Show l r 4 GROUND GRAIN IS ESSE ESSENTIAL Less Work Is la Required of the Gizzard and More Food Can Be Bo Used for Flesh and Eggs Prepared by the United States Statu Department of Agriculture A mash composed of ot ground grains or their products by-products and some form torm of ot animal protein Is an essential part of ot ofa ota a ration for or both growing chickens and laying hens The reason is that birds I I r s iE i f 5 t iR r R tidy Feeding Grain to the Farm Flock putting on growth or producing eggs cannot assimilate enouch nutriment nt from whole or cracked grains to supply sup ply the maximum need When the grain Is ground little work is required of the gizzard and much more of ot the feed can be used in making flesh or Coe eggs 3 The scratch grain part of the ration however Is needed to give ghe the gizzard something to do In order to keep the birds In to health For laying hens the scratch grain groIn thrown In the Utter litter r provides provIdes provides pro pro- vides an nn Incentive to needed ex exercise It was once thought that the mash should be fed wet to produce the best results but experiments have proved that lint In spite of the slightly better palatability pal pal- stability of ot the wet feed teed the convenience convenience conven convene lence of ot feeding It dry overbalances any slight gain In production Ft Feeding edIn it dry is now the usual method Digestibility Di Dl Is not nut increased ed by wetting The principal objection to the wet mash Is that It requires too much labor It must be moistened then car car- carrIed carried ried sled to the h hens ns once a day and the troughs must he cleaned after each feeding reedIng Cleanliness Is absolutely essential essential es es- es- es because indigestion and diarrhea diarrhea diar diar- rhea rhen will result from feeding In dirt dirty troughs On the other hand the dry dr mash hopper may be filled flied once a week or even less frequently and needs no further attention Hens do not overeat overeat over over- eat of ot dry mash as they sometimes do doof doof doot of ot wet feed |