Feeding for Eggs--Wholesome Nourishment--Not Destructive Stimulants
Unless a hen is properly fed she may have been purchased from the
greatest strain of layers that it is possible to imagine, and still you
may have an empty nest so far as eggs go.
The food which the hen takes into her system goes first to supply her
bodily wants, the surplus she turns into eggs, and if properly bred she
will turn that surplus into profit very rapidly.
Easy Assimilation
She must be fed, then, so as to have what is generally termed a
“balanced ration,” which really means a ration supplying all her
different wants.
She must be fed so as to be able to assimilate her food with ease. She
might be fed a ration which she could easily digest, but the ration
might not so assimilate and combine as to be an egg maker.
The greatest factor in assimilation is proper green food, and the hen
should have this in a crisp, succulent state, and plenty of it. The egg
being to such a large extent formed of water, unless she is supplied
with all the drinking water she will take, your labor will go for
naught, and the hen will not be able to lay eggs.
Her grain ration must be of the best, and it should be fed in such a
way that she is forced to work for it.
Perfect Health or No Eggs
If Biddy is to lay, she must be kept in perfect health, and without
exercise that is impossible.
She must live in a house without draughts but in which the air is
always fresh by means of perfect ventilation, and she must have
sunshine.
Her quarters must be kept clean and sweet, and a good supply of coarse
oyster shell, sharp grit, or sifted, hard coal ashes, should be always
accessible in quantities.
Abundant Animal Food
She must have an abundance of animal food, either in form of green
cut bone, or beef scraps, and this should be mixed as we feed it in
The Corning Egg Farm Mash, which is a mixture of different meals in
which the animal food is thoroughly distributed. Of grain, to one
hundred hens, eight quarts of a mixture of wheat, corn and oats, should
be given; in Summer, about two-thirds wheat and one-third cracked
corn, reducing the wheat to a third and increasing the corn to about
two-thirds in cold weather, adding to this mixture at all times two
quarts of oats. That is to say, six quarts of wheat and corn and two
quarts of oats.
The Corning Mash the Secret
The amount of Mash fed in the troughs varies in accordance with the way
the birds clean it up. The point aimed at being to feed in each House
the quantity that the birds will about clean up, by roosting time. The
intention is that their first food in the morning shall be obtained by
their vigorous scratching in the litter. All the grain is fed at one
time, in the afternoon, and is not forked into the litter, as the birds
have worked all day up to this time, it is desired that they fill up
rather easily from feeding time till dark. As they move and scratch
they bury the surplus grain most effectively in the litter, thus saving
considerable labor, which is expended on many poultry farms, by using
the pitch fork to place the grain deep in the straw.
When the pullets are first put into the Laying House, about ten pounds
of Mash is placed in each trough, this being estimated as sufficient
for each one hundred birds. If it is not cleaned up, the amount, the
next day, is decreased, but if entirely consumed the quantity is
increased.
Over and over again it is stated in articles that large quantities of
animal food and rich meals in the mash are very stimulating and wear
the hen out. This is a great mistake. When the hen is being supplied
with the proper ingredients for a large egg production she is not being
stimulated, but rather helped and sustained in the natural way.
“Egg Foods” Kill Layers
On the market, to-day, is found an ever increasing number of
preparations advertised as “egg foods”; “foods” warranted to produce
eggs without fail and in record breaking quantities. An analysis of
almost any of these concoctions discloses the fact that Capsicum, or
in other words red pepper, is the basis of the preparation, or at
least it is the ingredient in the mixture which is counted upon to
produce the advertised results, namely, the certain and great output
of eggs. If fed in sufficient quantities to actually stimulate the egg
organs of the hen it must in a short time kill her, but if it should
not have this effect, it certainly does put her in such a condition
that she is worthless as a layer. It must be constantly borne in mind
that the production of eggs is not a question of stimulation, but is
the putting of the hen into a perfect condition of health, keeping her
in that condition, and supplying her with foods which are egg making
substances, and which nourish her completely, and allow a surplus to be
turned into eggs.
On The Corning Egg Farm, this plan has always been the line along which
we have worked, supplying the hen with the natural ingredients from
which, in a healthy state, she is able to produce the greatest number
of large, sanitary eggs.
Mustard Increases Egg Laying
For the last three years experiments have been carried on with mustard.
It had been accidently noticed that table scraps, containing some
of the leavings of a salad where mustard had been used, and which
had been thrown out to a few barn-yard hens, were greedily devoured.
It was further observed that, after a few days, the egg production
increased. Following this interesting discovery, quite an exhaustive
test was carried on with eighteen hens, running over a period of
twelve months. The Corning Egg Farm followed this experiment with
considerable interest. Six of the hens were fed an ordinary ration;
six of them were given Red Pepper, and the other half dozen were fed
mustard mixed in their food. At the end of the test all the hens were
killed and carefully examined. The organs of the six hens which were
fed an ordinary ration were found to be in fair shape, and those fed
red pepper had enlarged livers. The six hens which were fed the mustard
were found to be in perfect organic condition, and they had been in
good healthy shape all through the entire twelve months. They had
produced a considerable percentage of eggs beyond either of the other
two pens. As a matter of fact the hens fed on the pepper laid fewer
eggs than those fed the ordinary ration.
CORNING EGG FARM BOOK
SEE PAGE 147 ON MUSTARD.
By an error in printing, the paragraph giving the proportions of
mustard was omitted:
If highly concentrated mustard is used, one teaspoonful for every six
hens. If mustard bran is used, three teaspoonfuls for every six hens.
Now, the mustard used in this experiment was highly concentrated
table mustard, and while the cost, where only six hens were being
fed with it, amounted to very little, on a large plant like The
Corning Farm, the question of cost becomes a serious item. Whether to
feed concentrated mustard or a mustard bran was found to be worthy
of careful consideration, because it was impossible to get nearly
as perfect a mixture in the Mash, with a small quantity of highly
concentrated mustard, as with a mustard not so strong but running three
times the amount in bulk. As an illustration of the advisability of
introducing the mustard in form of bran we might say that, by using a
small quantity of one certain meal carrying a very high percentage of
protein, it would be possible to introduce into the Mash the amount of
protein desired, but by using a number of meals, each carrying a small
percentage of protein, a much better Mash results, and every bird is
able to get its due and necessary proportion of the ingredients.
Mustard Increases Fertility
The three pens before mentioned, after being fed as described through
the Winter months, were mated in the month of March, and it was found
that the fertility of the eggs of the mustard fed pen far exceeded that
of either of the other pens, and that the resulting chicks were much
stronger, developed better, and were altogether more desirable than
the chicks produced where the birds had been fed merely the ordinary
ration, and where the attempt had been made to stimulate the egg
production by the use of red pepper.
The exact action of mustard, in the animal or human being, is a
somewhat disputed point, but the Medical Fraternity seems to agree
that it increases the secretion of gastric juices, and very decidedly
promotes good digestion.
A great layer must be a large eater, but she cannot be a large eater
unless she is kept in perfect health, and has the necessary appetite
which only comes when in a strong, robust, vigorous condition.
The Corning Egg Farm has fed mustard in a way that it has never been
fed before; the egg production has increased very materially; the
percentage of fertility has run considerably higher; the germs have
been strong, large, hatchable germs, and the resulting chicks, have
come into existence with a jump and, where they have been properly
handled, have rapidly grown into sturdy youngsters.
4,000 Layers Fed Mustard
We started to feed our breeding pens with mustard in the Mash just
at the time we desired them to come into eggs, and they responded at
once. That is to say, after the Mash containing mustard had been fed
to them for about a week, the egg output increased daily, and not only
did it increase, but the high marks which were reached were steadily
maintained. Four thousand layers have been fed mustard in their Mash
daily, and after months of this feeding the flocks have never been in
better health, and the egg production has never been equaled even on
The Corning Egg Farm.
The Mustard Bran is about twenty-five per cent. of the cost of table
mustard.
Mustard Maintains Health
The experiment with mustard, with the eighteen hens, was carried on
over a term of twelve months. We do not believe, however, that it is
wise to feed mustard to the layers and breeders after June 15th, unless
the early months of Summer should prove to be exceptionally cool. The
mustard nourishes very strongly and puts an immense amount of red
corpuscles into the blood, so that if continued into warm weather the
hen is not in best condition to stand extreme Summer heat.
It is not necessary to gradually decrease the mustard, but it may be
simply cut right out of the Mash without any detrimental effect.
Keep Appetite Keen
The great thing, then, to be remembered, when one is feeding for eggs
is constant watchfulness of the flock, to so feed that the appetite is
always keen, but yet the necessities of the bird fully satisfied; to
be most watchful as to the exercise the bird is forced to take for its
grain ration, and to keep the litter deep. Right in this connection we
may say, a deep litter does not necessarily mean one that is so broken
up and packed together that the grain cannot readily sift through it.
The litter straw should be constantly added to so as to offer a surface
that the grain will readily sift through.
[Illustration]
For the past years, in feeding the layers, The Corning Egg Farm Mash
was prepared on Sundays and fed exactly as on any other day of the
week. With the increase of the work on the Farm it has been a study to
lighten Sunday labor as much as possible.
On investigating the litter around the Mash Boxes there will always
be found a certain amount of Mash that has been scratched out of
the troughs, and to a certain extent neglected. The experiment was
therefore made of omitting the Mash on Sunday, and at once Biddy became
extremely energetic in her efforts to extract from the litter every
particle of Mash which she had wasted through the week. It is quite
possible that by continuing the Mash ration on Sunday a trifle higher
egg average might be maintained throughout the week. When the cost
of feeding is figured in, however, it is found that there is a real
saving in discontinuing the Mash for one day. The plan has now been in
operation for over eight months, and there is no reason, so far as can
be seen, why the old method of preparing the Mash seven days in the
week should be returned to. The economy lies in the fact that Biddy
cleans up what might otherwise be a considerable waste, and in this way
supplies herself with a fair mash ration for the one day.
Of course the green food and the grain ration are fed exactly as on any
other day.
The original experiments in mustard feeding, referred to in this
chapter, were conducted by Messrs. Ralph R. Allen, Editor of _Monthly
Hints on Poultry_, and Mr. A. J. Odam, at Llangammarch Wells Poultry
Farm, Great Britain.