The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-01-23


 The simple, handy rack for sprouting oats, shown in the illustration, can be easily made at home and is suitable for sprouting sufficient quantity of oats for flock of IS to 20 hens. The trays are 1sx24 inches, and are made of thin box s--a-erial The material used in the frame cGnsists Of four norner pieces 2x4 inches square and 40 inches high; S cross pieces A inches long, and four cross pieces 2 inches long. Four quarts of oats are put in each tray until they begin to sprout, when they are spread out in two trays. When the sprouts are inches high feed section of the sprouted oats about s inches square, roots and all, daily for a flock of IS or 20 hens.
 Green feeds for poultry contain only small percentage of actual food nu- trients, but are important because of their succulence and bulk, which tighten the grain ratons and assist in keeping the birds in good condition. When chick ems are fattened without the use of milk. green feed helps to keep them in good condition.
 Cabbages, mangel wurzels, clover all falfa and sprouted oats are the green feeds commonly used during the winter. Cabbages do not keep as well in ord nary cellars as mangel wurzel, so where both of these feeds are available the cab bages are fed first. They are often sus- pended, while the mangel wurZels are split and stuck on nail on the wall of the pen. Clover and alfalfa may be fed as hay, cut into one-half to one inch lengths. or may be bought in the form of meal. Alfalfa meals has feeding an- alysis equal to bran, but is not as di- gestibe on account of it's larger per centage of fiber. Clover and alfalfa should be cut while slightly immature if they are to be cured and fed to poultry. The leaves and chaff from such hay are especially adapted for poultry feeding.
 SPROUTED OATS
 One of the best and most readily ob- tainable green feeds which is now being used extensively as a winter feed is sprouted oats. The oats can be soaked for F hours in warm water and then spread out in a layer of from F to 1h inches deep on a floor or in a tray or tier of flats. The trays should have openings in the bottom or the bottoms should be made of 3-16-inch wire mesh, so that the water drains freely. Sprinkle the oats twice daily and stir them every other day untik sprouts are well started Unless the oats are stirred mold may set in. thus spelling the feed. They are usually fed when the sprouts are from ] to 11e inches long, although some poultrymen prefer allowing the sprouts to grow to or inches long
 Oats need a moist, warm atmosphere in which to sprout quickly, so that it is necessary to furnish heat or to keep them in warm room during the winter while they may be sprouted out of doors during the rest of the year. It takes from to 10 days to sprout oats depend- ing upon the temperature of the room Ii the oats are inclined to become moldly notwithstanding the fact that they are stirred during the first part of the sprouting period, it is advisable to treat them with formalin. A solution made in the proportion of one pint formalin to 8 gallons of water should be sprinked over and thoroughly mixed with the oats A quantity of oats can be treated at one time in this way, then covered with a blanket for A hours, then dried by air ing and stirring, and placed in sacks Oats thus treated and dried may be held for a long time for sprouting.
 VENTILATE POULTRY HOUSE
 Fresh air is one of the prime essen7 tials in poultry houses and warmth se- cured by keeping the house shut up tightly is not desirable as a lower temperature and some ventilation. A