September 1, 1909 
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Se 49, 3 
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THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
_ ¢ Fhe Poultry Yard. ¢ * 
Diseases of Fowls. 
‘'G, BRAGSHAW, in the ‘ Agricultural » 
Gazette of N.S.W.’ 
(Continued from last Issue.) 
—Blood in Eggs.— 
Occasionally a speck of blood is found 
in new-laid eggs. Asa rule this is the 
result of over-stimulation, due to too 
generous feeding, or somespicy condiment 
or irritant to the diet. 
Of course, the blood is from ruptured 
blood vessels, and when the blood is 
found in the yolk of an egg it is the result 
of the rupture of a blood vessel in the 
‘oviduct. Asa remedy, try the effect of 
adding a little Epsom salts and tincture 
of iron to the drinking water. A tea- 
Spoonful of tincture of iron is sufficient 
to add to a gallon of*water and 2 table- 
Spoonfuls of Epsom salts. 
To a hungry person any old hen may 
taste tender and good, but to the epicure 
only the best grades sell well, and it is to 
this class that the market poultrymen 
must cater. They pay the price. 
Feeding Fowls. 
Mr. James Dryden, Professor of Poultry 
Husbandry, at the: Oregon Agricultural 
College, U.S.A., in the course of a lecture 
on the production and marketing of eggs 
and fowls, said, on the subject of feeding 
fowls: — ; 
In the feeding of poultry on the farm, it 
is neither practicable nor desirable to 
compound elaborate rations. Where the 
fowls have the liberty of the fields, the 
question of feeding is very much 
simplified; they will there pick up a large 
percentage of their food. If the farmer 
were to confine his fowls in close yards, 
and feed them in the way he usually does 
on free range, the effect would bea poor 
egg yield anda loss of vigour in the 
fowls. The nearer we can follow Nature’s 
teachings in the feeding of poultry, the 
better will be the results. No set rules 
can be laid down ag to rations, but a 
knowledge of some of the general prin- 
ciples of foods and feeding will help the 
poultry man to avoid mistakes. 
— Foods — 
Saccessful feeding of poultry rests 
largely on a proper.combination of foods 
rather than on any single food. There is 
no one food that will meet all the re- 
33 
ments of the fowls. It isnot a question 
of wheat or corn or oats so much as it is 
a question of vegetable or animals 
foods, or, again, of protein or fats. The 
real value of corn or wheat has never 
been fully determined. ‘The chemical 
composition of wheat is slightly better 
than that of corn for egg production; that 
is, it contains more protein than corn. On 
the other hand, digestion experiments 
now in progress indicate that a larger 
percentage of the corn is digested, or 
made use of by fowls than of wheat, but 
neither corn nor wheat should form the 
exclusive diet of fowls. The excess of: 
fat forming material is not a disadvantage 
in corn if it be fed in combination with 
other foods rich in flesh-forming or egg- 
producing material. If the fowls have 
access to animal food, such as meat scraps 
and the insects that may be found on 
the farm, they will themselves correct the 
undue proportion of  fat-forming 
elements in the corn, In other words, they 
will balance their own rations. The 
feeding of poultry is not a question 
altogether of balanced rations, because a 
ration may be ‘ balanced’ without con- 
taining any animal food, and the ration 
must contain a large proportion of foods 
of animal origin for good results. Egg 
production, it is true, requires a narrow 
nutritive ratio, but the nutritive ratio does 
not indicate the presence of animal food 
or the reverse. The great scarcity of 
fresh eggs in winter is’ largely due to a 
scarcity of animal food. There is a close 
agreement between the food consumed 
and the product, whether it be eggs or 
meat, The proper feeding of poultry 
necessitates a careful study of the 
composition of foods, as well as of the 
product. 
— Methods of Feeding. — 
The methods of feeding, as well as the 
rations, vary greatly. As already indicated 
methods that would “be successful with 
the fowls on free range would not be 
satisfactory for fowls confined in smal; 
yards, Where the fowls have the liberty 
of the fields, which usually furnish a 
plentiful supply of animal food, satis- 
factory results will ba secured if the 
farmer will see that they have a liberal 
supply of grain. Corn or wheat should 
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