June, 1910. 
_ THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
31 
“i 3 Fhe Pouibry Yard: 
Poultry Foods and Their 
Value. 
In dealing with the question of peultry 
foods and their value it is necessary to 
draw a distinction between what aro 
termed, for the sake of convenience, 
_ natural and artificial. Tho former are 
those that fowls are able to obtain in a 
wild state, such as worms, grubs, seeds, 
insects, otc., while the latter are those that 
are provided for them, such as the many 
oultivated grains and the meals made 
therefrom. 
- Thore, is no doubt whatever that the 
former are preferable for several reasons ; 
they are cortainly less expensive, and 
fowls seem to thrive upon them rather 
better than they do upon artifigials, but 
perhaps this latter advantage is more a 
result of the labour apd exercise that 
have to be expendediby the fowls in ob- 
taining their. ewnfoed, 1n this article it 
in-the artificials foods that I want to deal 
with—these which birds in a natural 
state geuld be wnnable te procure— 
sings they ere the ones upon which the 
smallholder has to depend to a very groat 
extent. rea 
é —- The Best Grains, — 
| Yoking ite fesdimg value 2s woll as its 
_s 
months, 
price into consideration, there is no 
better grain for poultry than wheat. It 
is an excellent all round food, being suit- 
able at most seasons of the year and under 
nearly all conditions, besides which fowls 
are extremely fond of it, eating it in pre- 
ference to other grains Its somewhat 
high price during the last twelve months 
has been unfortunate from the poultry- 
keeper’s point of view, but, notwithstand- 
ing this fact, it is still an economical food, 
Barley has excellent feeding properties, 
but its hard husk makes it difficult to 
digest, and there is sometimes a certain 
amount of difficulty in persuading fowls 
to eat 1t at ali readily. Containing a 
fairly large share of carbo-hydrates, it is 
really: of more value during the winter 
Care is required in purchasing 
it since many inferior samples are offered 
for sale, Oats are extremely well balan- 
ced, containing a fair percentage of the 
three essential elements Only well-filled 
oats are of any service, since the small 
thin grains consist almost entirely of husk, 
It is an excellent plan to steep the grains 
in water for a few hours previous to feed- 
ing, end in this manner they are rendered 
moro palatable.and easier of digestion. 
~~ The Use of Maize, — _ 
Maizo requires to be used very care- 
‘tensively for feeding poultry: 
fully indeed, for when fed: in large quan. 
tities it impairs the health, reduces the 
vitality, and causes the birds to become 
very fat, There are only two occasions 
‘when I recommend the use of maize for 
poultry, namely, to sitting hens and 
during a spell of very cold weather. 
Maize is extremely strong in the heat- 
forming element, carbro-hydrates, and 
thus goes to the production of fat rather 
than eggs or flesh. The appearance of a 
‘maize-fed bird is probably familiar to 
many readers; the.carcase is entirely 
coated with:a layer of oily, greasy fat, 
useless as « food, and harmful to the bird. 
Cooked maize, under certains conditions, 
is a suitable food,’ but in a raw state it re- 
‘quires to be employed very carefully 
indeed. 
— The Smaller Grains. — 
There are many of the smaller grains 
that are really only suitable for use in a 
dry chick mixture. 
seed, buckwheat, millet, [and dari are the 
Canary seed, hemp 
ones most commonly employed. 
Canary seed is rather expensive, and is 
therefore only used during the first month 
of a chicken’s life; after this time less 
expensive grains are substituted, 
Buckwheat enjoys great popularity 
among the poultry. keepers on the Conti- 
nent, and there is no doubt but that it is 
a capital grain for all kinds of poultry, 
especially turkeys. 
obtain in this country: but when a good 
It is not very easy to 
sample can be procured cheaply its use 
is recommended. = 
Rice is extensively used by the “dnek- 
ers’ and is, regarded as the finest food 
there is for fattening purposes. Té is, 
however, almost useless asa food in a raw 
state, since it is. ‘very indigestible and 
badly balarced, , For cooking purposes 
purposes the common chicken or Burmah 
rice should be used. A small quantity is 
advocated in the formation of a dry chick 
_mixture in order to balance .some of the 
richer grains. 
_——- Some Useful’ Meals, — 
Middlings (also known as toppings, 
‘pollards, sharpe, sétonds, thirds, and dari) 
is a yery valuable meal, and is used ex- 
It is really 
wheatmeal, that is, it is half-way between 
