GOLD WEATHER FEEDING.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1747, 30 August 1905, Page 60

GOLD WEATHER FEEDING.

(By C. E. Matteson, Wisconsin). Never expect your fowls to thoroughly digest their food unless you first see that they have an endless supply of grit and are fed in such a way that they are hungry and will work in the litter all 'day long. Many people make a mistake by thiu king that it is best to warm up the fowls each morning with a pail of soft, hot food. I have heaid. it claimed that food fed in that state was easier of assimilation. That may be so for just a few feedings, but sooner or latter it is sure to induce sluggishness and when a fowl is in that state she is only going to digest a small portion of the food given her: My experience shows that, no matter what you feed, it is best not to feed any soft feed in the morning, but instead to scatter le fine grain of some kind in the litter and get them to work at daylight- This gets their blood into circulation, just what is needed after a cold, severe night. During the day I feed the different classes of grain, such as barley, wheat oats and corn, alternating one with the other each day, which gives a variety, so far as the grain goes, but I am not content with this alone, but aim to always furnish green food of some kind as an appetiser, and to balance up and furnish the protein that ~ goes to make up the major portion of the egg. I always aim to feed some kind of aminal food. This is an absolute necessity. It is not best to feed too great a quantity, but some should always be fed. I have used various kinds, Such as meat meals, beef scraps, meat, cut bone, and milk, and can say any of them are good if properly fed. The soft food, if properly formulated, will add to a certain extent in balancing up the whole grain diet, but it is not farreaching enough hence my reason for saying fowls should always have a small portion of animal food each day. I am not only very careful about feeding too much of the soft food, but also defer feeding it until the last feed of the day, and only every other .day at that, especially when we are using the eggs for including purposes.