THE "BEST FOOD" FOR LAYING HENS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 2124, 20 October 1885, Page 2

THE "BEST FOOD" FOR LAYING HENS.

Pi It has again , and again been demon- . stratnd that wheat is the best of all the St cereals for the production of eggs. But next to that is milk, and especially sour . milk; and if we add to these a third substance, namely, gravel produced from . broken granite, of suitable size and quanS) tity, we have as nearly a perfect food as can be furnished for egg-producing fowls. But there are some details which ought ij to be attended to in order to obtain the best results. Thus, in hot weather, and in all weather but that which is very cold, y the grain should be previously soaked twenty-four hours andthc water salted, but only moderately so. But shrunken wheat, or mill screenings when tliey are not musty, and when they do not contain rotten or unsound grains, are quite as good as clear wheat, and some say they avo bettor, Localise shrunken ' wheat kernels contain more of the ® egg and flesh making principles than sound ones. But wo cannot always procure wheat or wheat screenings, and then we must find tho best substitute. a The following are good in the order in ' which they are named;— Barley, oats, 1 clacked corn, and whole corn, and each ' and all should have the preliminary ' twenty-four hours' soaking, Buck-wheat and rye will do very well as compliments to other grains. When fed alone they ' are unsafe, the former because it is too stimulating, and the latter becauso it is too fattening and difficult of digestion. Meat, offals and scraps, broken victuals, vegetables, and the like, are valuable additions to the daily rations, but they aro unsafe if fed in large quantities, for ' they not only injure the health of the fowls but impair the quality and flavor of 1 the eggs. Ono essential point which must not be forgotten in thn make-up of 1 " le daily ratjons—in case they are not > principally wheat and sour milk—the constituent olement of bones and egg shellsmust be furnished in the shape of burned bones, broken small or ground oyster shells,