How to Feed Best.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1973, 28 February 1885, Page 6 (Supplement)

How to Feed Best.

It may seem a very simple matter to feed fowls, but no part of the management of the flocks is so difficult. True, all one has to do it to give them their feed, but it depends upon how this is done, for thereon depends the matter of procuring eggs. Everyone who keeps poultry should make himself familiar with the different breeds, for unless this is flone no correct method of foeding can be Adopted. It is unnecessary to state that fowls ■hould have a variety of food, shonld be fed regularly, be within easy access of pure, fresh water, and be provided with lime, oharcoal, green food, meat, and good quarters, for that is an undisputed fact, but the breeder must remember that he has two obstacles to contend with, which are overfeeding and underletting Lei us consider overfeeding. The large breeds, such as the Cochins, Brahmas, Plymouth Bocks, and Langahans, grow for quite a long period before reaching maturity. While in the growing condition (says the American Poultry K'ffcr) they do not take on fat very rsadily, but as coon as they arrive at the •Ute which is the turning point between the thick and the adult, it is a oritical period with the breeder. They will than begin to fatten, and if they become too fat cannot nor will not lay. If they begin to lay before they get very fat, the service of egg production •alls for nutrition, and the food is diverted in that direction, consequently the young hen will not fatten to easily after she begins to lay ai though she had not commenced, but should ■he become over-fat without laying it is a puzzling matter to the breeder how to reduce her in flesh again without injury. An overfat fowl is a nuisance, for should it lay at all, the eggs rarely hatch, and if a few ohioks come from them they will be weak and bard to raise. The hen herself becomes diseased, loon breaks dowD, and is an eyesore to the whole Hook. Toe cocks are not exempt. When too fat they are unserviceable, impotent and sterile, and might &3 well be cooped up for all they are worth. In fact, they really do damage by injuring the hens, and in no manner are they profitable except for market. Under-feeding is another evil ; not that we mean to infer that the fowls are usually not supplied with a sufficiency of food, such as it is, but fowls may be under-fed while revelling apparently in the midst of plenty. Exclusively, corn is a terrible infliction to a flock, and actual physical suffering is the consequence when certain element? are lacking in the necessary requirements of the system, when it is forced to produce a particular article from materials not adapted to the purposes intended. No kind of machinery is capable of weaving silk goods from hemp, nor can steam engines be built of cotton. A hen cannotjproduce eggs if lime is lacking, nor can she supply the growth of her own body when her product takes possession of that which should support herself. Nature gives her what we call an appetite, which is only an indication of that which she requires, and we are all familiar with the habits of most i fowls, and notice that when we change the < food they accept the new variety readily. Feeding is the art of supplying the proper food, not so much in quantity as in quality. , If we watch the fowls they will easily tell us what they desire. If you are feeding corn throw down a few handfuls of oats. If they greedily take the oats and leave the corn it indicates that they require something else. Try grass, meat, ground bone, pounded oyster ■hells, cooked vegetables, all of whioh they will accept or reject according to their requirements. Feed regularly, and never feed more than they will eat up clean. They will walk away from the food aa soon as they have enough. Never leave it on the ground. Feed early and late, and let them get hungry— that is, have regular intervals between meals. The practice of keeping feed by them all the time promotes an excess of fat. Allow as I much exercise as possible. Throw hay on the floor or in the yard, place in it a few j handfuls of grain that they do not receive often, and let them hunt and scratch for it. Feed growing chickens liberally, avoiding too much corn. Oats ground, and fed warm in the morning, is one of the best feeds that can be given. Always give whole grains at night. In summer give no corn except once or twice i a week. Vegetables and grass is much better for them. Laying hens must have meat or milk. Eggs cannot bo produced without { nitrogenous material in some shape. Bones are almost absolutely essential. Above all, however, give pure, clean, fresh drinking water.