Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 187, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 August 1915 — FEEDING ANIMAL MATTER FOR EGGS [ARTICLE]

FEEDING ANIMAL MATTER FOR EGGS

Green Bone, Git Fine, Has Been Found Most Suitable For This Purpose. The oldest works on the subject of poultry recommend feeding animal matter in some form. But it Is only in recent years that ‘feeding green bone became popular. Up until about 1889, winter egg production was not much of a feature, great as the demand was, for the reason that there seemed no possible way of getting the hens down to solid work. There was an improvement, however, when better houses, better feeding and better care were employed; but still the supply was meagre, considering the output at the present day. The subject of food finally became a serious study, resulting in a conclusion that more animal food must be placed on the bill of fare. But how to furnish it economically did not manifest itself until 1889, when F. W. Mann Invented and placed on the market a crude machine, but nevertheless, the initiative of the present high-class green bone cutters now on the market. As stated, this was the original bone cutter, and It is a matter of poultry history that the term “bone cutter" was actually coined by Mr. Mann.

According to an analysis by Professor James E. Rice, the nutritive value of j.reen bone is 1:5.3, which is greater than any other form of meat, meat scr~p, dried blood, dried fish or animal meal. Hens are worm and Insect hunters, and where they do not have range must be supplied a substitute in some form. Particularly in summer, the handiest meat food is meat scrap and’ meat meal, many brands of which are on the market. Green bone is better for fall, winter and early spring use. It is safe to feed in an egg ration onetenth to one-fifth by weight of meat in the total ration, the quantity varying with the richness of the meat and other foods used. It is best to mix the meat in the real feed. But in the case of green cut bone it is more satisfactory to feed in troughs, allowing a pound of green bone for every 16 fowls or an ounce per head. The animal foods the fowls gather while on a free range are usually high In percentage of nitrogenous matter and not a large proportion of fat Many of the artificial foods, excepting such as dried blood and skim milk, contain usually, besides the nitrogenous matter, a high percentage of fat which is not especially desired in compounding the ration. For instance, both earth worms and grasshoppers contain nearly 10 times as much protein as fat, while ordinary fresh cut bone contains about equal amounts of protein and fat Mistakes have been made in feeding green bone in giving too liberal a quantity. An excess will produce aggravated diarrhoea and worms, and a too liberal supply of meat scrap is apt to cause an overfat condition of the fowls. It may be possible to have poultry Jive without any animal matter, but lor profit and thrift it is necessary that they receive a certain per cent of meat in the dally bill of fare, especially w’hen they are confined to runs, or to houses in winter.