Norwich bulletin., 1916-11-23
WINTER FEEDING E.. FOR EGG PRODUCTION
The Amount Must However Rest With
 Feeders Judgment.

Feeding for egg production really begins when the chicks come out of the she'll or we could go . step farth- CT and say that feeding for egg pro- duction begIns with tho care of the breeding stock from which the bullets are matched. The fact is, chicks must be well matched from strong, vigorous
 breeding stock, they must be we'll
 brooded and wei! reared if maximum production is desired. Liberal feed and
 good care during the growing season is very important. The outlets must
 go into winter quarters in the pink of
 condition with an abundance of re-
 serve energy if they are to stand the he fy strain of winter production.
 Turing the spring or oeason of na-
 tural production the, days are long
 and the nights are snort. Birds on
 range have natures tonic in the form
 of succulent green food. Insects and
 worms are also abundant. All of these
 else, and increase the amount of food consumed. During tf'e late fall and
 winter months conditions are exactly
 opposite: the hours of daylight are
 reduced by nearly one-half. greatly decreasing the availa 5le time for ex-
 ercise and food consumption. The
 nights are much longer and colder consequently more food is required for
 maintenance. These facts make it ev-
 fdent that 1t is very necessary for
 birds to work harder and eat faster
 during the cold weather if they are
 heavy producers Heavy feeding
 would, of course, be easy il that was
 all that was necessary, but the health
 of the flock has to be considered, and
 the food can be given only in such
 quantities as the birds can handle to
 advantage.
 amount that should be fed to any
 flock, the judgment of the feeder be- ing the only safe rule to follow The requirement of the flock will vary with production and weather conditions. Any system of feeding should be
 namely, to oblige the birds to exercise to preserve health. and to supply the needs of the body for maintenance and production. The best lnetls of encouraging the birds to exercise is by feeding all of the scratch gram in deep litter, and keeping the liter l ciean and dry. This is necessary or | the birds will not work in it. About i one fifth of the grain ration may be l fed in the morning and the remainder l late in the afternoon. It is a very good practice to throw out a handful of ! grain several times during the day particularly if it hapens to be very cold weather. The dry mash should be fed in hoDrerS and Kept before the
 birds at all times The foppers should l be so constructed as to keep a con tinuous suprly O. fresh mash before l the birds. Tie consistency of the mash is very important: it must be ], palatable or the birds will not con- i sume enougl. The hens prefer the
 scratch grain, but the mash contains | the greater part of the protein which | is so necessary tor egg production. Equal parts by weight are about the correct proportion of grain and mash for laying biris. This proportion may l be maintained by watching the mash and increasing or decressIng the amount of scratch grain fed. Always
 keep the birds a little bit hungry for grain and never let moidy grain &C., 1 cumulate in the litter
 There is no one ration better than all others for es;:s production. Any ration that contains the proper nu- trients and is pa1ltc ble will give sat- isfactory results. The following ra- tion is giving very satisfactory results at the Egg Laying Contest as well as sorf many eomercial terms where it $ being used: