THE POULTRY RUN.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 555, 2 April 1913, Page 7

THE POULTRY RUN.

CHICKEN FEEDING PROBLEMS. When feeding chickens the gouir try-keeper should do so with the object of fitting the youngsters for some special mission in life. Some chickens may be intended for winter egg production, others for the table, whilst others may be bred and reared for show purposes. We hear and read a great deal about the advantages to be derived from the staple use of grain foods during the time the chicks are being reared, and no doubt birds reared on a good grass range do well on such food as far as their general health is concerned, and if intended for future laying stock they grow to a sufficient size for the purpose in view, but if the chickens are intended for the table or the show pen the staple use of grain food will fail to produce the size necessary in first-class specimens. Hard grain has a tendenqy to produce close-grained flesh, sinew and short and compact plumage, whilst soft food accounts for quick growth, size, soft flesh, and length of feather. „

Feeding for Egg Production If the chickens are being reared solely with a view to egg production, undoubtedly grain food should form the major portion of their dietary, as by its use the youngsters can be well exercised among litter, and so be fitted for-the work imposed on them later on, under the scratching shed. The first feed of the day, however, should consist of soft food, as the birds need something which will quickly satisfy their hunger after fasting throughout the night. The coops used for the rearing of chickens intended for future egg-production, should be roomy, so that they may be well littered down with the fine straw, chaff or oat culms, and the hard grain fed to the birds should be well buried in the litter to induce exercise. ® If the youngsters are are made to work for all the grain fed to them, they will grow up into active muscular adults. The grain fed to the birds may consist during the first three weeks of a good brand of dry chicken food, after which the grain may consist of a mixture of fine wheat, or groat*, split peas. This mixture will suit admirably till the chicks leave the brood coops, when they should be given small wheat, and later on alternate feeds of plump oats and wheat. The soft food used may consist of ground oats or biscuit meal, to which has been added a little bone meal and enough hot water to render it moist, but of a crumbly nature. Twice a week a little granulated meat should be added to the soft food, and once a week a sprinkling of sulphur.

* Feeding for the Show-pen. So much for the laying stock. We now come to the feeding of soft-feathered breeds for the showpen. If these birds were fed on staple grain diet they would neither possess the size nor the fulness and softness of plumage so desirable on the show bench. The best food for such birds is one consisting of equal parts of mashlind hard grain. They should therefore be fed alternately on soft and hard food, the former being used as the first meal of the day, followed by a feed of grain, and later still by more soft food, and so on during the day, the last feed consisting of grain, so that the birds may be sustained during the night.time. Should the chickens be of the Game family, they should be fed mainly on hard grain food to ensure hardness of flesh and looseness of plumage so desirable in the show-pen. But to maintain health'in the birds they must: be reared on a good grass rnngc. A little soft food containing a good percentage of bone meal and meat may be given twice a week to assist frame formation, but apart: from that, the birds should have a variety of grains, wheat, oats, and peas, being the most suitable. . The grains should be cracked to a small size to suit chicks up to six weeks of age, after which they may be used in the whole form. EGG-SHELL MATEKTAL. Ordinary grit furnishes good material for egg-shells, but in addition it will be found advisable to feed special shell material. The grain t'ocs not contain enough lime to furnish sufficient shell material for heavy laying hens. Ordinary sea shells, and especially oyster shells, are largely used for this purpose. They nre very readily dissolved in the gizzard. The egg-eating habit among hens is sometimes acquired because of a scarcity of lime or shell material in the ration. Charcoal is a bowel regulator, and most of the successful poultrymen feed it regularlv. It: may be kept in a box or hopper, where fowls can eat it at will. Salt is an aid to digestion. It may be fed at the rate of about an ounce of. two ounces per day to one'hundred hens. Pepper is stimulating, and should not be fed except in very small amounts. Hens in good health do not need it. It li> sometimes useful in case of sickness in the flock. If the flock MKjuid be.-atTl.icted with colds, a iitVic itd peppcf may be.mixed in the soft food. , ■ >■:■■■■■ ...:■ 8