Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-05-06
|EGG famine FEARED,
| DUE TO FEED COST
Mounting Prices Of Grain Cause
Great Curtailment of Poultry
Over Country. y
Farm F1ocks Reaching Record Low
Point-Many Commercial Plants
Quit Business.

Prospects Of an egg famine next fall
and winter loom large as prices of grain
and feeds Of all kinds continue to climb,
and farmers as well as commercial poul-
try raisers cut down their fiocks to the
vanishing point or go out Of the business
altogether. Wheat has been out of the
question for use as poultry feed for some
months: oats have scared to hitherto IN
heard-of prices; cracked corn, by no
means a satisfactory feed when used as
the larger part Of poultry ration. has
gone to prices higher than those hereto
fore paid for grains more suitable for
poultry feeds. and ready prepared scratch
and mash feeds change prices almost
daily, and always on an advancing scale.
Poultry Raisers Discouraged.
These conditions have resulted in a
great many poultrymen becoming discour-
aged, selling off all but few fowls kept
to supply their own tables with eggs
and chickens, or disposing of every hen
on the place. Encouragement under ex-
| listing conditions is natural: but the men
VINO are able to hold on to their flocks
are certain TO reap the benefits of their
| tenacity.
Farm hocks. according to reports OF
investigators and field agents of the De-
partment OF Agriculture. are rapidly at
| tanning new low marks, these agents also
reporting that hundreds of larger or
smaller commercial poultry plants have
gone out OF business. All this means that
poultry and eggs are certain to be more
valuable next winter than ever before
simply by reason of their scarcity
| Raise More Chicks.
Every man or woman who can possi-
bly, do SO should raise as many chicks this
spring as can be handled and cared TO,
properly. The family with a moderate
ate-sized back yard may raise from
five to fifty chicks to broiler age and
then save the pullets for winter layers
Owners Of suburban homes with large,
grounds may start with a couple of hun
dred chicks, reservfng perhaps a hundred
pulets for layers. Anybody who cares
for chicken a. an article Of diet or who
likes eggs Of the absolutely fresh variety
for table use. will find that. even consider.
poultry will be worth what they cost
Table Scraps Scarce.
The economy wave that has swept tn.
country has had it's very material effec
on the back yard poultry plants of tn.
nation. Nowadays thrifty housewife!
are utilizing every scrap and crust o.
bread. all '1eftovers." and, in fact
practically all of the so-called waste
from kitchens and tables. In view O
past formed the principal ration o
these back yard f1ocks. this means :
| considerable addition to the cost O
maintaining the fowls in thriving con
dition.
Substitute Rations.
However. poultry must be raised, evel
at much higher cost than was eve
known before. for the reason that il 1
practically impossible for the averae
family to get along without eggs, evel
though table poultry may be eliminat
ed. Therefore. satisfactory substitute
for more expensive feeds must b
found and used. There are acceptab I
substitutes in the form of mashes con
tanning all the elements of nutrition
but costing considerably less than tn
highly nutritive feeds usually used
A mash composed of bran. middlings
| cornmeal and fish scrap is one of thes,
| substitutes. In proportions of fv.
pounds of bran, five pounds of mid
| dlings, five pounds of cornmeal an.
l
| will give results practically equal I,
those obtained by the use of othel
| mashes. Supplemented by liberal auan
titles Of green feed, such as lawn clip
| pings, clover, pea or bean vines from
the garden. etc, and by a good feed O.
| whole corn and oats in equal propor.
| lions. soaked for a couple of hours IL
lukewarm water and fed at night, tn.
ration is admirable. Give the fowls al
the green stun they will eat; the NOR.
OF this fed. the better the results ant
| the less other feed will be required. Ir
this mash the fish scrap is substituted
for the more costly beef scrap usually
used.
In the south experiments have shown
that substitution of cottonseed mea
| for half of the cornmeal IN
the above formula gives excellent
results. Some form Of animal food, how
ever. is absolutely necessary If the
fowls are to make maximum gains and
be ready for egg production in the late
| fall or early winter
| Root crops. such as carrots, beets, tur.
nips, etc, grown early. will be found
most valuable addition to the greer
feed.
Plenty of clean. cool water, supplied
several times a day, is another thins
the growing chicks az well as grown
poultry must have II they are to thrive
Also make provisions for turning over
the ground, in small runs, at least once