Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1916-11-15
POULT r Y


Will you tell me what grains TO buy
to make up a good ration for laying
hens to make early winter layers; al
SO tell me how to feed same and in
what quantities to obtain best re-
suits.
One of the most successful methods
of feeding poultry is the one advocat-
ed by the Maine Experiment Station,
which is briefly as follows A grain
mixture of equal parts by weight of
wheat oats, and corn, and dry mash
of mixture made up as follows:
Bran, 200 lbs; corn meal, 100 lbs;
middlings. 100 lbs; gluten meal, 100
lbs; and beef scraps, 100 lbs.
The usual method of feeding the
grain is to scatter about four quarts
of the grain mixture for each 100
hens in the litter at night after the
chickens have gone to roost, or early
in the morning. The litter should
be deep enough to give the hens
plenty Of exercise. At noon another
four quarts should be scattered in the
litter
Aside from the grain and dry mash
the chickens should have plenty of
green food, which may be furnished
either in the form of mangles, cab
bage, sprouted oats or cut clover hay.
Milk is also a very valuable poultry
food, and if furnished daily the
amount of beef scraps in the dry
mash can be cut down to so pounds.
| it is preferable to feed sour milk, as
sweet milk will often sour, and cause
! digestive troubles, and the change
from sour milk to sweet, or vice versa
will cause trouble.
One of the secrets of successful
feeding is to have the chickens go to
roost with their crops full and in the
morning have them eager for grain.
If the chickens are not anxious for the
feed, it is an indication that they are
getting it too easily or that they are
getting too liberal amounts.
Watch for Bands on Wild Ducks
If you kill or capture wild duck
bearing an aluminium band around
one leg, having a number on one side,
and on the other statement request
ing that the u. s. department of
agriculture, or the biological survey,
be notified, you are requested to
send this band at once to the Bureau
of Biological Survey, u. S. Depart
ment of Agriculture, Washington, ID.
G. This band, if accompanied by a
statement as to date, place and cir
cumstances under which the bird was
taken, will be of service to the sur
vey in its efforts to determine the
longevity of individual ducks and the
routes of migration of the species.
The bands are being attached to con-
siderable numbers of wild ducks Of
several species which have been cured
of the duck sickness prevalent
around Great Salt Lake, Utah, and
there released. The department is
particularly anxious to secure reports
from these birds to determine their
complete recovery from this malady.
A test was made recently by the
Missouri Station of two fiocks of 100
hens each, one under good farm con-
ditions, the other under special man
agement. This included a somewhat
more varied ration and the use of
artificial light in the houses early in
the morning and late at night, thus
frightening the period of light by
several hours. The total cost of
feed for the five-week period for one
lot was $16.77 and for lot two. 1897,
but the number of eggs laid by lot
one was 652, as compared with 1892
by lot two. The profit of lot one was
but S7.04 and that of lot two, $3S.05,
thus indicating the effectiveness of
the system Of special management
| adonted