Cottonwood report. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1893-1901, 1898-08-05
DAIRY AND POULTRY.
INTERESTING CHAPTERS FOR
OUR RURAL READERS.
How Successful Farmers Operate This
Department of the Farm-A Few
Hints as to the Care of Live Stock
and Poultry.
Corn Meal Sometimes.

Corn meal 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 a too great
amount of fat. This is about the only
objection in feeding corn meal TO
fully developed hen. With CROWNS
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 feeo-
ing of corn meal once day seems 10
be a very good thing. This spring.
when the hens of the writer were con-
fined for some weeks on account OIL une
snow, they showed that indigestion
had taken hold OF them, hard green
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 ike
change in the food Of the hens. we
put small quantity in pan and pour
boiling water over 1t and then stir 1t
up thoroughly. The pan is then put
on top of the hot stove and allowed
to cook for say five minutes, when it
becomes 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 this hen had the roup,
we only say that she showed some
symptoms Of it. 1t may have been
nothing but slight cold. We want
this understood, for we do not wish to
be understood that corn meal cooked
can be regarded in any sense as cure
for roup. 1t might be possible that in
its early stages the feeding of foods
that are easy on the mucous membrane
might have tendency to retard the
progress of the disease to such an ex-
tent that nature would be able to bring
about normal conditions and throw off
the disease.
Corn meal 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 RESI- 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 corn meal
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 at
this time of year.