. 
Let ns tell yon in detail the merits 
of Sterling construction. A postal 
will bring full information. 
SILL STOVE WORKS 
ROCHESTER, N. Y. 
1 
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