FEEDING.

There is, perhaps, no subject on which a greater diversity of opinion

exists among poultry keepers, than respecting the relative value of

the different substances used as food. This difference of opinion

arises from the general ignorance that prevails with regard to the

true principles of feeding. It cannot be too strongly impressed

on all feeders of stock that the food eaten has to serve several

distinct purposes when taken into the body. One portion is consumed

in supporting the natural warmth of the animal; another set of

substances supplies the nourishment required for the growth of the

body, and replaces the daily wasting that occurs; a third yields the

materials from which the bones are formed; and a fourth supplies the

fat which is stored up in the bodies of animals; we may, therefore,

speak of the following classes of foods:--

1st. _Warmth-giving Food._--As starch, which forms almost the entire

bulk of rice, and the solid portion of potatoes; gum, sugar, &c.

2nd. _Flesh-forming Food._--As gluten, &c., which exists in large

proportion in wheat, oatmeal, peas, beans, middlings and sharps, and

in somewhat smaller quantity in barley, Indian corn, &c.

3rd. _Bone-making Food._--Which is found in larger proportion in the

bran, or outer part of the grain, than in the inner parts.

4th. _Fat-forming Food._--Consisting of fatty or oily substances;

these occur, to a considerable extent, in Indian corn (the yellow

variety), oatmeal, middlings, bran, &c.

All experiments that have been made tend to prove that each of

these kinds of food is unable to serve the purposes of the others;

thus, to give an example, neither warmth-giving nor fat-forming

substances are capable of adding to the flesh of a growing animal,

nor can flesh-forming food increase the quantity of fat. In a mere

elementary work, like the present, it is impossible to go into this

subject at any great length. Those who desire the facts on which

these statements are grounded are referred to the works of Johnston,

Liebig, and other eminent agriculturists and agricultural chemists.

We must take the principles as granted, and apply them to an

examination of the different substances usually employed in poultry

feeding.

GRAIN forms the staple food of poultry, the varieties used being

generally either barley, oats, wheat, Indian corn, or rice.

_Barley_ is perhaps more frequently used than any other grain;

it is better relished by fowls than oats, and its first cost is

considerably below that of wheat. It contains from ten to eleven

pounds of flesh-forming, sixty of starchy substances, and two to

three of oil or fat in every hundred.

_Oats_ are not taken so freely as barley, which is apparently owing

to the large proportion of husk they contain, which lessens their

value as poultry food; but when used in the form of grits or oatmeal

they are eaten with great avidity, and in this state furnish one

of the most wholesome and nutritious varieties of food, containing

eighteen of flesh-forming, sixty-three of starchy substances, and

six pounds of fatty materials in every hundred. No grain contains a

larger proportion of flesh-forming substances than oatmeal--it is,

therefore, the one best adapted to growing animals, and I have found

that chicken make much more rapid progress when it forms the chief

portion of their food than when fed on any other substances. Cochin,

and Spanish chicken especially, show its good effects by the rapidity

with which they feather when fed with it.

_Wheat_, contrary to the popular opinion, is not more nutritious than

oatmeal; it contains about twelve pounds of flesh-forming nutriment,

seventy of starchy, and two to four of oil, in every hundred. Its

cost operates considerably against its employment, although it is

extensively used by some breeders of choice poultry, with whom

expense of feeding is a secondary consideration.

_Indian Corn_ is remarkable for the large proportion of oil contained

in the yellow varieties, which averages eight pounds in every

hundred; its capability of putting on flesh is not greater than that

of barley, as it contains only eleven per cent. of flesh-giving food,

and sixty-six of starchy matters. Cochins seem remarkably fond of it,

but I have found that it is refused by Dorkings and Spanish, when

they are able to obtain other grain.

_Rice_ is the least nutritious of all grains, and therefore the worst

that can be given to growing animals. In the husked state in which

it is usually found in this country, it contains scarcely any fat,

or bone-making materials, and only seven per cent. of flesh-forming

food, (less than half the quantity contained in oatmeal,) being

almost entirely composed of starch. Boiled rice is a useful variation

in the food of fowls, and is much relished, but as the main support

of growing chicken it is very objectionable.

_Buckwheat Flour_ is about equal in nutritive properties to that

of wheat, but the large proportion of husk that the unground seeds

contain, must be taken into account in estimating its money value; it

is commonly supposed to cause a greatly increased production of eggs,

but its chemical composition does not shew any superiority over many

other varieties of food.

_Dhoora_, or Indian millet, a small grain largely cultivated in

the east, is employed by some poultry keepers; it is much relished

by fowls; the nutritious properties of the flour are very similar

to those of wheat, and as it contains very little husk, it may be

regarded as a valuable addition to the poultry dietary.

_Malt Dust_, _Malt Culm_, _and Cummins_, are names given to the small

sprouts of the barley which are broken off in the process of malting,

and form a coarse fibrous powder. Malt dust contains from two to

three times as large a proportion of flesh-forming food as wheat,

and in this respect far surpasses any of the substances ordinarily

used as poultry food; its value not being generally known, it is

frequently used as manure; mixed with soft food, it is much relished

by fowls, and as it may be obtained at a remarkably cheap rate, its

employment is very advantageous.

_Bran_, _Pollard or Randan_, _and Middlings or Sharps_, particularly

the latter, I regard as most valuable additions to the food of

poultry. In the first place they are economical--and they contain

a very high proportion (eighteen per cent.) of flesh-forming

substances, and a very considerable quantity of oil (six per cent.)

Another circumstance which adapts them to the use of chicken is the

large proportion of bone-making materials they contain.

Many poultry feeders are in the habit of preparing the grain before

use; some simply soak the barley or other corn, by placing it in

water the previous evening, this lessens the time it has to remain

in the crop, before passing on into the gizzard; others boil their

corn, a proceeding which has the advantage of rendering it more

digestible, as it effects an important change in the starchy part

of the grain. Rice, especially, should always be boiled before

use, and it should be cooked in such a mode as to allow the grains

to remain separate, which may be easily managed by boiling it in

a large quantity of water, to which a small piece of fat, as lard

or dripping, has previously been added. The experience of all

experimental agriculturists is in favour of cooked food for live

stock of all descriptions: from the change effected in the starch

it is more nutritious, and is more rapidly digested; hence, there

is less work for the stomach and digestive organs to perform, and

therefore they are less liable to become diseased. From considerable

experience in its employment, I can strongly recommend the following

cooked food, as being exceedingly well adapted to supply all the

substances requisite to support a healthy and vigorous existence. A

quantity of middlings, with or without half its bulk of barley-meal,

or a corresponding proportion of malt-dust, is placed in a coarse red

ware pan, and baked for about an hour in a side oven, or until the

mixture is thoroughly heated throughout; water is then poured in, and

the whole stirred together until it becomes a crumbly mass; if too

much water is added, the mixture becomes cloggy, a defect which is

easily remedied by stirring in a little dry meal. The advantage of

this method is that the food is prepared with scarcely any trouble,

and there is no fear of its being burnt as in boiling. Sometimes the

barley meal is omitted, and the baked middlings mixed with rice which

has been previously boiled. This mixture forms the stock food of my

old fowls, a liberal supply of grain being given during the day. I

have found that since its adoption they cost less in food, and that

they are in equally good or even in better condition than when fed on

an unlimited supply of grain alone. Should the convenience for baking

not exist, it will be found more desirable to scald the middlings and

meal with boiling water than to mix them with cold.

If grain of any kind is broken or crushed, it should only be done

shortly before use, unless it is thoroughly kiln dried; for when this

is not done, the grain, from the moisture it contains, soon becomes

musty, sour, and unwholesome. Inferior samples of grain contain

so large a proportion of husk that they are not desirable, and if

regarded with reference to their nutritious properties the best will

be found the cheapest.

_Potatoes_, when plentiful and free from disease, may be

advantageously substituted for rice, which they closely resemble, in

containing a large amount of starch; there is less waste in their

use, if steamed, than when boiled.

_Peas_, _Beans_, _and Lentils_, either whole or ground, are much

used by many feeders; they contain a larger amount of flesh-forming

food than grain--on the average about twenty-four per cent., whilst

the quantity of fat is very small, not usually more than two in every

hundred; but they are not easily digested, and are too stimulating to

be regarded as a wholesome diet. I have traced many cases of disease,

such as white comb in Cochins, inflammation of the stomach and egg

passage, &c., &c., to their employment.

_Hemp Seed_ is frequently given to cause the increased production

of eggs, an effect which it can only produce at the sacrifice of

the health of the fowls. Hemp is used in India as a most powerful

medicine; the evil effects of the seeds on caged birds are known to

all bird keepers. I regard it as one of the most injurious substances

given to fowls.

_Fresh Green Vegetables_ form an indispensable addition to the

food of poultry. Those having a free range in the country supply

themselves with this kind of food; when they are kept in other

situations they should be supplied daily with turf, cabbage, lettuce,

or turnip leaves, and in the absence of these substances, as on

shipboard, a little moistened corn, allowed to sprout, will be found

very advantageous.

_Cooked Vegetables_, such as parsnips, carrots, turnips, &c., are

much relished, particularly the former; they form an useful and

wholesome variation in the diet.

_Animal Food._--The most advantageous animal food for fowls, and on

which they make the most rapid and healthy progress, consists in the

worms, snails and insects that they obtain naturally when unconfined;

I do not think that there is any other kind of food which conduces

so much to their healthy condition; where it cannot be obtained, a

small quantity of fresh meat (either raw or cooked) may be chopped

small and given to them; it is, however, but a poor substitute for

the natural insect food. The maggots of the flesh fly, obtained by

hanging up some meat to putrefy, are often employed, but I doubt very

much, whether, in wholesomeness, they are at all equal to worms, and

the plan is objectionable from the offensive odour of the putrefying

meat; if it is thought desirable to employ maggots the best mode is

to allow the animal substance to remain exposed to the air until

thoroughly fly-blown, if it is then buried eighteen inches deep,

the maggots remain under ground until they attain their full size,

when they work their way towards the surface, before changing into

the perfect insects; the fowls soon discover their approach, and by

scratching obtain a plentiful supply; the maggots by working their

way through the soil are cleansed from any adhering putridity, and

the search for the gradual supply affords amusement for the fowls;

even employed in this way, however, I do not think flesh maggots so

desirable as worms.

_Tallow Chandler’s Greaves_, which are left on melting the fat from

the stale scraps of the butchers, and the putrid accumulation of

the marine store shop, are strongly recommended by some persons as

causing an increased quantity of eggs. Animal substances which have

once been in a state of putrefaction cannot by any subsequent process

be formed into healthy food, and I can state from experience that

greaves are exceedingly injurious to laying hens. Even dogs, when fed

upon greaves, become offensive, mangy, and out of condition; their

effect upon fowls cannot be less injurious.

It will not, I trust, be thought that the subject of food has been

treated at an undue length, for I am confident that by far the

greater number of diseases that occur in fowls arise from improper

feeding. I have, therefore, arranged the following Table, in order

to render the comparison of the relative value of the different

substances more easily made.