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Show POULTRY FLOCKS ' FEEDS FOR PRODUCING EGGS Poultryman Should Have Full 'Knowledge 'Knowl-edge of Proper Feed and How to Prepare It. (Prepared by the United States Department Depart-ment of Agriculture.) Everyone in the poultry business hopes to have eggs throughout the year, but vf course this Is scarcely possible. If the business is gone Into on a commercial com-mercial seale the largest profit should be obtained during the winter. If just two eggs a week extra can be obtained ob-tained from every hen a good profit will be made, while If one egg a week extra can be recorded In the winter, this one egg will pay for all the feed the hen eats, according to the experiences experi-ences of the poultry specialists in the United States Department of Agriculture. Agricul-ture. To obtain this greater production produc-tion not only should the fowls be young and of a good laying breed, but the feeder should have a full knowledge knowl-edge of the proper feed and how to prepare It. And this can be acnleved only by study and care. Nutriment in the feed of laying hens serves a twofold purpose: to repair waste and supply heat to the body and provide the egg-making materials. materi-als. As only the surplus over what Is needed for the body is available for f-urebred Poultry, Properly Fed and Cared For, Is a Productive Investment. Invest-ment. egg production, the proper feeds should be given In sufficient quantities quanti-ties to induce this production. In feeding poultry a valuable lesson may be learned from nature. In the spring the production of eggs Is an easy matter. Fowls at liberty to roam find an abundance of green and animal feed on their range, which, with grain, provides a perfect ration for laying hens. In addition to this they get plenty of exercise and fresh air. So far as possible, then, the feeder should try to make these winter conditions springlike. Two systems are used In feeding folws the dry-mash and the moist-mash, moist-mash, although in the dry-mash system sys-tem a light-moist mash often is fed. By the term "mash" poultryraen mean a mixture of ground feed, either moist or dry. The greatest advantages to be derived from the dry-feed system are the saving of labor' and the lessened less-ened danger of bowel trouble resulting result-ing from sloppy or soured mashes. In the dry-feed system for laying hens, as practiced successfully on a New York poultry farm, the grains fed are as follows, In the proportions Indicated. This mixture is scattered In the litter lit-ter early in the morning, and again at about 11:30 a. m., and this Induces abundant exercise. A hopper containing con-taining dry mash is hung against the wall. The mash Is made of these Ingredients In-gredients in the proportions indicated (by measure) : 200 pounds cracked 130 pounds wheat corn. 130 pounds oats. SO parts bran. 15 parts ground al io parts middlings. falfa. 12 parts corn meal. 2 parts oyster shell. W parts meal (anl- 1 part grit. mal) 1 part charcoal. The hopper containing this mash Is kept before the fowls all of the time. Corn Is the most popular of all the grain feeds for farm poultry, probably because of Its abundance and comparative compara-tive cheapness, and because It Is relished rel-ished over all other grains. It should be balanced with meat, bone, linseed meal, gluten meal, and such feeds as are rich in protein, ror corn Is deficient defi-cient In tills constituent. When com Is fed to hens that have plenty of exercise, ex-ercise, and n chance to get insects and green feed, more satisfactory results re-sults are lUely to be recorded than when fed to the same fowls closely confined. It may be fed quite liberally to your poultry during the winter in cold climates, but should be fed sparingly spar-ingly in summer. Wheat usually Is considered the safest-grain to feed alone.but Is too expenshe to be fed inueiT to fowls. Tills grain should be supplemented wldi other grains and with some meat feed or skim milk to Increase the proportion pro-portion of protein. Wheat contains more protein than corn, about the same amount of carbohydrates, but less fat, and -on the whole Is considered consid-ered not so valuable for fattening, but tater for growth. Wheat screenings, if they are of a good grade, frequently can be purchased and fed to advantage. advan-tage. Of course, there is always danger dan-ger of Introducing weed seeds through their ue. "Burnt wheat" seldom can be fed advantageously; the difference ii pri-e between th's rt p,(M wheat isually being t l'ght to wummt on ,! huylng it |