OCR Text |
Show PROPER FEEDING FOR UI6II EGG PBOOUGTI! (By II. W. Sanborn, Extension Poultry Poul-try Husbandmen, U. S. Department of Agriculture.) In back yard poultry keeping with a flock of a dozen to twenty-five hens, the use of all table scraps Is an important im-portant factor to be considered and should be fed to the hens, together with any material from the garden that is no used on he able. In addition to feeding of the abovo It is necessary to feed right supplementary supple-mentary feeds. As table scraps vary very in uch in different homes, their composition being an unknown quantity, quan-tity, this supplementary feed should be! the same as though no table scraps were fed. The difference being that less other feed will be required, the amount depending upon the amount of table scraps fed. A good method of feeding would be to give the table scraps in the morning. mor-ning. Keep a self feeding hopper supplied, sup-plied, with a dry mash before them all the time, that they may eat as much or little of it as they need. An hour before roosting time they should have all tho whole grain they can eat before be-fore going to roost, fed in the litter. This scratch grain may be corn, kafflr corn, milo maize, wheat screenings or flold wheat. Good plump barley and heavy oats (never light oats). Two or more grains are better than one with corn taking the! ead. If corn is not available kaffir corn or milo maize should be used if available, in place of corn. If corn is available a good mixture mix-ture would be two parts corn and ouo part either wheat, not millablc, or barley bar-ley or oats. The dry mash spoken of to be hopper hop-per fed and before the hens at all times may be two parts feed corn meal, one part bran and. one part beef scrap. If the seed corn meal Is not available, avail-able, ground kaffir or ground barley may be substituted. Whatever three parts of the ration mny be, one part must be commercial beef scraps If a continuous high egg yield is to bo expected. ex-pected. The feed corn meal referred to Is not the selected meal for table use, but is simply the whole corn ground as it Is and should not cost over ten cents per hundred pounds more than the whole corn. Regularity is important, and the hens should be fed the same and at the same time every day. Care should be taken that plenty of good fresh water wa-ter in clean drinking vessels is before them all the time. Skim milk if it can be furnished is excellent. A little green feed helps keep the hgns in good health and gives them a good appetite. appe-tite. Charcoal Is very beneficial. It I aids digestion and is a good regulator. Oyster shells are necessary and should be kept before the hens that they may have the material to make tho egg shells. Sharp grit should also be furnished. fur-nished. Be sure the hen house is al ways dry and that it is absolutely tight everywhere except the open front at the south. The hens want good ventilation, ven-tilation, but cannot stand draughts. Dampness and draughts in a hen house cause colds and are responsible for most troubles. Keep the hens free of lice and the roosts free of mites. Keep the hen house clean and sanitary. If the above simple instructions aro followed and proper feed furnished the hens, good fresh eggs for the table should be in abundance at small cost to the owner. More and better poultry properly I bred, cared for and properly fed is jour national need at this time. Consume Con-sume more poultry and eggs. Save beef and pork for shipment across the water. oo |