Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1906-08-24

FEEDING FOR EGGS.

Generally speaking, the food value Of
foodstuffs is not so well understood by
the average poultry raisers and farmers
as they should be for the largest profit.
have found that low-priced foodstuffs,
asa rule, are the most costly feed in
the end
Foodstuffs to have practical value
must be sweet and clean, and be of
variety that will furnish the poultry
Just the nutriment required to develop
whatever particular product that may be
desired, without the poultry having to
digest lot of waste material that they
have no immediate use for. As the old
saying goes, "Its just what you put into
q thing as TO what you take out" This
saying is certainly true in the poultry
industry, as hens are only capable OF
developing eggs or meat to that capac-
ity in accordance with the material they
have to work with. Nature has not
given them the power of converting
what they eat into any element different
from the element the feed actually CON-
tains.
To illustrate the matter in q plain
way, supposing that 100 hens were fed
one bushel of corn, which is fair days
ration for that number. The bushel Of
corn alone does not contain lime or pro-
tein enough to develop more than 32
eggs, which would only be 70 eggs hen
in a year, but it contains at-forming ma
terial enough for 800 hens for one day,
or as much again as 100 hens should
have for best results. Now, as the
whole foodstuff must be digested before
the egg producing material is available
for the development of the eggs, it is
plain to be seen that the energy of the
digestive organs when fed on a corn
ration entirely is taxed to about double
the capacity they should be, which
means a loss to the raiser of no less
than so cents hen in year.
A ration for the winter months that
will be found very satisfactory is as fol-
lows: Morning feed, kafir corn part,
oats 10 parts, one quart to Is hens, fed
in deep litter. Noon feed, wheat bran
3 parts, clover or alfalfa meal l part,
cornmeal l part, ground beef scrap 2
parts, one quart to 10 hens, fed dry in
troughs. Night feed, wheat and yellow
corn equal parts, II quarts to Is hens,
fed in litter My reasons for feeding
dry feed and feeding it at MONDAY are,
as the middle Of the day is generally
the most comfortable part of the day,
feed that does not require much exercise
to eat should be fed at that time The
feed being dry, they cannot be greedy
in eating it; they have to eat it slowly
This develops power Of digestion that
cannot be reached in any other way
By feeding the whole grains morning
and night in the litter, they have to
work to find it. This particular exer-
else develops heat and muscle. two i'm
portant qualities that must be reached
before they are in condition to produce
eggs. Hens standing around idle in
the cold are living at the expense of the
owner, when if they were given the
proper conditions and plenty of work to
do, they are more productive than any
other animal on the farm.
A practical ration for young chicks
should be similar to that for laying hens,
except the beef scraps, which should be
fed sparingly until the chicks are six
weeks old. The grains should be crack
ed fine and all mixed together and fed dry.
There are several brands of poultry
foods on the market to-day that are cor
rect balanced ration, and if fed accord
ing to the directions that come with
them, they will be found very profit
able investment. j. Alonzo Jocoy. In
American Cultivator.