Show AS yott fotr FEED SO S SHALL HALL THEY LAY LAT from somewhere way back in my 3rd ard reader days I 1 recall the story of a miser who tried to teed feed his horse shavings it would save the price of hay he reasoned and it if the change was made gradually the beast would never know the difference mayb the horse was tooled fooled but nature most certainly was not long before beforce the diet got to be all shavings the poor old horse gave up the ghost As an I 1 observe the way a great many people teed feed their chickens I 1 am often reminded of 0 that story I 1 dont mean they are stingy but their lack of knowledge about feeding is just as great they are expecting the impossible and wonder greatly why they are so consistently disa pointed 0 the first thing that must be thoroughly understood is that from the hens point of view egg laying Is a secondary matter she eats first of all to build up and maintain her own body if after enough has been eaten for that purpose she can he be persuaded to eat still more of the right kind of food correctly proportioned tinned she will lay eggs all there Is to the theory of 0 scientific poultry feeding the next essential tact fact to be mastered Is that different kinds of feeds produce widely different results grains furnish tor for the most part substances called carbohydrates which are transformed into lat fat for the fowls body and albumen or egg whites other substances known as proteins build up the muscles of the bird and furnish yolks for eggs proteins are usually fed in the form of meat scraps milk or there lire are some proteins in grains but not enough for the hens body and eggs too for the egg shells and bones of the fowl minerals are required calcium carbonate being the principal one for that purpose crushed oyster shell or limestone Is kept before the fowls at all times A certain amount of green food is aso required it helps prevent digestive disorders and contains the two valuable vitamins A and D so essential to the proper assimilation of other food without vitamin D tor for example the minerals in the teed feed cannot be made over into bone ana egg shell once it is in clearly understood that each different kind of teed feed has its own individual job to do the very term balanced ration ceases to sound quite so much like a foreign language it becomes plain that the ration must consist of just so BO much material i containing carbohydrates and a proportionate amount contain ing proteins an example of what I 1 consider a a well balanced ration Is the one given below which I 1 have used successful ly tor for a number of years for the sake of those not familiar tam lilar with this method of feeding I 1 shall explain that mashes are customarily put in hoppers and kept constantly before the hens at all times the grains are preferably fed by hand with the feedings tar far enough apart so the hens will cat plenty of mash in between times the grains are called scratch feeds by the way because they are usually burled buried in deep litter fitter that makes the hens have to scratch it out thus getting much needed exercise A A BALANCED POULTRY RATION scratch feed ibs 1158 of yellow corn lbs ibs wheat or heavy oats mash feed lbs iba wheat bran lbs ibs loo lbs ibs yellow corn meal so 50 lbs ibs ground oats loo lbs ibs meat scraps 5 lbs ibs common salt plenty of seasonable green stuff should accompany this ration grit charcoal and oyster shell should be kept liepa before the hens at all times and water yes of course eggs are 65 per cent water and a plentiful sit supply aply of fresh clean water should always be on hand to supply that requirement qui rement it is also essential tor for the health of the flock the feeding of a balanced ration will work wonders there are plenty y ot of examples of flocks that were fed ed all grain rations with only fair results res alts but which doubled or even their output as soon as a good mash with the necessary protein element was added it Is not enough however just to teed feed a mash and scratch teed feed ration all the time the successful poultry nan man will study hla his flock I 1 le he will now whether they are being forced ind producing beyond their normal capacity or whether they are getting too tat fat and lazy so they are not laying as much as they should it if the former he will cut down on the mash and teed feed more grain if the latter he will cut down on the grain and increase increase the mash to make birds consume more protein |