Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1916-02-02

grains, while Of the ground feeds we
have corn meal and corn chop, corn
and cob meal, wheat bran, middlings,
shorts and low-grade flour, oatmeal,
oat flour and ground or crushed oats,
and mixed feeds. In the meat feeds.
or feeds supplying animal protein, are
beef scrap, meat meal, ground green
bone, and various forms of milk;
while bone meal, dry bone, oyster
shells, and grit make up the mineral
feeds and, with charcoal and green
feeds. complete the common feeding
materials.
Many ground feeds, which are by
products of the common grain3, are
used to good advantage in feeding, in
combination with grain and beef
scrap. Ground grains and meat feeds
are more forcing than the whole
grains commonly used, while the COM
bination of the whole grains with the
ground feeds make more economical
feed and better balanced ration than
the whole grains alone. The feed ele-
ments are usually cheaper in the
ground than in the whole grains, as
the former are by-products of many
of the grains used for human con-
sumption. Ground grains and beef
scrap, in combination, either wet or
dry, make what is called a mash"
These by-products are higher in pro-
TEN than most of the common grains,
SO that a balanced ration is secured
by combining whole grains with the
mash. Some of the ground grains
such as bran and middlings, add a
large percentage of bulk to the ra-
ton, which is beneficial.
Animal protein is considered essen
tial to the best results in feeding.
Most poultrymen feed meat in some
form, while suburban poultry keepers
either feed this product or table
scraps; but few farmers buy any meat
feed. Some form of feed containing
animal protein must be supplied if
any eggs are to be obtained in the fall
and winter. Skim milk or bilttermilk
is available on many farms, and
where it is not it would probably pay
most farmers to buy beef scrap or
some other meat fed. Fowls on free
range on the farms pick up bugs and
insects during part of the year,
which furnishes this protein feed, so
that the use of additional meat feeds
is regulated by individual conditions.
Fowls closely confined need more ami
NAL feed than those on good range;
and in cold climate, where no bugs
or insects are available during the
several winter months, more animal
feed must be supplied than in sec
tions where the winters are mild.
A well-balanced ration contains the
proper proportion of protein and car
bohydrates for it's purpose with the
mineral matter, bulk, and palatabil-
ity that are necessary to give good
feeding results. There is no best ra-
ton, and the practical application of
science in poultry feeding is to know
about what proportion of these sub
stances gives good feeding results and
then to use roughly this relative pro-
portion in making rations or in sub
stituting different feeds, according TO
their price and availability.
In securing fall and winter eggs the
first essential is to have pullets well
matured before cold weather, which
means Matching birds of the general
purpose breeds in March and April.
The average farmer matches his
chickens too late to secure eggs In the
fall. With well-matured pullets and
improved feeding methods farmers
could secure 1lore eggs in winter thar
they obtain under present conditions.
A well-balanccG SIMPLE ration may
be made of equal parts, by weight, of
wheat, cracked corn, and oats fed
twice daily, usually in the morning
and at night. The grain may be eth
err scattered on the range in summer
and in litter in the poultry house in
winter, or fed in the house throughout
the year. 1t should be supplemented
with wet or dry mash Of 2 parts
., corn neal and part each OF wheat
bran, middlings, and beet scrap. One
feed of mash may be fed for the other
two meals. Regulate the proportions
of grain and mash so that the hen will
consume about equal parts of each.
About one quart of grain daily should
be fed to every 10 Leghorn hens, or
to Is general-purpose hens, such as
Plymouth Rocks, with an equal weight
of mash. This amount, however, var
les, and should be regulated by the
feeder, as the hens should be eager for
each meal. Leghorns will eat about
So pounds of grain and mash in a
year, and Plymouth Rocks, or hens
of the general-purpose class, about rs
pounds.
If your nose is on the grindstone Of