The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1909-07-15

must be given some food, especially
offthe kinds that they are not able to
find for themselves. The most plenti-
ful food on the average farm and the
one that the birds ere most likely to
get is corn. Corn is a heating food
and is/not suited for laying hens or
growing chickens if fed alone. Some
oats can be used for the older fowls,
bUG this feed is not suited for young
chickens unless ground. Oats are an
! especially good food for laying hens
One of the best grain feeds is wheat
1t is usually too expensive to be fed
very extensively, but it may often be
used for part Of the ration. Wheat
either whole or cracked, makes a
splendid feed for young chicks. A
! mixture of wheat and oats grown to-
gether makes an excellent feed for
all kinds OF stock as we'll as poultry
Milling byproducts, such as shorts,
bran and oilmeal, can be mixed in
small quantities with the other feeds
and fed to advantage.
Suceulent Food Necessary.
One of the greatest needs of poultry
in winter is some kind of succulent
feed. This can be provided by storing
away a quantity of cabbage, turnips,
mangels and pumpkins. These can ba
chopped up during the winter and fed
with other feeds or given alone. The
will ich
make a liberal response at the egg bas-
ket. If tf&e is a silo on the place
some S1lage may be fed to the fowls to
advantage. 1t is cheap and appetizing
Glover and alfalfa hay chopped fine in
a feed cutter make good roughage. If
soaked in hot water before feeding the
hens will eat large amounts Either
BRAN or cut alfalfa may be mixed in
the mash feeds in the proportion of
oneQuarter to three-quarters Of the
grain.
Value of Animal Food.
When allowed free range fowls OBJ
I tain large amounts of animal food in
the form of insects. Some feed Of this
kind is essential if the best results
are to be secured. Beef scrap is q
packing house byproduct that can be
| purchased at reasonable price. It is
a very valuable feed for growing
chickens and laying hens. The most
common animal food on the farm is
sE1mmilk. This is valuable feed for
all classes of fowls At the Virginia
experiment station it was found that
Sklmmllk is worth a dollar a hundred
as food for laying hens. Buttermilk
IS also good feed. If you have many
laying hens and can get plenty of
fresh bones from the butcher it will
pay to get bone cutter and make lib
eral use of cut bone as food. 1t is
nigh in protein and also contains a
large$amount of the mineral foods so
badEy needed by the laying hens.
Mineral foods form an important
part OF the ration. Of the dry matter
81 the esq 35.6 per cent is composed
OF mineral matter. Crushed oyster or
clam shells. plaster and slaked lime
| are the best sources of minerals.
| ~NA'S ACS0 SA1t W dSblSI Ill
grinding their food. A pile Of sharp
sand IN the poultry yard is one of the
best means of supplying this. Charcoal
is good preventive of intestinal trou-
bles. A box Of it should be kept
where they can get at it at all times.
A little salt mixed with this charcoal
IS Beneficial.
Feeding Young Chicks.
There are three especially important
leed1ng problems that confront the
poultry raiser-feeding young chicks,
Ieeding for egg production and fatten-
Ing. The greatest source of loss in
poultry raising is improper feeding Of
young chickens. The newly Matched
chicks should not receive any feed at
ail until they are forty-eight hours cid.
Crumbs Of dry or toasted bread make
goodtfeed for the first few days. They
may be moistened with a little milk
or fed dry. Chicks will do better #
most Of their food is given in a dry
form. Que Of the most common mis-
takes made in feeding chickens is in
giving too much. They should never
be fed more soft food than they will
eat up clean in fifteen or twenty min
utes. Dry grain scattered in straw or
cut clover will, of course, last longer
Plenty of pure water. grit and char