The herald., 1896-08-01
Rational Feeding Of Poultry

| Mr.. M. r.. Jana, instructor in the agri-
cultural college, delivered recently a
very instructive lecture before the poul-
trymen at Petaluma on the rational
feeding of poultry Only part of the
| lecture appears in this issue, the rest of
| 1t will appear later. The work reflects
| great credit upon Mr.. Jaffa, and if there
were more such workers in the college
| certainly there would be no cause for
| complaint.
Economic Aspect of the Matter-The
! poultrymen of today fully realize that
in the face of low prices and COMPETE
| ton. he must, in order that his business
may prove profitable, feed the fowls
generously, yet at the same time eco
| nomically In other words. he must feed
nationally The proper feeding of laying
hens and other poultry should be con-
| Quoted on the same lines as that of other
| farm animals. There are similar losses
! and wastes found in the animal organ
| ISM and the same necessity for replac-
ing and replenishing the tissues, fluids,
| etc, of the body.
What the Fowl Requires-The body
| of the fowl contains the same elements
as are found in that of the COW or hog;
naturally, however, in different proper
| tions. Many of the foods used for poul-
| try are Identical with those consumed
by the cow and the analyses of the other
foodstuffs necessary for poultry show
them to have the same ingredients as
the foods of larger animals. Hence the
principle eXpounded for the rational
feeding of stock apply equally we'll to
the nutrition of fowls.
We must of necessity know the COM
position of the body of the fowl and of
the egg; but after that we do not have to
make new laws or found new principles,
but merely adapt the knowledge which
we have gained from the Investigations
made for cattle to the hen modifying
rules and rations to suit the case in
question.
The scientific research called for. and
urgently. too, is that of ascertaining the
digestibility of the different foods fed
to the hen For the COW, sheep and swine
we have the digestive co-efficient for
almost every food Consumed while for
the hen we have very little reliable data
with which to work, and in view of the
great value of the poultry industry it
should receive more scientific attention
than is at present allotted to it.
Importance of the poultry interest
In order to show that the industry is no
small factor in the country's resources,
l append herewith tabular statement
of the poultry and egg product in the
United States as given by the United
States census.
Poultry on hand June /. 1880
Geese, ducks, turkeys. 23. 23i 6S7
Eggs, produced, doz .............. .456, 81 0S0
1SS9-90.
Geese, ducks, turkeys ............ 26 S16 5f5
Eggs produced, doz.. 81, 81 1i6
At 10 cents per dozen, very conserv-
ative estimate, the egg product on the
farm rose from over $45. 900. 900 to more
than $S1,000,000-an increase of nearly
so per cent. There was an increase of
1853 per cent in the number of fowls and
an increase of about Is per cent in the
ducks and geese in the decade alluded
to.
Chemistry of the Hen-The body of a
hen contains from so to 60 per cent of
water, and about 20 per cent of protein
or heterogeneous substances, such as flesh
LEMONS, ETC., Is per cent of fat, between
. and per cent of ash, that is, mineral
or inorganic matter, and about 1 per
cent of other matters
we thus perceive that there is COM
prlsed in the formation of the fowl four
main elements: water, protein, fat and
ash; of these ingredients the only one
that may seem strange to some of you
is protein" but the strangeness or I'M
familiarity will soon disappear when
yom associate the term "f1esh-formers"
with that of protein" "albuminoIds.
o" nitrogenous material" for in the
statement of analyses the last named
three are to a certain extent synonv
nous with flesh formers"