Mexico Missouri message., 1912-11-21
INTERESTING
HAPPENINGS
Lessons of National Egg-Laying
Contest Held in the Ozark Hills.

| up which will far exceed the average
| OF but eighty eggs year, which now
| represents Missouri production.
OF course, after a hen of the proper
/ breeding has been produced the duty
| Of the owners is not at an end. She
must be fed and cared for. She must
have those ratious which go toward
be guarded
During tho progress of the expert
ment at Mountain Grove the strictcst
attention was paid the matter OF ra-
! ton for the hens, the chief feeds be-
! ing a grain mixture and dry mash
fed in a hopper Green feed was sup
Piled by giving the birds "sprouted"
oats. The grain mixture was com
! posed In the following proportions:
Cracked corn, POO pounds; wheat, 200
! pounds. oats, 100 pounds. In the sec
ond contest, Just started, MIR. Quisen-
/ berry announces that this grain ration
| will be changed Two parts OF corn
and one part of wheat will be the
grain mixture for the winter months
and the proportions will be reversed
! during the summer months. The oats
will be eliminated from the grain ra-
! ton. as the hulls caused some little
! trouble during the contest just closed.
In the 19l1.12 contest the dry mash
was composed as follows: Wheat
| brain, 100 pounds; middlings or
shorts. 200 pounds, corn meal, 200
| pounds; rolled or ground oats, 200
pounds; dry beef scraps, $50 pounds;
alfalfa meal, IS pounds; gluten meal,
! so pounds; oil meal, % pounds fine
table salt. s pounds, and powdered
charcoal % pounds.
! In the present contest the dry mash
also will be changed. In order to
overcome the loss of oats in the grain,
ration the oats in the dry mash will
| be increased from 200 to 800 pounds.
, The sproutcd oats ration will be con
! tinued The dry beef contests of the
dry mash will be increased from $50
! pounds to $50 pounds, and the char
coal from 20 to 80 pounds.
! The cost of these feeds will, Of
course, vary in different localities, but
the Mountain Grove experiments were
based on prices which brought the
cost to about 1.3 cents pound for
] NIt gram MIXTURES anu dlIlblS = CelIlS
pound for the dry mash.
1t was the custom during the test
to feed about half pint Of the grain
ration to a pen of five hens each
morning. This was scattered in litter,
so the birds would have to work for
their feed. The night feed of the
grain allowance was slightly greater.
The dry mash, being fed in hoppers.
was before the hens all of the time
and could be partaken of at will
At noon each day at the rate of
| handful to each hen, some of the dry
mash, which had been mostened with
| buttermilk or skim milk, was fed the
| fiocks in trVughs. This was not given
in quantities to entirely satisfy tho
| appetites of the hens, being given
more to allow a variety and to whet
the appetite. The hens actually
! fought over the limited ration, SO
much did they desire it.
1t was at this MONDAY meal that
| the sprouted oats were given. Mr..
! Quisenberry says the birds liked the
| sprOuted oats better than any class OF
green feed tried, that it was econom-
| ical and caused little trouble in prep
1 aration
No quicker check, it was found,
could be placed on egg production
than TO allow the drinking pans to be-
come dry, so there was special atten,
ton to this detail, winter and sum
mer. A small quantity of perman-
glnate Of potash was used in the
drinking water to prevent colds and
disease, A like quantity Of EPSON
salts was fed in the moistcned mash
once or twice each month.
This, surely, is a simple scheme of
feeding and il was found to pay hand
somely in results.
The houses used for the foChs were
eight by ten feet divided in the cen
ter. Each house had two ordinary
stationary shutters in the front of the
structure for ventilation, ii being
found that they were better than eth
er the open front or curtain type OF
shelter even during the seyerest
weather Two window sashes were
used IN front and two in the rear, the
latter under the dropping boards. A
vcntilator was placed in the rear, just
beneath the caves. Each section was
provided with roOsts and feed hop
pcr5. Likewise each section was lit
ted with trap nests, two styles being
used. One was a home made, wood
On affair and the other manufac-
turcd metal device Each was found
satisfactory
Rughinu Temporary CapitoI