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Show I 1 POULTRY I Edited byC. S. Gorlinc. I FEEDING FOR EGGS. IE The question of correct feeding for - eggs is more often raised tat this, sea- !son of the year when egg are ictrca and the price correspondingly high. Is it possible to increase the egg , yield Iby tany system of feeding? That I depends. Hcridity and environment I; play an important part in answering the question. The trait of superior HL egg production is a habit that may Hi be acquired and transmitted. A hen Hi whose ancestors wdre poor layers HI can not be expected to be a good H J layer. No amount of coaxing or cod- H!l dling with mash or feed will induce her to produce an unusual number of eggs, because the trait of superior egg production was not acquired by ker ancestry, and could -not therefore, there-fore, be transmitted to her. "The constant execution of a definite function func-tion will gradually effect a structural modification." This is one of the basic laws of breeding. In effect, it moans that any function of which egg production is one brought into play and constantly exercised will eventually modify the physical structure struc-ture to such an extent that in time it will become characteristic -and will be transmitted to succeeding progeny in an intensified form. It will thus be noted that the laying -characteristic i9 heriditary is a function that by constant exercise has become developed de-veloped into a characteristic that is transmitted from generation to gene-na-tion until a laying strain is produced. pro-duced. From this it will be understood under-stood that feed in itself, has nothing to do whatever with superior egg production, pro-duction, any more than sunlight, fresh air, pure water and comfortable quarters quar-ters have. Experience has demonstrated demon-strated to any observant poultry keeper that is it impossible to secure even a fair yield of eggs during the fall and winter from fowls bred from an indifferent strain of layers, though surrounded with all of the comforts known to modern poultry culture. With this understanding, then, the feed problem becomes mutch simplified simpli-fied tand the seeming mystery of feeding feed-ing for eggs is cleared up, for as a matter of fact, the experienced poul- tryman does not feed for eggs, .as the H saying goes, but rather for the health H and well being of his fowls, just as he H provides sunny comfortable quarters, M knowing full well that a laying strain H of birds under such conditions will H yield a superior return of eggs of H their own accord. H The problem becomes tlic.ii not how H to feed for eggs, but how shall I feed fl to keep my bird's in good health and fl comfort. It is well known that birds fl and other animals arc much like hu- S man beings, in that what is consumed B by them as food will keep them' in fl good health if the food is wholesome fl and proper, but if improper food is H partaken of, it will create disease germs and they will 'become sick. Of the health foods proper, there arc three classes grain, green or vegetable veget-able food and meat products. Of the grain foods, experience has shown that oats is one of the best. It is a strong food; it will make a horse trot and show his heels mud it will make a cock crow and a hen cackle. There is more egg making material in a bushel of oats than in three bushels bush-els of wheat. But fowls have to be taught to like oats. The oats should always be cracked and fed dry. When the chicks arc half grown, they should be fed a mixture of cracked oats, j cracked corn and whole wheat. In time the wheat should be omitted and give them the oats in the morning and the corn at night. Barley and millet arc goodl feed. Wheat is not of the best grains for laying hens. If we could give our birds but one kind of grain, we should choose corn, second sec-ond cracked barley and third oats. Barley is a good feed in itself, but in combination we know of nothing better bet-ter than cracked corn and cracked oats. For green food, we know of nothing better than wlfalfa meal or leaves, scalded and1 fed in a mash. Nearly as good is the cut clover or clover meal, then cabbage and the ordinary vegetable roots. One of the best garden products is the ordinary rcd'"b.aet.rJFor penned birds there is nothingbqtter than the tops cut and thrown to them. Little chicks are very fond of beet tops and will often eat greedily of them when any other green stuff is refused. If one has plenty of cellar room, the best green food! obtainable in winter may be prepared pre-pared by filling an ordinary tub half full of whole barley, wet it up with warm water, allow to stand until, the j i I water is soaked up, then spread the barley over the cellar floor about an inch in- depth and cover with wet gunny gun-ny sacks. In a few days the barley will sprout and in a week it will have well grown clusters of fibrous roots and a clean, strong green sprout often two inches in length. The fowls will devour root and sprout with avidity. In some sections of the country watercress water-cress is plentiful and after the birds become acquainted with its flavor, they learn to relish it. With a garden rake, the cress is quite easy to gather vuld where fed to the birds once a day, it is greatly relished. Of the meat i foods, perhaps the most common is the ordinary green cut bone. It is recommended very highly by most writers for the poultry press, therefore there-fore it ought to be good, and its value is doubtless enhanced by the pleasure one gets from operating a bone mill. Personally we prefer to stand in with the butcher and have him bring regularly reg-ularly the entrails, lights, liver and hearts, all of which arc boiled! up good and tender, seasoned and fed hot right after the noon mash of one part of shorts to two parts of bran and one part of alfalfa meal. If you have never nev-er tried this method, you will be surprised sur-prised to observe the intense enjoyment enjoy-ment of the birds and listen to their noisy talk of appreciation while grccd- Iily partaking of the daily feast prepared pre-pared for them and the bright eyes . and! red comlbs and the full egg basket will tamply repay any one interested enough to take the trouble to prepare the mash and the meat. Hopper feeding is all right in its way for whole grain, or whole grain and cracked fed in mixture, and even the bran and meat scraps kept before the birds all the time along with fresh """"""' water, shell, grit and charcoal, but the meal of meals for laying birds is the succulent green warm mash and the cooked meat fed immediately after af-ter the birds have eaten all of the mash they can, for even when the crops arc full of the mash, they will find a place to put away the mcatC if it is fed after the mash, ff" W- |
