The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1894-07-26

Poultry Monthly.I

\ great many hens and chickens get
sick and die. and perhaps a still larger
number fail to do as well as they should,
because they are not properly fed. a
common error in feeding is the keeping
Of the fowls too largely upon either
soft or hard food.
When they gather food for them
selves. hens subsist very largely upon
the various kinds of grain and seeds OF
grasses. weeds and other hard material.
They DO this to a great extent as
matter of necessity: not having sutfi
cient quantity of soft food within reach,
they take what they are able to get.
The fact that when approaching most
closely to their natural state hens sub
sist largely upon hard food does not
prove that they prefer it to soft mate
rial; but another fact is, that hens
which get their food mainly from the
fields are usually vigorous and healthy.
This is pretty good evidence that
hard foods are not necessarily nju-
riOus.
Numberless experiments have proved
that when hens are closely confined
they will lay a larger number OF eggs if
they are kept principally upon soft food
than they will if whole grains form a
principal part of their food.
This i'll many cases led to an excess
sive use of various kinds Of soft mate
rial. Dough made Of various kinds Of
meal or bran is, on many farms, fed
almost exclusively. Pepper and vari-
Gus other condiments or stimulants
mixed with the dough tends to make
it more palatable and increase the
number Of eggs produced. If not used
in excessive quantities, it is probable
such material is a beneficial addition
to the kinds Of food described but even
this does not prevent a certain degree
of injury which will result from an eX-
| elusive use Of soft food. 1t is very
| evident that when thrown, as is often
done, upon a cold floor or even on the
snow, dough can not be a very good
| kind of food. Whatever kind of food
is given, the hens ought to have a
warm place in which to eat. During
hot weather the exclusive use of soft
foods very strongly tends to cause dis
eases of various kinds, some Of which
are very hard to control consequently,
| through large part Of the year the
constant use Of soft food for hens can
| not be recommended.
The exclusive use of hard foods,
though not as likely to cause disease,
is not without its attendant evils. A
great many farmers give their hens
| liberal quantities of corn OK wheat and
also feed them regularly, but obtain
very few eggs. Sometimes they add
oats or buck wheat to the other kinds
of grain. They supply abundant guam
titles Of lime and gravel and do what
they can to keep the fowls comfort
able. The hens take on flesh and
seem to be very well contented but
they do not lay. As far as the pro-
duction of eggs is concerned this method
OF feeding is failure.
Like all other animals, fowls, when
kept in confinement, need much more
careful feeding than they would if there
were not an unnatural development OF
the laying faculty to be sustained.
Food must be supplied which will not
only stimulate the production Of eggs
but which will maintain health and
vigor giving either soft or hard fooC
exclusively must fail in one of these
particulars. Soft food will tend to the
production Of eggs at the expense o
health, but the exclusive use of hare
food will tend to keep the hens from
laying. Both kinds Of food should be
given if the best results are desired
Dough, alternately with whole grair
and with the frequent addition of milk
meat and vegetables, will, as far a
food can do so, make the hens produc
tive and profitable.