Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1900-09-06
DAT DIET FOR HENS.
when Fed with Corn Oats Is one q
the Finest and Most Reliable OF
EEE-Producers.

In this day OF scientific poultry
breeding we read and hear a great deal
in regard to the best food for the hens
to cause them to fill the egg basket.
The various agricultural experiment
stations have taken up the subject, and
at considerable expense of both time
and money have issued from time to
time elaborate tables which they see
fit to call a balanced ration" which
to the average farmer is no better than
so much Greek, and is beneficial only to
those who have every convenience at
hand to follow out instructions as
there made and provided. In their rea-
soning they take as a basis the consti-
tuition of the egg, hence foods that are
rich in certain elements must from ne
cessity when fed the hens, cause them
to produce the egg. This is all very
beautiful in theory, but when you get
down to business and facts, where are
you at??" My experience has been al
most universally that while the theory
seems reasonable, the results obtained
do not justify it. It was for long time
and is still considered by many that
there was nothing in the way OF
regular diet for laying hens like wheat.
I have found this a fallacy, and have al
ways had far better results, especially
during the winter season, from gem
erous diet of corn, which as the weath-
er becomes settled and warm was
gradually reduced, and oats largely
substituted; but corn never discon-
tinued. One factor that Ito use slang)
cuts considerable figure in the oat
diet is very great difference between
their relative price, which must be
taken into account, and may throw the
balance to the debit side of the ledger,
instead of the credit without corre-
spending benefit. To obtain the best
results the oats should be fed in the
sheaf, the hens compelled to scratch
out what they obtain, and never placed
before them all ready threshed, and
they allowed to fill up on the grain
without any effort. 1 always make it
rule all through the year, summer,
and winter, to feed largely of this
grain, and with most satisfactory re-
suits. During cold weather the morn
ing meal consists of warm (not hot)
mash, composed of ground oats Is per
cent, coarse corn or stock meal 50 per
cent, bran 1914 per cent, middlings
1919 per cent. At noon give oats in
the straw or sheaf, and at night full
feed of whole corn thrown in the litter
of the scratching shed. Of course,
they have the usual allowance of green
stuff or roots, fed raw, and ground
green bone, and having proven the eff
ficacy of such feed, I shall not change
until something better is shown up.
For the growing chicks 1 have never
found a better feed than oatmeal fed
dry. 1t comes high, but amply repays
the extra expense in the rapid growth
of the fowl, but once started right it
continues, even after it's discontinue
ance, and marked difference is plain
ly seen between the chicks thus fed
and those otherwise. Should there be
any doubt in your mind in regard to
the efficacy of an oat diet, next spring
plant a small tract where the hens can
have free access to it, and I. am conf
dent all your doubts will vanish speed
ily.-F. V. Chapman, in Prairie Farmer.