ABOUT DRY CHICK FOODS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1798, 22 August 1906, Page 58

ABOUT DRY CHICK FOODS.

The system of “dry” chioken feeding (as it is called) 'by which is understood the feeding of ohickons exclusively upion small grain instead of giving them biscuit meal and other “soft” foods has been adopted by many poultrykeepers in deference to views expressed, particularly by foreign authorities, as to the convenience, cheapness, and success of the method. On the other hand there are many x>oultry-keei>ers who, after trying this comparatively modern plan, have gone back to the older system. In this as in everything else pertaining to chickens it is necessary to exercise discretion and common sense. Some chickens are reared out in the country under such conditions as to liberty that they really need very little food beyond what they can find for Themselves —at all events qfter they are a fortnight or so old—since they /get so many insects and small seeds in the fields and coppices that it is only necessary to give them a few groats or similar small grain to ‘'fill up.” On the other hand, some are reared either in such numbers or under such conditions of confinement that tlie whole of the food they consume has to he found for them; and it is more irarticularly with regard to these that I want to consider the dry-feeding question. Gan chickens be reared under these conditions as economically and as rapidly without any soft food at all as they could be under tho soft-food system? My own experience is that they cannot; but I uni well aware that there are plenty of poultry-keepers who take the contrary view.

On the whole aspect of blie question, I should, speaking for myself, say that til© best system is to give soft-food during tho day and dry food at night. The explanation of this view is that during tho day, whilst chickens are constantly on the move, they can digest a considerable quantity of food, and if that food be of such a nature as to he capable of rapid assimilation ft is possible to do more in the way of growing frame than would be the case if the food supplied were entirely grain, which takes longer to digest by reason of the fact that it first has to bo softened and broken in the process of digestion, before actual assimilation can tako place; whilst on the other hand too much soft food may under some circumstances be undesirable. Under conditions of absolute liberty where they can get a very large quantity of insect or frame-growing food all day long, I can agree that chickens may only require a handful of grain onoe or twice during the day, and they will thrive wonderfully. When in confinement, however, or when kept under such conditions that they only obtain a limited amount of this insectivorous food (as for example when their number is very large and the land is open-—for insect life is only really abundant in woodlands) then they require to bo reared on soft food principally. Really and truly every poultry-keep-er must make a law unto himself in such a matter as this, and judge according to his own experience—for there is nothing like that to guide a poultry-keeper in his work. Now as to tho relative cost of dry and soft foods, that, of course, is a matter of very great importance, and deserves to be rather fully considered. In the first place, it may be pointed out that the cheapest food in the long run is that upon which the chickens thrive most rapidly, for the longer a chicken takers to rear the more it costs not only in tho quantity of food it actually consumes but in the time during which it occupies the ground and the attention of its owner. This may seem at first sight a very small point. What does it matter, someone will say, if a chicken is a fortnight longer in getting ready for ■market than it might be P Well, if it were an individual chicken only it would not bo of much importance truly; but it is when the individual only represents what is taking place in a hundred or a thousand similar individuals that it does become seriously important. Economy in this way where chicken rearing on a largo scale is attempted may he -likened to the discounts in a large business.

Ono per cent, discount is a small matter perhaps—but when it comes to ha applied to a large turnover it counts for a very great deal. Well, then, it follows that the best foods are cheapest too; and when buying dry chick food it is important to see that the different kinds of grain composing the sample offered are in proper and fair proportion to each other, and are also of sound a]id good quality. Unfortunately the sudden demand which has sprung up in recent years for this class of food has been seized upon by enterprising corn dealens as a fine opportunity for unloading all sorts of rubbish at a good price—offal materials that previously were only marketable for pig-feeding at very low prices. Immense quantities of small, damaged and broken wheat for example are got rid of in this way at almost, if not quite, double the market value. Millet seed, obtainable at low prices, and the cheapest class of broken rice, are also worked into these mixtures. The call for a small grain that suits very little chickens enables corndealers to work up the sweepings of their mills and to dispose also of a good quantity of maize offals. Now to avoid this one very simple course is for each poultry-keeper to mix his own. There are two advantages in so doing. He not only can purchase the best qualities of each /lass of grain he intends to use, but he will avoid tlio risk —a verv real risk it is—of the dusty rubbish so often used up in these dry chick foods, bringing disease in its train. He will also avoid waste. The averago sample of dry chick food sold contains a large quantity of wild seeds of different kinds, which are found in wheat and other offals, and these are simply left by the chickens, who wisely pick out what they like and leave the rest. In mixing his own food the chickenraiser can moderate the proportions of what he gives so that the best results can ho obtained from a rearing standpoint, and so that all he gives is eaten, and no waste ensues at all. In buying his different kinds of grain he will, if lie be wise, always pay a trifle more in order to obtain best qualities. Different men have different recipes, but there is no special advantage in working up a score of various seeds. What the poultry-raiser should aim at in mixing food is to give such variety as will allow an evenly-balanc-ed diet—scientifically blended so as to give a proper proportion ol nitrogenous and carbonaceous ingredients. To give excess of either over the other involves waste, because the growing chicken requires a certain amount of each, and beyond that what is consumed is of no benefit from a dietetic point of view. Nitrogenous food is frame-forming; carbonaceous is heatgiving only. Obviously in early spring

or late autumn the quantity of carbonaceous foods needs bo larger than during summer’s heat. Amongst nitrogenous grain, there is nothing better than groats (unless it be peas and lentils, which, however, can best he given in meals to which wo will refer later on). Therefore any dry chick food may woll contain a good percentage of groats. An example of carbonaceous food is rice; another is maize. Neither of them contain any appreciably large amount of nitrogen; they are both almost exclusively composed of starch, which is heat-giving and fat-forming and so comparatively of little use for growing chickens. Consequently dry chick food should only contain a moderate amount of either: some is needed—but not too much. Now this is entirely contrary to what ono generally sees. I will guarantee that in five out of six of the so-called dry chick foods on the market are two-thirds rice, maize, and cheap wheat. Most of the remainder is waste rubbish, millet, cracked dari, and similar items with a handful or two of groats, canary seed, and hemp —tho latter two being far too expensive as a rule to admit of more than a ‘ flavouring.” Now as regards biscuit meals and other soft foods very similar considerations apply. There is no doubt whatever that the biscuit meal type of food has many features to recommend it for chicken raising; but it is necessary, for economy’s sake (biscuit meal being rather dear), to buy tho right sort of sample. It should bo graded to an even size —tree from dust and quite free .from oyster-shell, grit, and such like. Oyster shell being obtainable :;t about onethird of the price of plain biscuit meal, should bo added by. the user—if at all. I have seen samples containing nearly twenty-five per cent, of oyster shell and another twenty-five per cent, of dust—a great deal of winch gets wasted. The consumer should xuircha.se plain biscuit meal, graded to an even size; for very young chickens it wants to bo not larger than hemp seed, and for older ones about as large ;;s tares. Moat (in tiie dry granulated form) should be bought sexiarately, and about eight or ten per cent, on the average will be sufficient to add to the biscuit. Dried fibrino meat is almost entirely nitrogenous, end as biscuit meal is comxiosed largely of maize and wheat meals the addition of meat serves to balance the ennmosition niceiv. Oyster-.sbeii anci grit should never be given in soft food. The imoper way—and tlie most economical —is to x )U t those into shallow pans or bowls with a flange (so as prevent scratching out) and place them in tho run where the chickens can go and help themselves as often as nature indicates the necessity. A great deal more might be written upon the subject of dry versus soft food, but this article is getting rather lengthy, and I will therefore conclude by again advising xxuiltry-keepers not to bnndly p>iix their faith exclusively to either method, but to exercise discretion, and use their own experience as a light to guide.—-South Stafford, ".Farm, Field and Fireside.”