Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1898-05-05
CORN MEAL SOMETIMES.
Good Thing for Poultry Provided 1t
Is Given Properly and Especially
in Reasonable Quantities

Cornmeal is a good thing to feed
hens if it be fed properly and in proper
quantities. The writer has been very
careful not to feed either corn or corn
meal to an extent to induce too great
amount of fat. This is about the only
objection in feeding cornmeal to
fully developed hen. With growing
chicks there is the added danger that
the fowls will not get enough ash to
make firm bones. When hens are lay
ing freely it is somewhat difficult to
get them fat, and at this time the feed
ing of cornmeal once day seems to
be a very good thing. This spring,
when the hens of the writer were COM
fined for some weeks on account of the
snow, they showed that indigestion
droppings appearing in numerous
places under the roosts. Knowing
we'll that family physicians. sometimes
order the patients to eat more corn
meal food when a lax condition Of the
bowels is desired, we made a like
change in the food of the hens. We
put small quantity in a pan and pour
boiling water over it and then stir il
up thoroughly. The pan is then put
on top of the hot stove and allowed
to cook for say five minutes, when it
becomes a thickened mass. After be-
ing allowed to cool to a point where
the fowls can eat it without burning
their mouths this is fed before any
other food is given. The fowls seem
to enjoy this warm morning meal more
than any other of the day. The result
this spring has been that the signs OF
indigestion have already disappeared
and the hens are laying vigorously. One
of the hens had shown some small
signs of roup, and the feeding of the
warm, soft meal has seemed to have
an excellent effect on her, about all
signs OF the trouble having disappear
ed. The philosophy of this is plain,
Roup is principally an affection of the
mucous membrane and the warm soft
meal is easy on that membrane. We
do not say that she showed some
symptoms of it. 1t may have been
nothing but a slight cold. We want
this understood, for we do not wish tc
be understood that cornmeal cooked
can be regarded in any sense as a cure
for roup. 1t might be possible that il
its early stages the feeding of foods
that are easy on the mucous membrane
might have tendency to retard tbs
progress Of the disease to such On eX-
tent that nature would be able to bring
about normal conditions and throw off
the disease.
Cornmeal so prepared is fed only in
the morning, and that, too, only to an
extent that can be eaten. To balance
this whole oats are kept before the
fowls for the rest of the day, the only
other food being table scraps. AT night
the oat trough is taken out of reach,
SO that the hens cannot fill up on them
in the morning before the cornmeal
is given to them. Even the water is
taken out at night for the same reason.
We doubt if this will be found to be
advisable in the summer time when
the hens have all the green grass they
can eat and are also laying fewer eggs
The rest they take in the summer
makes it easy for them to lay on fat
and this would be more likely to be
the case in the summer than in the
early spring. We have spoken of this
because at this time of year many mil
lions of birds are lost by Indigestion
due entirely to improper feeding. In.
digestion probably kills more fowls in
the spring than any other trouble a
this time Of year.-Farmers' Review.