Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1916-12-27
POULTRY


Feeding for Eggs
In the summer the farm hen usual
| ly has good range where the bugs
and worms are collected which con-
stitutes the necessary animal food.
In the winter this supply is lacking
and if the flock produces winter eggs
and keeps in good condition for the
spring breeding 1t will be necessary
! to feed certain amount OF animal
food along with the grain ration and
/ the mash.
On the average farm skim-milk is
looked upon as too good for the hen.
1t is the best possible substitute for
beef scrap and if the flock is proper
ly housed there is no animal on the
farm which will pay better for the
skim-milk than the hen. If the milk
is allowed to sour the Tactic acid
germs have the power of destroying
certain disease germs in the digestive
tract. Any food that acts as an
agent to prevent disease is worth
more than a cure. 1t is preventing
poultry diseases and not curing them
which builds up strong vigorous
fiocks.
From the Missouri Experiment
Station, Prof. II. l.. Kempster reports
that a pen of fowls which received no
animal food produced 945 eggs in a
year. The pen fed on beef scrap laid
1902 eggs, while the sour milk pen
produced 1873, which almost equalled
the beef scrap pen. On our farm
beef scrap is an expense and has to
be hauled from the city, while sour
milk is home product. By feeding
sour milk to the hens they receive ami
NAL food at a small expense and
doubtlessly there will be little differ
ence in the egg production of the
average flock whether on the beef
scrap or the sour milk. Prof Kemp
ster recommends the following ra-
ton, included with the sour milk:
"Corn, four parts, wheat, two parts;
bran middlings, one part; corn meal,
one part" The sour milk is fed sep
arately at the rate Of two and one
gallons per 100 hens. They are also
given from 10 to % pounds of the
grain ration per day.
Undoubtedly two and one-half gal
Ions of sour milk per day will be about
right for 100 hens, although some
feeders give the flock all they will
eat and it seems to cause no trouble.
The grain ration must be modified
somewhat by local conditions. For
instance, the farmer with a small
flock has some table scraps which
may be combined in a mash and the
flock which is allowed to range at
times during the winter will pick up
considerable food, especially if they
are allowed access to the barn floor
for scratching place. This floor is
usually somewhat cluttered up with
clover heads and the birds pick up
lot of nourishing food in their scratch
ing.
Where the supply of milk is limit
ed some beef scrap will be necessary
in the ration. Buy this product of
reliable dealers and test it. Pour
note the odor. If it has a sweetish
odor it is all right, if the odor is
sickening and reminds you of faint
ed or spoiled meat it is no good and
should be discarded. The color
should be light, if dark colored it de-
notes poor quality. Dried blood is
sometimes substituted for beef scrap
but it is more concentrated and not
so good for the flock. In purchasing
beef scrap it pays to buy it in fairly
large quantities If there is a good
place to store it. Poor storage fac
ilities mean that it must be purchas-
ed in small quantities as used, in or
der to have it clean and fresh. Beef
scrap in itself is a very narrow ra-
ton and should always be fed in com.
bination with other materials. The
firms selling beef scrap usually fur
nish the formula for good ration,
but often these recommended high
er percentage of beef scrap than is
necessary, and it is recommended that
the breeder study the bulletins of the
experiment stations concerning poul-
try rations. Several very excellent
bulletins on balanced rations for poul-
try have been published and practi-
cally every state experiment station
can furnish the poultry breeder with
collection of very good literature
on poultry feeding.
| Green cut bone contains a large
amount of protein and mineral mat
ter and is thus an excellent egg food.
1t should not be fed in large quanti-
ties and not more than one-half ounce
per bird each day is usually recon-
mended. When green cut bone is
scarce it is usually better to obtain
the protein and mineral matter from
oyster shells and beef scrap. Some
breeders cut their supply of green
bone with a power cutter and in cases
where it is possible to obtain large
amount of bone for small price this
is a cheap way of obtaining a lot of
fine poultry food. The fowls thrive
on green cut bone but it must be fed
sparingly. Hand bone cutters are
sometimes used successfully on the
farm but where the bone is plentiful
at times and scarce at all other sea-
sons, there is a tendency to feed too
much and then omit it altogether.
This leads to serious digestive dis
orders.
In feeding for eggs there are many
rules and rations that have proven
successful at the different expert
ment stations and every breeder works
out ration eventually which he likes
better than any other. Poultry food
is seemingly growing higher every
year and poultry products are also
hrinUinU mora rnonev II follows