The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-31
Winter Egg Production May Be Increased By Following g Proper System With Ra- tiOns
Easy to Care for Fowls When HOppers Are Used; ; Wet Mixtures Require More Work
Ky DIR. THOMAS J. CLEMENS Practical Poultryman. Judge and Lee
 

ter, when prices are high, is one of the biggest problems with which the amateur poultryman has to contend. In this article pr. Clemens gives some valuable pointers for overcom- ing this difficulty by mash feeding, and tells why the dry mash is bet ter than the wet.
 When poultrymen introduced mash relieved them of great deal of the labor of feeding. but 1t also enabled them to considerably increase their output of eggs. In fact. mash feed ing practically revolutionized the poul- try industry. Winter egg production has always been and Is today the stumbling block of many amateurs. ing the months when eggs were bring ing the highest prices, notwithstand- ing the fact that they were Quartered in comfortable and sanitary houses. The mash feeding method has simpli fled this problem, and today anyone may get good results by employing this method and using common sense.
 The proper feeding of fowls Is mat ter that requires good judgment The most careful balancing of rations is of little avail unless good judgment is used in administering them. 1t is pos sible to lay down some rules and to mention the proper ingredients but the feeding itself is not, and never can be, a mechanical matter The feeder who keeps in touch with his fowls, watch ing their feeding. studying their needs and their behavior. observing care fully the manner in which they re- spond to their treatment, can get re- suits that are obtainable in no other way. Individual consumption varies 4 4-xx 1ax 10 day, and Is noted only by the close observer.
 Mash feeding not only effects a great saving in labor--in downright hard workout 1t gives excellent re- suits in the health of the flock, and in the yield of eggs. It relieves the poul- tryman of considerable anxiety as to whether the fowls are being fed &C., cording to their likes or dislikes. Some offer the objection that this method of feeding is likely to cause the fowls to over-eat get lazy and take too little exercise to keep in healthy condition. This objection brings up discussion of the subject of dry mash vs. wet mash feeding.
 Wet Mash Feeding
 Wet mash or cooked mash consists of preparing a mash or dough of mixed meals in summer cold water and in winter hot water Is used in preparing the mash The ingredients are mixed thoroughly. until the mass Is crumbly and not wet or moist dough- Fre- quently cooked vegetables are boiled until soft and then mashed; the liquid is drawn off these boiled vegetables and used instead of plain water with the ground meals. Often cut or ground alfalfa which has been steeped in boiling water is used as the basis for this mash
 This wet or cooked mash is fed to | the fowls the first thing in the morn- | Ing. Tn warm weather. when there is l no danger of the temperature drop | ping below freezing during the night | this mash may be put in the feeding 1 troughs after dark. Then it Is ready | for tho birds as soon as they come off | the roosts in the morning. It is neces- | sary to feed wet mash in troughs and | these feeding tronghs must be kept l. clean. They should be cleaned and hung up in the sun to dry | after the fowls have finished feed Ing.
 All this means hard work and 1t has | to be done every day--seven days a | week and 52 weeks every year. Cook | Ing and mixing the mash, feeding 1t in | troughs, cleaning and drying the | troughs involve hard work that must | be done thoroughly in order to get the |
 
 a reasonably short time after 1t Is | prepared otherwise there Is danger of | fermentation, which is likely to cause 
 Dry Mash Feeding
 Dry mash feeding is rather a simple | method compared with the wet mash | feeding. In the dry mash method the l feed may be kept before the fowls all | the time. Hoppers are used and the | fowls are allowed to eat whenever they | desire. This permits the birds to con | sume the amount of food they want and | so keeps the balance between the | amount of energy required to produce eggs and the nutritious food required to supply same.
 It will be seen that the dry mash meth od has several advantages over the wet mash method and requires very littleI work. The essential thing is that the should watch the hoppers and | when he notices the supply getting low refill them. Of this dry mash the birds eat what they want as their ap- petite prompts them. It Is found that hey prefer the dry grains of the scratch Ing food to the mash and will scratch and work for that until no more Is to be found. They will then turn to the dry mash hoppers and eat a small amount of the mash. Fowls eat very little dry mash at time because, being dry 1t is difficult for them to swallow t. They eat no more of it than they actually crave, and the ''mouthing' they give 1t enables them to salivate and swallow. They cannot gobble down a lot of 1t as they can of the wet mash It was the old-tme moist mash that enabled the hoggish birds in the flock 10 eat more than they required and then dle away the time on the roost until | he food was digested. That was the ,ause of so many birds getting down with liver trouble and acquiring so much F at that they were out of condition and as layers
 The amount of dry mash the poultry nan desires his birds to eat may be .egulated by the amount of scratchingI ood thrown into the litter. If 1t Is de- ii ed to have the birds eat more mash md do better laying. the quantity of 'cratch food thrown into the litter should ,e cut down. If 1t is desired to have he bird eat less mash and slack up a title in their laying. larger quantity 'f grain thrown into the litter will give ng to get if resulting in lessening of he activity of the egg organs.
 Dry Mash Feeding More Sanitary
 The use of dry mash, fed in suitable eceptacles, Is especially recommended or sanitary reasons. Dry food hoppers lCng along the wall or placed on a latform above the floor where the drop ines and Mtter cannot get into the food md % arranged that the fowls cannot erch on them protects the food from ontamination. Furthermore. this fine. Try food in unfavorable to the existenceI nd development of disease germs that trough the flock where wet mash is fed nd general tnsanitarv coudffiooa nr~ l