UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION CIRCULAR No. 242 May, 1922 POULTRY FEEDING By J. E. DOUGHERTY FEEDING LAYING AND BREEDING HENS A high yield of first-quality eggs is the result of (1) comfortable, healthful quarters (2) skillful feeding, and (3) systematic culling and breeding. No system of feeding can be made to overcome the detri- mental effect on the egg yield of indiscriminate breeding and dirty, crowded quarters. It may be possible to greatly increase production for a short period by stimulation with drugs, condiments and very concentrated feedstuffs, but the hen soon breaks down under such treatment and her future usefulness is seriously impaired. All that feeding can be expected to do is to supply a well-balanced diet that will promote maximum normal production if fed, in such a way as to stimulate healthful activity. The method of feeding is fully as im- portant as the materials fed. Fowls of all ages should be so fed that their appetites are never entirely satisfied, except when they go to roost. In the case of yarded fowls especially, grain mixtures should be fed in a deep scratching litter to compel the birds to take sufficient exercise by scratching vigor- ously for all they get. A skillful poultry feeder will watch his flock carefully and make frequent observations of their physical condition. By picking a bird up here and there, while feeding, he can note whether the flock is in good general condition and not too fat to lay well. The physical condition of the fowls and the eagerness with which they eat their feed should be closely observed at all times so that feeding errors may be corrected as early as possible and serious effects prevented. The scratching litter should be examined daily to see that the fowls clean up not only the grains they like best, but all the grain fed to them. A very common error is that of too abundant feeding. Grain is scattered on the bare ground where fowls can pick it up with a mini- mum of effort. If more is fed than the fowls can clean up in a short time, it lies on the ground and the fowls gorge themselves. Their 2 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION crops are continually stuffed. There is no incentive to exercise and these conditions lead to digestive troubles or even more serious com- plications. In fact, over-feeding is the major cause of most poultry ills. To feed skillfully takes no additional time and pays in lessened mortality and a larger egg yield. An example of a very good ration for laying hens is given below : Mash Mixture (Can be fed either moist or dry.) Grain Mixture 25% wheat bran> 40% Whole or rolled barley. 25% wheat shorts or brown middlings. 20% Egyptian corn or milo maize. 25% ground barley, or oats, milo, etc. 20% "cracked Indian corn. 5% soybean or linseed meal. 20% whole wheat. 5% coconut or soybean or linseed or cottonseed meal or ground beans. 15% meatscrap or fishscrap. 2J% finely granulated charcoal. | of 1% finely sifted dairy salt. N.B. — The proportions are by weight. Charcoal and salt are fed in addition to the 100% mixture of feedstuff s. Variety of Feed. — The feeding of one grain alone is not likely to give as good results as a mixture of two grains ; and a mixture of three or four grains is even better. It pays to feed grain mixtures and mash mixtures containing quite a variety of feeds, if feed prices will allow, because variety increases palatability, and palatability pro- duces a more efficient use of the feed eaten, by stimulating a more copious secretion of the digestive juices. Variety in the ration also insures the fowls getting a sufficient supply of all the different food components needed to promote health and maximum production. Some feeds lack certain essential sub- stances that others possess. If the ration is limited to a very few feeds, some of these essential substances may be lacking, and the health and production of the fowls will thereby be affected. Scurvy, e.g., is a disease caused by the absence of essential food elements and may result from a lack of enough variety in the diet. Changing the Ration. — The grain and mash mixtures fed can be changed from time to time to meet changing conditions in the avail- able supply and the cost of grains and millfeeds, by changing the proportions of the feeds used, adding others or making such other changes as are indicated in the following pages. It is recommended, however, that in order to obtain the desired variety, not less than three grains be included in the grain ration, using not more than 50% or less than 20% of each. If barley and oats are included in the grain Circular 242] POULTRY FEEDING 3 mixture, not more than 50% of both together should be used because of the amounts of fiber contained in the hulls of the two grains, especially the oats. Wheat is one of the most popular and extensively used cereal grains for poultry feeding, but its inclusion in the grain ration is not indispensable, provided the mash is well supplied with wheat mill feeds, such as bran and shorts. This fact was thoroughly demon- strated during the world war. Yellow corn is another very popular cereal grain among poultry keepers and should be fed at least in small quantity, if not too high in price. Barley, being one of the cheapest grains that can be obtained in California and an excellent poultry feed, should form a major part of the grain ration for laying fowls. Sprouted Grain. — Barley and oats are the two grains most exten- sively sprouted for feeding poultry. They are sprouted for two pur- poses: (1) to increase their palatability, (2) to furnish green feed in winter when other greens are difficult to secure. Barley is more gen- erally used for the first purpose than oats because it is usually cheaper and is eagerly eaten when sprouted until the first sprouts are about !/4 inch long. This sprouting not only increases the succulence and palatibility of the grain, but may also make it more digestible by changing some of the starch into sugar. The feeding of grains sprouted in this way has been found very beneficial in stimulating egg production in fall and winter. If sprouted grain having root sprouts about V4 inch long is fed, the dry grain mixture minus such grain should be given in a scratching litter in the morning and the sprouted grain at night. If rather moist sprouted grains are fed in the scratch litter or on the ground, much dirt may adhere to them and be eaten by the fowls. Feeding in troughs will avoid this. Grain will sprout more rapidly in a warm than in a cool place. Hot beds, green houses, brooder house pits and warm cellars are often used for this purpose. A convenient method of sprouting to increase the palatability of the. grain is to place the quantity of dry grain required for one day's feeding in a clean, water-tight receptacle such as a tub, box, 5-gallon linseed oil can or bucket (vessel No. 1) in the evening and cover the grain with warm water. The next morning the soaked grain is turned into vessel No. 2, a receptacle provided with cracks or holes in the bottom through which all surplus water will drain away. That even- ing another lot is put to soak in vessel No. 1. The following morning the sprouting grain from vessel No. 2 is transferred into a similar container (vessel No. 3), and the soaked grain in vessel No. 1 is put 4 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION into vessel No. 2. That evening a fresh lot of dry grain is put to soak in vessel No. 1 and the process continued each day using as many vessels as necessary. When the first lot has developed short sprouts it is ready to feed. The grain is turned from one vessel into another each day to stir it up and prevent it from heating. If the vessels used are large enough to permit of stirring the grain, it need not be transferred to another vessel each day after being emptied out of vessel No. 1. The recep- tacles should be covered to keep the top layers of grain from drying out and it may be necessary to sprinkle the grain each day with warm water to keep it sufficiently moist in dry weather. Oats or barley can be further sprouted to produce a tender, suc- culent green food equal to any other tender greens as an appetizing, health promoting, tonic food. Since it costs more, however, to sprout grains for green food than to grow greens in the field, sprouting is only resorted to when other green stuff is unobtainable. The most suitable place in which to sprout grain -for greens is a well lighted, sunny room or cabinet that can be kept at a temperature of not less than 70° F. Sunshine is required if the sprouts are to grow green in color, and heat and moisture are needed to stimulate a rapid, tender and succulent growth. Sprouting in too cool a place produces a toughening of the plant fibers which makes the green food much less digestible, and may bring about a crop-bound condition due to the toughness of the root strands which tend to twist up into a matted mass in the crop instead of breaking up and digesting easily. In order to obtain a quick and tender growth, sunlight, moisture and warmth are essential. The sprouting process may conveniently be carried on by taking approximately 1 gallon of dry grain for each 400 fowls, placing it in a suitable vessel, covering with warm water and allowing to stand 12 hours. It is then transferred to shallow trays and spread out evenly to a depth of about one inch. Each day a fresh lot of dry grain is put to soak and spread out on clean trays after soaking 12 hours. The trays of sprouting grain should be sprinkled with warm water daily and until the sprouts become % inch long, they should be thoroughly raked over twice each day. In from six to eight days the green sprouts should attain a height of from 4 to 6 inches. The material is then ready to feed, after being torn into small pieces a few inches square. The quantity of dry grain put to soak each day should produce sufficient green feed for one day's feed- ing, from six to eight days later. Circular 242] POULTRY FEEDING 5 The trays should be about l 1 /) inches deep and have a bottom area of 6 to 9 square feet. They can be made in any desired shape and of either wood or metal. Wooden trays absorb moisture, may warp badly and are much more difficult to keep clean and free from mold than metal trays. The bottoms of wooden trays should be made with at least four pieces of wood so that surplus water can readily drain away through the cracks. The bottoms of metal trays should be per- forated with holes from y 8 to % 6 of an inch in diameter. To prevent molding- of the grain, the trays should be scraped clean before being used again and scrubbed with a strong solution of commercial for- maldehyde (about 10% solution). Rice Products. — The rapid development of the rice industry in California has created another and fairly abundant source of supply of stock feeds in the form of rice by-products. These by-products have proved to be very good poultry feeds if used in limited amounts and to add variety to the diet. Since most rice feeds are starchy and have rather a high oil content, they are fattening in character. Ground rice feeds are apt to turn rancid if held too long, because of the considerable amount of oil they contain. They must, therefore, be stored and fed with care. Brown or rough rice (with the hulls removed), rice screenings, shrunken rice, paddy rice, etc.*, can be used as a part of the grain mixture. The brown rice is to be preferred because the seed coat which contains very valuable nutrient substances has not been removed by polishing as in the case of white rice. Rice bran containing no extra hulls and not less than 10% of crude protein or 5% of fat, and not more than 14 % of crude fiber (guaranteed analysis), rice polish, rice meal, etc., can be used in the mash mixture. The use of rice products for poultry should depend largely upon their cost and they should be fed in connection with more common poultry feeds. Cull Beans. — Cull beans make an excellent poultry feed, but in the whole or cracked state, most varieties are unpalatable and chickens will not eat them. If ground to a meal, however, or cooked and mashed, they are readily eaten, and can be included in the mash mixture to the extent of 20% dry weight. Mill Run vs. Bran.— Mill run may replace bran and shorts if the latter cannot be obtained. If the mill run (also called mixed mill feed) is largely coarse bran, 25% of gray or flour middlings can be added to advantage to 75% of mill run, to reduce or offset the greater bulkiness and higher fiber content of the mill run as compared with a mixture of equal parts, by weight, of bran and shorts. b UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION Fresh Animal Products. — Ground fresh, raw, green bone can be used as a substitute for commercial dried meatscrap. It should be fed at the rate of 3 pounds of green bone for each pound of meat- scrap replaced and may be fed in a moist mash or given separately at noon in troughs or pans. For fowls that are fed equal amounts of grain and mash (dry weight), approximately 5 pounds of green bone per 100 fowls per day is the right amount to feed as a substitute for all of the meatscrap. If fresh slaughterhouse blood can be readily obtained at an attractive price, it may be fed in a moist mash and used to replace meatscrap in the same quantities as green bone. In feeding fresh blood, however, it is recommended that not more than enough to replace 50% of the meatscrap be used continuously. The inclusion of fresh animal products in the mash makes it necessary to feed it moist instead of as a dry mash, which entails more labor in feeding. Sour skimmilk or buttermilk will also take the place of meatscrap if the milk can be kept constantly before fowls in drinking pans. They will consume as much as 30 or 40 pounds of milk per 100 head per day. One pound of commercial dried meatscrap is equivalent to about 15 pounds of normal skimmilk or buttermilk. Manufactured Condensed Milk Products. — The feeding value of manufactured, condensed buttermilk products will depend largely upon their concentration. Their cost as compared with that of fresh buttermilk should always be considered. If fresh buttermilk of good quality can be obtained, it is undoubtedly a better feed at the same cost per pound of milk solids than any of the condensed products. The so-called tonic value of the lactic acid in buttermilk is a sub- ject requiring more extensive investigation before any definite con- clusions can be reached. Investigations to date have not demonstrated that lactic acid is the principal element in milk which gives it its disease-controlling value. On the contrary, there is every reason to believe that the other nutrients are just as valuable as the lactic acid in building up and maintaining the vigor of fowls and in controlling certain diseases. For the purpose of stimulating a rapid, vigorous growth of young stock, buttermilk and sour skim milk are perhaps better feeds than meatscrap or fishscrap ; for laying hens, however, milk products have not been found superior to these other animal feeds. When it is considered that one pound of a good grade of meatscrap is equivalent to nearly two gallons of buttermilk, and when the labor cost of obtain- ing and "feeding out" the milk in good condition is also considered, it is a question whether many poultry raisers can afford to pay even Circular 242} POULTRY FEEDING as much for such milk products per pound of milk solids, as for com- mercial meatscrap or fishscrap. Buttermilk contains approximately 10% of milk solids and 90% of water ; hence the complete evaporation of about 10 gallons of fresh buttermilk would produce one gallon of a dry buttermilk powder. It would, therefore, be impossible to add from 30 to 49 gallons of water to one gallon of a condensed buttermilk product already containing from 60% to 80% of water and obtain, as claimed, a diluted product equal in feeding value, on the basis of milk solids, to fresh buttermilk. None of the samples of semi-solid or condensed buttermilk products so far analyzed by this station have contained less than 60% of water. The following table shows how the dilution and cost per gallon of a diluted condensed milk product approximately similar in feeding value to fresh buttermilk may vary with the percent of moisture con- tained in the original product on the basis of milk solids. It is assumed that the manufactured milk product is made wholly from milk, without the addition of mineral acid, sassafras oil, or other sub- stances. Original Product Water required to dilute to consistency of fresh buttermilk Total quantity after diluting Price per gallon undiluted Cost per gallon diluted Amount Water, per cent Milk solids, per cent 1 gal. 1 gal. 1 gal. 1 lb. 1 lb. 1 lb. 80 70 60 80 70 60 20 30 40 20 30 40 1 gal. 2 gal. 3 gal. 1 lb. 2 lb. 3 lb. 2 gal. 3 gal. 4 gal. 2 lb. 3 lb. 4 lb. 50c 50c 50c 51c @ 6c per lb. 51c @ 6c per lb. 51c @ 6c per lb. 25c 16%e 12y 2 e 25.5c 17c 12.7c Note. — In above calculation fresh buttermilk was considered as weighing 8.5 lbs. per gallon. Green Feed. — Fresh, green alfalfa, rape, kale, clover lawn clip- pings, young green corn, chard, beet tops, Sudan grass, Chinese cab- bage, young green barley, etc., should be fed plentifully to poultry of all ages, in addition to the grain and mash mixtures. Greens should be fed only in a fresh and tender condition, and the fowls given all they will clean up daily. Allowing poultry to range over young, growing forage crops is much more beneficial than cutting and feeding- green stuff, but if the latter method must be adopted it is desirable to cut the feed very finely in a feed cutter and feed it in a green feed rack. (See Fig. 1.) The use of such a rack greatly lessens waste 8 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION because it holds the fresh material together so that it remains in an unwilted and succulent condition for a much longer time than it would if it were thrown on the ground and scattered about by .the hens. Enough green stuff should be put in the rack in the morning, immediately after feeding the grain, to last till noon and then only as much more added as the fowls will clean up by 4 p.m. Fig. 1. — Green feed hopper used at the University Farm, Davis. If green stuff must be fed on the ground, cutting it up very finely and feeding it two or three times a day in small amounts will prove least wasteful and produce better results because more will be eaten than if only one large feeding once a day is given. This is especially true in dry weather when green stuff dries rapidly after being cut. Fowls will not eat wilted, dried-out greens. Neither will they con- sume as high a percentage of unchopped as of finely chopped greens, especially of the stems and more fibrous parts of such crops as alfalfa, green barley, young green corn, and Sudan grass. Circular 242] POULTRY FEEDING 9 Grit.— Foultry do not have teeth with which to tear and grind the food eaten, before it leaves the month. Except for green herbage, vegetables, fresh meat, etc., which can be torn or broken with the strong, horny beak, into pieces small enough to be swallowed, the food must pass from the month into the crop just as it is picked np. As the food passes through the crop and second stomach (proven- tri cuius) it is softened and acted upon by the digestive juices, but the actual grinding is not done until the food reaches the gizzard. The gizzard is a powerful grinding organ with a tough, convoluted lining which grinds the softened and partly digested food to a very fine state by means of the abrasive action of small pieces of stone or grit. The fowls pick up and eat this grit as they need it and it passes with the food into the gizzard where it is held until worn to minute fragments. An insufficient supply of grit to properly grind the food in the giz- zard is detrimental to the health of poultry. The kind of stone used as poultry grit does not seem to be im- portant. A hard, granite grit little affected by the digestive fluids lasts longer than a limestone grit, however, and a sharp grit is believed to grind the food more effectively than rounded, pebble-like material. A commercial limestone grit contains about 95% of car- bonate of lime. As the grit is disintegrated in the gizzard this lime becomes available for building bone in growing stock and for making egg shell in the case of laying hens. For adult fowls grit as coarse as whole corn is preferable. For younger birds finer grades known as intermediate and chick grit are used. Oystershell. — Oystershell is fed to poultry as a direct source of supply of carbonate of lime for the making of egg shell whenever pro- duction increases to a point where the need for such lime exceeds the amount supplied in the diet. The value of an oystershell product will depend on its lime content. Crushed oystershell and grit should be clean and free from dust and dirt; they should be available to the flock at all times in self-feeding hoppers. Charcoal. — Charcoal in a clean, granulated condition is fed to poultry to prevent indigestion and to purify the blood. It is usually added to the dry mash at the rate of one pound of charcoal to 40 pounds of mash. It may also be fed in self-feeding hoppers, although this is not a common practice. Salt. — Salt added to the mash in small quantities is believed to make it more palatable and to have a beneficial effect in promoting the health of poultry just as it has with mammals. One pound of salt 10 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION to 200 pounds of mash is about the right proportion. In large amounts however, it is poisonous. Method of Feeding. — The grain mixture should be fed in a deep straw litter at the rate of appromixately 4 pounds in the morning, and 6 pounds at night, for each 100 full-grown fowls of the lighter breeds, such as Leghorns. Fowls of the heavier breeds, such as Plymouth Rocks, may be fed somewhat more if they require it. Laying hens should consume an equal amount, dry weight, of mash per day, in addition to the grain. The total quantity of grain and mash con- sumed per hen annually is about 72 pounds, or six pounds per month. The dry mash should be kept in a hopper before the fowls at all times. In the case of older hens of the heavier breeds, such as Plymouth Rocks, Wyandottes, and Rhode Island Reds the hopper may have to be kept closed till about noon each day as these birds have a tendency to over-eat and to become too fat to lay. The accumulation of an excess quantity of fat in the abdomen crowds the egg organs and egg production is first retarded and later entirely checked. Fowls will be kept in fine laying condition by feeding only as much mixed grain in a deep litter in the morning as will stimulate vigorous scratch- ing and not quite satisfy the appetites of the fowls, regulating the consumption of dry mash to conform with the consumption of grain. Fowls are confined a great deal in winter because of weather con- ditions. During rainy weather and for as long after a rain as the surface of the ground remains damp and sticky, they are more com- fortable and will lay better if confined to the laying houses. A moist, sticky soil adheres to the feet of the fowls. As they track this wet soil into the nests and scratching pens, the litter and the nests quickly become damp and dirty and the percentage of dirty eggs increases. Dirty, damp pens must be restrawed. Dirty eggs must be washed. The cost of restrawing pens and washing eggs from this unnecessary cause can also be eliminated by confining fowls in wet weather. Wet, muddy feet, wet plumage and damp, chilly houses will do as much, if not more, to retard winter egg production and increase costs as careful feeding and management will do to stimulate the yield and lower operating expenses. After scratching in the litter all morning, fowls that are confined during unpleasant winter weather are likely to become less active about midday and to perch on the roosts or huddle in corners. If a light feeding of a crumbly moist mash, made from the regular dry mash mixture, is fed at this time, it will tend to put new energy into the birds and aid greatly in increasing the winter egg yield. Finely Circular 242] poultry feeding 11 cut roots or tender greens can be included in such a moist mash with great benefit. At other times of the year when weather conditions are more favorable and fowls can spend most of the day out of doors, a dry mash is all that is needed. No change in the laying mash formula is recommended during the molting period. It has been found that feeds which are beneficial for molting are equally valuable for stimulating egg production and they have, therefore, been included in proper amounts in the regular laying ration. CHICK FEEDING Care the First Day or Tivo. — The brooder should be prepared for baby chicks by covering the floor under and around the hover with sifted light or dark sand and regulating the heat to a temperature between 90° and 95° F., with the thermometer near the outer edge of the hover and the center of the thermometer bulb two inches above the floor. Boards or one inch mesh wire netting, one foot wide, should be used to form a small enclosure around the hover for the first three or four days to prevent the chicks from straying away until they become familiar with their new quarters. In large brooder pens, the enclosure should be enlarged somewhat each day in order to gradually accustom the chicks to the larger area. In small pens this is not necessary. About 24 hours after the hatch is completed the chicks are taken from the incubator, placed under the hover in the brooder, and given fresh water to drink. It is better to move them into the brooder in the morning so that they can be closely watched for the first few hours. No solid food should be given until the chicks are from 60 to 72 hours old. When a chick leaves the shell a good deal of the yolk is still undigested and should be absorbed before the chick's digestive organs are ready to handle much other food. Feeding Milk. — If it can be obtained at a reasonable cost, butter- milk or sour skim milk may be given to chicks from the time they are removed to the brooder. Sour skim milk will be consumed more evenly if it is vigorously agitated with a dasher before being fed, to break the curd into fine particles. Milk may be fed in the morn- ing and water given in the afternoon, or both may be fed during the whole day. If mash is kept before young chicks, however, milk should not be fed after 3 p.m. Chicks having access to both mash and milk in the late afternoon are prone to over-eat of these foods before going 12 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION to bed. Digestion is slower at night than during the day when the chicks are vigorously exercising, and a mushy mixture of these foods in the hot interior of the crop at this time may ferment before it can be digested. The result is a condition of colic or sour crop which is generally fatal to chicks under three weeks of age and weakening to older chicks. Young stock which are fed all the buttermilk or sour skim milk they will drink need no other animal feed, such as meatscrap, fish- scrap, or bonemeal in their diet. If only a small amount of milk can be fed, however, animal feed should not be eliminated from the ration, but merely reduced in quantity. One pound of commercial meatscrap or fishscrap should be considered equal to about 15 pounds of fresh buttermilk. If chicks are pli3 7 sicked from drinking milk too eagerly or develop sour crop, the milk should be fed in the morning only. Some lots of chicks may develop an abnormal appetite for milk; this should be curbed by feeding more sparingly. Feeding the Grain. — When from 60 to 72 hours old, chicks are fed a chick grain mixture on a board or in a shallow chick hopper placed just outside of the hover. The following mixture is recommended : 33Va% cracked wheat (by weight) ; S3y 3 % fine cracked corn; 33%% steel-cut oats. The grain mixture should be left before the chicks till they learn to eat readily. This will take one or two days as they will pick con- siderably at first but swallow very little. On the second day the grain hoppers can usually be removed at noon and a little grain then sprinkled over the sand just outside the hover. If this grain is eaten readily, more should be given in the same way at 4 p.m. and again the next morning, giving the chicks at each feeding only what they will clean up in about an hour. The chicks should be sufficiently strong and active by this time so that they can be given further feed- ings of grain in a scratching litter consisting of a light covering of fine cut alfalfa hay spread over the scratching floor. The grain should be scattered in this litter three times a day till the feeding of mash is begun, when the noon feeding of grain should be omitted. The depth of the scratching litter should be increased as the chicks grow older, but care should be taken not to get it too deep to allow them to dig to the bottom easily, or so shallow that they do not have to work to get the grain. Circular 242] POULTRY FEEDING 13 As the birds increase in size, usually at about four or five weeks of age, a mixture of % cut alfalfa hay and y 2 cut straw may be used in place of straight alfalfa litter and a few weeks later whole straw (if not too coarse) can be used. Planer shavings are also used as a litter material, but are likely to pack too much and not conceal the grain. They also draw dampness in wet weather. The scratching litter, if used wisely, is an effective means of sup- plying brooder chicks with healthful exercise. Plenty of exercise aids in developing sturdy chicks that make rapid growth and it is one of the most valuable preventives of disease. At feeding time, before any grain is scattered over the floor, the litter should be carefully examined to see if the chicks have cleaned up all the grain from the previous feeding. If grain is found in the litter, no more should be fed till that already in the litter has been consumed and the amount given at a feeding should be reduced. If all the grain has been scratched out of the litter, and the chicks act exceptionally hungry at meal time, the amount of grain should be increased. Approximately one-half pint of grain should be given at a feeding to each 100 chicks under one week old and the amount increased from week to week as the birds grow in size. The chicks should be fed only as much grain as they will eat to keep them growing thriftily without entirely satisfying their appetites. They should come to each meal reasonably hungry. Changing from Chick to Growing Grains. — If steel-cut oats are too costly to be used, cracked hulled barley, cracked milo, cracked Egyptian corn, etc., can be substituted. However, no better grain can be used as a starting feed for the first few weeks of a chick's life than hulled oats. After that time other grains may be used to replace the oats. Steel-cut oats are preferable to rolled oatmeal or so-called breakfast rolled oats as the latter are likely to become sticky when moistened by the juices in the crop and * ' ball up ' ' into a cohesive mass difficult to digest, especially when fed alone. At about six weeks of age, or as soon as the chicks are large enough to eat them, cracked grains should be replaced by whole grains, in the case of small grains like wheat, milo, oats, barley, etc. Fine cracked corn should not be replaced by the coarse cracked grade, however, until two or more weeks later. One should not be too hasty in changing from fine to coarser cracked and whole grains. This is particularly true with yellow corn because the coarse cracked grade may vary considerably in coarseness with different lots. The larger particles of a very coarse lot might prove injurious. A little care in this matter is well worth while. 14 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION Whole barley may be added to the grain ration of chicks from 10 to 12 weeks of age. It should be used moderately at first and grad- ually increased, but the total amount used should not exceed 50% of the grain ration. Feeding the Mash. — When chicks are seven days old, the feeding of a dry mash is usually begun. The following formula and method of feeding it are recommended : 25% bran # 25% shorts ' ' 20% yellow corn meal I 10% soybean meal 15% meatscrap 5% very finely ground bone meal 2-|% granulated chick charcoal. Note. — All proportions are by weight. The charcoal is fed in addi- tion to the 100% mixture of feedstuffs. At 7 days old begin feeding dry mash from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. At 14 days old begin feeding dry mash from 10 a.m. to 12 m. At 28 days old begin feeding dry mash from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. At 42 days old begin feeding dry mash from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For pullets and cockerels to be raised for laying and breeding, a well formulated laying mash, such as the one given on page 2, should replace the chick or growing mash at three months of age. The chick mash is a high-protein feed designed to meet the needs of strong, rapid growth. After three months of age, however, a mash of lower protein content, such as a laying mash, is more suited to the development of vigorous, good-sized pullets. The hoppers of laying mash should be closed two hours before the night feeding of grain and opened at the morning feeding of grain. If pullets begin to ''make comb" rapidly at 4% months of age, and show other signs of coming into laying too early, the laying mash should be stopped and a mixture of 95% bran, 5% bonemeal and 2%% charcoal, by weight, substituted for it. This mash may be kept before the fowls at all times. After 5% months of age, the dry bran and bone meal can be discontinued and the feeding of the laying mash resumed. Feeding for Well-balanced Growth. — A pullet should not be "forced" for extra early laying, but must be given time to develop her body (the egg machine). High-protein growing rations are needed during the first months of a chicken's life when growth is most rapid, but if fed too long, they will, by stimulating the bird into abnormally early laying, stunt her in size, in vitality, and in the Circular 242] POULTRY FEEDING 15 quality as well as quantity of her production. Laying fowls should be brought normally to sexual maturity by the skillful use of mashes of moderate protein content after the birds are three months old. Such feeding enables them to attain a sufficient maturity of growth and strength before they are required to withstand the severe strain of high production and will always prove the more profitable method of feeding. Excessive quantities of under-sized eggs, bloody shelled eggs and eggs containing blood spots, as well as heavy losses from eversion of the oviduct, are some of the penalties paid by poultrymen for "forcing" their stock for early laying. PEN FATTENING The growing or laying ration, discussed in preceding pages, should be fed until such time as the birds are to be fattened for market. They should then be placed in pens with only medium sized yards and a crumbly, moist mash, like the following one, substituted for the dry mash previously fed : 20% wheat bran 20% wheat shorts ■ ' ' : 25% barley meal 25% cornmeal or ground milo 10% meatscrap or fishscrap 2£% finely granulated charcoal. Note. — A mixture of from % to % millrun and % to % flour mid- dlings, depending on whether the millrun is largely bran or not, can be used in place of the bran and shorts. All propor- tions are by weight. The mash should be moistened with buttermilk or sour skim milk, if possible. If the fowls can also be given all the milk they will drink, the meatscrap may be omitted from the mixture. If milk as a drink can be given only a part of the time, the meatscrap should not be omitted. ' ! One feeding of moistened mash should be given at noon during the first week of fattening and the scratch grain previously used should be fed morning and night in a straw litter. Only as much mash should be given at each feeding as the chickens will clean up in half an hour. In the second and third weeks the mash is fed at noon and at night, and grain fed in the morning. Beginning with the fourth week, the moist mash is fed three times a day until the fowls are ready for market. As much green stuff as the birds will eat should be given daily at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. and a hopper of grit kept before them at all times. 16 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION The condition of the stock should be watched carefully during the fattening period which should not extend beyond five weeks. Some birds, being better feeders than others, will gain more rapidly and can be marketed sooner. Feeding too long, on the other hand, will throw the fowls off their feed and cause them to lose weight. Broilers weighing from 1 to iy 2 pounds should be ready for killing at from 9 to 12 weeks of age when pen-fattened in this way. CRATE FATTENING Method of Feeding. — Crate fattening is used when it is desired to produce very choice milk-fed fowls that are as tender, juicy and toothsome as possible. Birds under 9 weeks of age will make better gains if pen-fattened. Older birds can generally be crate-fattened to best advantage, although birds of any age can be pen-fattened also. When shipped alive, crate-fattened stock usually suffers a higher per- centage of shrinkage than stock fattened on hard grain and less sloppy mash feeds. For this reason it is inadvisable to crate-fatten poultry on the farm unless it is killed and dressed there. Crates Used. — In crate fattening the birds are shut up in crates, each compartment of which is about three feet long, 2 feet wide and 18 inches high. The crates may be covered on all sides with lath, or the lath may be used only in front with the other sides covered with 1-inch netting. The strips covering the front should be run ver- tically so that the fowls can poke their heads through and eat out of the feed trough fastened to the front of each crate. These strips are spaced from iy 2 inches to 1% inches apart for half -grown fowls, such as broilers and fryers, and 2 inches apart for mature fowls. Small market stock of the lighter breeds, such as broilers and small frys, can often squeeze through strips 2 inches apart. Slats may be used for the bottom, but square, coarse, heavy grade mesh wire cloth is much more sanitary and easier to keep clean. The crates are usually placed two and three deep in the fattening house and a pan 1 inch deep, of the same size as the bottom of each compartment, is placed directly underneath the bottom of such compartment to catch the droppings falling through. These pans can be pulled out and cleaned every day and the coops thus kept clean and sanitary. The birds need not be disturbed from the time they are put in until they are fat enough for market, the cleaning and feeding all being done from the outside. Circular 242] POULTRY feeding 17 The feed troughs can be made of wood or from ordinary 5-inch, roll-rim, galvanized iron roof gutter, cut to proper lengths and with ends soldered on. The local tinsmith will make such troughs at small cost. The fowls are put into the crates and feed withheld for 24 hours before starting the fattening process so that they will be very hungry and take kindly to the new diet. They are then fed a special crate- fattening ration three times a day. The following formula represents a good example of a crate- fattening ration : 2 lbs. barley meal 1 lb. cornmeal 1 lb. shorts 8 to 10 lbs. buttermilk Sufficient milk is used to make a mixture just thin enough to run off of a spoon. A mixture of the consistency of a thick pancake batter is right. After being mixed, it is often allowed to stand from 6 to 12 hours before being fed for the purpose of increasing its digestibility. The fowls are given at each feeding only what they will clean up in about 20 minutes. They receive no water to drink as the milk supplies sufficient liquid. Charcoal and grit may be put before the birds two or three times a week with benefit. Crate fattening is such a forcing process that it can not be carried on for more than 21 days without danger of the stock going off feed and rapidly losing vitality. One and one-half pound broilers can be nicely finished off in this way in from 12 to 14 days. For roasting carcasses, fowls that are not quite mature make most rapid gains when crate fattened. Three-fourths mature fowls can be fattened for a longer time than younger stock. Especially crate-fattened, milk-fed stock is always in demand at fancy prices because of the plump, juicy and tender carcass produced by the buttermilk mash under this system of close confinement. FEEDING POULTRY ON THE FARM Table fowls and eggs can undoubtedly be produced at least cost on the farm where the feed is grown to a large extent. Poultry will pick up from the stubble fields and from around the barns a great deal of feed that would otherwise be wasted and will turn this feed into eggs and meat. Thy will also obtain valuable elements of their diet in such articles as tender greens, seeds, worms and slugs. Poultry 18 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION on the farm, therefore, should be given free range in order that they may pick up as much as possible of their feed. The farmer will then have to supply from the bin only the feed which the fowls cannot provide for themselves. A farmer growing barley, milo and wheat and keeping a number of cows, can formulate from the food supply produced on the farm, excellent laying and breeding, growing, or fattening rations such as are described in the previous pages. Referring, for example, to the laying and breeding ration on page 2, the bran and shorts may be replaced by ground whole wheat, and the high-protein animal and vegetable feeds, such as soy beans, linseed, cottonseed and coconut meals, meatscrap and fishscrap, may be replaced by buttermilk or sour skim milk. In other words, a well balanced diet for birds of any age may consist of a grain mixture of two or three cracked or whole grains according to the age of the birds, a mash mixture con- sisting of two or three finely ground grains, including some wheat, and the greens, insects, worms and seeds which the birds will pick up on range. Following are two suggested grain mixtures for fowls over three months old and a suggested mash mixture for stock of any age : Grain Mixture No. 1 Grain Mixture No. 2 50% cracked yellow corn 50% field-run barley 50% field-run barley 25% milo 25% cracked yellow corn Mash Mixture 50% finely ground whole wheat 25% finely ground whole milo or yellow corn 25% finely ground whole barley or oats Buttermilk or sour skim milk kept before the fowls in drink- ing vessels and used to mix moist mashes.* A well designed and constructed henhouse should be provided in which fowls are fed all the feed given to them and in which they are made to roost at all times, f If fowls are taught to use the henhouse from the beginning by shutting them up in it for three to seven days, if necessary, when first put in, no trouble should be experienced with their roosting in the trees and outbuildings. Providing good clean * See discussion of milk for poultry feeding on pages 6 and 11. f Plans for a farm poultry laying house will be furnished upon request to those contemplating the construction of such a building, by the Division of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Berkeley, Cal. Circular 242] POULTRY FEEDING 19 nests in the henhouse and keeping the fowls off the range in the early morning until they get thoroughly used to laying in these nests, will result in practically all eggs being laid in the henhouse and in very few stolen nests. A dirty henhouse, full of mites and other vermin, will drive hens to the trees to roost and to lay in the fence corners and elsewhere. A hen is a creature of habit. Give her a comfortable henhouse and accustom her to use it and she will do so without further attention. Such a henhouse means more fresh-laid eggs to be collected daily, since fewer nests are stolen, and fewer stolen chickens, because the hens can be locked up at night. Medium-sized yards should be erected in connection with the hen- houses, however, in order to provide a means of confining one or more small pens of the choicest breeding fowls sufficiently long during the breeding season, to obtain hatching eggs for the spring hatches of chicks. It may also be desirable to pen up the entire flock from time to time to keep them out of certain fields or orchard plots during periods of cultivation or harvest. The number and size of yards will be governed by specific conditions on each farm. In many sections of the state, poultry are being run in orchards. TJie advantages urged in favor of this practice are: (1) that the poultry manure is valuable as a fertilizer for the trees; (2) that poultry are a welcome source of income during the growing, unpro- ductive period of the 3 r oung orchard and the poor crop years of the bearing orchard; (3) that the trees furnish much needed summer shade for the fowls; (4) that both the trees and the fowls can use the same land and two incomes can be secured per acre. There are also a number of disadvantages in running fowls in orchards. Whether the advantages will outweigh the disadvantages in any specific case will depend upon the kind of orchard, the value of the land, the soil conditions, and many other factors that cannot be entered into in a brief discussion of this kind. It is simply desired to point out that orchards offer possibilities for poultry raising and that many growers have found it profitable to use their orchards in this way. POULTRY A MARKET FOR BY-PRODUCTS The value of livestock as a medium for marketing much of the vegetable products grown on the farm so as to secure the manurial by-product, is becoming more and more appreciated. The general rancher, growing alfalfa, grain, etc., who feeds a good share of these products to livestock and then markets the stock, is able not only to secure his feed at a lower cost than if purchased from outside sources, 20 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION including- additional handling and transportation charges, but also to return the manure to the land to maintain its fertility. Poultry produce about 30 pounds of roost manure and perhaps 20 pounds of day droppings per bird annually. Three hundred chickens will pro- duce about 4i/2 tons of night droppings and 3 tons of day droppings annually. Nearly every farm in California keeps at least fifty fowls or more. It is contended by many that such a small number of fowls can be indifferently cared for and still be profitable, since they can pick up most of their living about the barns and fields, and although given practically no care, will lay fairly well because of the combined advantages of small numbers and free-range conditions. These fowls are kept on the farm primarily with the idea of supplying the family larder and are not looked upon as a money-making part of the farm work. They are generally infested with vermin, are rarely bred or culled for egg production, and are often kept in dirty, close or draughty and vermin-infested henhouses. Thus they have not even half a chance to do well, with the result that the hens lay almost entirely in the spring and not very well then, supplying the larder for only a brief part of the year. The net profit from fowls handled in such a manner as compared with that from an equal number of well cared for fowls conclusively demonstrates the dollars-and-cents desir- ability of giving the time and attention required to make a poultry flock yield the returns which a well managed flock should produce. Poultry which are as carefully and intelligently looked after as dairy cattle, beef cattle or hogs, are fully as profitable, per dollar invested, as any other kind of livestock on the farm, when the amount of waste feed which they pick up on range is considered. Circular 242] POULTRY FEEDING 21 TABLE OF AVERAGE COMPOSITION AND DIGESTIBILITY OF POULTRY FEEDS, IN PER CENT* Since some of the fiber is digestible, the digestible fiber is in- cluded in the figures given of digestible nutrients Grains Barley, whole Barley, hulled Beans, dried Bean, navy Buckwheat Field pea Corn meal Egyptian corn Feterita Flaxseed Horse bean Indian Corn Kaffir corn Kaoliang Millet Milo maize Oats, whole Oats, hulled Rice, hulled Rice, paddy Rice, polished Rye Sorghum Soy bean Sunflower seed Wheat, plump Wheat, shrunken. Wheat screenings. Factory By-Products Alfalfa meal Beet pulp, dried Beet pulp, fresh Bean meal Coconut meal Cottonseed meal Corn bran Germ oil meal Gluten feed Gluten meal Water 11.90 9.80 90.00 10.97 14.08 9.85 10.00 7.80 7.80 8. '20 Ash 2.74 2.80 3.50 3.60 2.00 3.40 1.54 2.03 1.50 4.30 3.80 1.50 1.50 1.90 4.05 2.30 3.00 2.20 1.31 4.90 0.50 1.90 2.10 4.70 2.60 1.76 2.34 2.71 7.13 2.97 .36 8.03 4.36 4.86 2.40 3.30 1.10 .90 Fiber 5.79 2.90 4.40 5.80 11.70 5.60 2.00 1.97 1.20 7.10 7.10 2.20 1.40 10.50 12.40 3.00 9.50 1.40 0.75 9.30 0.40 1.70 2.60 4.80 29.90 2.45 3.48 6.00 27.09 25.45 2.11 2.92 9.53 3.19 9.80 13.70 5.30 3.30 Digestible Car bo- Protein hydrates Fat Nutri- tive Ratio 8.75 64.30 1.75 1:7.7 8.40 67.50 2.00 1:8.6 17.40 48.60 1.10 1:2.9 18.80 51.30 .80 1:2.8 8.10 48.20 2.40 1:6.9 19.00 55.80 .60 1:3.0 6.40 66.30 3.40 1:11.5 8.35 63.29 1.58 1:8.0 9.30 66.60 2.50 1:7.8 20.60 17.10 29.00 1:4.0 22.80 49.10 .70 1:2.2 8.60 63.80 4.20 1:8.5 7.50 70.50 2.60 1:10.3 8.50 67.00 3.30 1:8.8 19.63 34.72 3.85 1:2.2 8.02 67.68 2.52 1:9.1 9.20 47.30 4.20 1:6.2 11.40 57.70 7.50 1:6.5 3.91 69.90 2.42 1:19.3 4.70 64.60 1.70 1:14.6 4.60 72.80 0.40 1:16.0 7.50 63.60 1.10 1:8.8 7.00 52.10 3.10 1:8.4 29.60 22.30 14.40 1:2.0 12.10 20.80 29.00 1:7.1 9.20 61.10 1.20 1:6.9 13.20 57.40 1.80 1:4.6 7.74 47.57 1.60 1:6.6 10.17 39.61 1.05 1:4.1 4.10 59.50 .65 1:14.9 .90 7.30 .10 1:8.2 19.00 44.00 .77 1:2.4 16.40 42.40 9.70 1:3.9 41.10 15.40 11.00 1:1.0 5.80 56.90 4.60 1:11.6 10.00 50.30 10.00 1:7.3 20.4 48.30 8.80 1:3.3 25.80 43.30 14.00 1:2.9 % Lactic Acid *Compiled largely from California Station Bulletin No. 164 and from Henry & Morrison's "Feeds and Feeding." 22 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION TABLE OF AVERAGE COMPOSITION AND DIGESTIBILITY OF POULTRY FEEDS, IN PER CENT*— (Continued) Ground barley Hominy feed Linseed meal, N.P Linseed meal, O.P Oat feed Peanut meal Red-dog flour Rice bran Rice meal Rice polish Rye feed Rye middlings Soy bean meal Wheat bran Wheat middlings, flour. Wheat shorts Animal Products Bone meal Blood, dried Blood, fresh Fresh Meat (Beef).... Fresh green cut bone. Fish scrap Meat scrap Pork cracklings Milk Products Buttermilk Skim milk Whey Milk albumen, granulat'd Dried skim milk Dried buttermilk Water 8.44 10.10 10.93 9.35 10.20 10.70 11.10 10.10 9.50 10.00 11.50 11.40 10.48 11.04 10.70 9.80 6.91 11.37 76.00 64.70 30.40 8.86 9.90 5.00 90.30 90.60 93.40 12.00 7.00 7.50 Ash 2.56 2.60 4.50 5.22 4.00 4.90 2.50 9.70 9.10 4.80 3.80 3.70 6.27 5.16 3.70 3.93 56.93 2.18 .59 0.90 21.10 18.26 16.35 2.30 .70 .70 .70 23.00 6.50 7.40 Fiber 6.55 4.40 8.89 6.23 18.5 5.10 2.20 12.40 11.80 1.90 4.70 4.60 5.01 8.60 4.70 7.12 57 Digestible Protein 8.60 7.00 26.10 24.40 6.9 42.90 14.80 7.90 7.30 8.00 12.20 12.60 40.00 12.62 15.70 13.02 27.30 75.50 22.10 18.70 18.30 49.00 50.20 52.40 4.00 3.30 .80 51.70 36.00 36.80 Carbo- hydrates 66.10 61.20 38.50 24.00 37.00 22.80 56.50 38.10 48.10 57.20 55.80 55.50 22.50 38.88 52.80 46.04 1.60 6.30 4.00 4.50 5.30 4.70 5.60 48.20 39.90 Fat 1.74 7.30 6.50 16.70 3.2 6.90 3.50 8.80 10.60 7.50 2.90 3.10 6.55 2.25 4.30 3.78 5.10 .30 .10 15.78 24.50 10.40 12.20 32.60 .50 .10 .30 6.70 .60 3.10 Nutri- tive Ratio 8.1 11.1 2.0| 2.5 6.4 0.9! 4.4 7.3 9.8 9.3 5.1 5.0 0.9 3.4 4.0 4.2 1:0.4 1:0.3 1:1.9 1:3.0 1:0.6 1:0.6 1:1.4 1.4 1.7 6.8 0.4 1.4 1.3 %Lactic Acid 0.5 0.1 0.5 1.7 5.3 ♦Compiled largely from California Station Bulletin No. and Feeding." 164 and from Henry & Morrison's "Feeds STATION PUBLICATIONS AVAILABLE FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION BULLETINS No. 185. 241. 246. 251. 253. 261. 262. 263. 266. 267. 268. 270. 271. 273. 275. 276. 278. 279. 280. 282. 283. 285. 286. 287. 294. 297. 298. 299. 300. 304. No. Report of Progress in Cereal Investiga- 308. tions. Vine Pruning in California, Part I. Vine Pruning in California, Part II. 309. Utilization of the Nitrogen and Organic Matter in Septic and Imhoff Tank 310. Sludges. _ 312. Irrigation and Soil Conditions in the 313. Sierra Nevada Foothills, California. 316. Melaxuma of the Walnut, "Juglans regia." 317. Citrus Diseases of Florida and Cuba 318. Compared with Those of California. 320. Size Grades for Ripe Olives. 321. A Spotting of Citrus Fruits Due to the 323. Action of Oil Liberated from the Rind. Experiments with Stocks for Citrus. 324. Growing and Grafting Olive Seedlings. A Comparison of Annual Cropping, Bi- 325. ennial Cropping, and Green Manures on the Yield of Wheat. Feeding Dairy Calves in California. 328. Preliminary Report on Kearney Vineyard 329. Experimental Drain. 330. The Cultivation of Belladonna in Cali- 331. fornia. 332. The Pomegranate. 333. Grain Sorghums. Irrigation of Rice in California. 334. Irrigation of Alfalfa in the Sacramento Valley. 335. Trials with California Silage Crops for Dairy Cows. 336. The Olive Insects of California. The Milk Goat in California. 337. Commercial Fertilizers. 338. Vinegar from Waste Fruits. Bean Culture in California. 339. The Almond in California. Seedless Raisin Grapes. 340. The Use of Lumber on California Farms. 341. Commercial Fertilizers. 342. A Study on the Effects of Freezes on Citrus in California. I. Fumigation with Liquid Hydrocyanic Acid. II. Physical and Chemical Pro- perties of Liquid Hydrocyanic Acid. I. The Carob in California. II. Nutritive Value of the Carob Bean. Plum Pollination. Mariout Barley. Pruning Young Deciduous Fruit Trees. The Kaki or Oriental Persimmon. Selections of Stocks in Citrus Propagation. The Effects of Alkali on Citrus Trees. Control of the Coyote in California. Commercial Production of Grape Syrup. Heavy vs. Light Grain Feeding for Dairy Cows. Storage of Perishable Fruit at Freezing Temperatures. Rice Irrigation Measurements and Ex- periments in Sacramento Valley, 1914- 1919. Prune Growing in California. A White Fir Volume Table. Dehydration of Fruits. Phylloxera-Resistant Stocks. Walnut Culture in California. Some Factors Affecting the Quality of Ripe Olives. Preliminary Volume Tables for Second- Growth Redwoods. Cocoanut Meal as a Feed for Dairy Cows and Other Livestock. The Preparation of Nicotine Dust as an Insecticide. Some Factors of Dehydrater Efficiency. Selection and Treatment of Waters for Spraying Purposes. The Relative Cost of Making Logs from Small and Large Timber. Control of the Pocket Gopher in California. Studies on Irrigation of Citrus Groves. Hog Feeding Experiments. CIRCULARS No. No. 70. Observations on the Status of Corn 160. Growing in California. 161. 82. The Common Ground Squirrels of Cali- 164. fornia. 165. 87. Alfalfa. 110. Green Manuring in California. 166. 111. The Use of Lime and Gypsum on Cali- 167. fornia Soils. 169. 113. Correspondence Courses in Agriculture. 170. 115. Grafting Vinif era Vineyards. 126. Spraying for the Grape Leaf Hopper. 172. 127. House Fumigation. 173. 128. Insecticide Formulas. 174. 129. The Control of Citrus Insects. 175. 130. Cabbage Growing in California. 138. The Silo in California Agriculture. 178. 144. Oidium or Powdery Mildew of the Vine. 179. 148. "Lungworms." 151. Feeding and Management of Hogs. 181. 152. Some Observations on the Bulk Handling 182. of Grain in California. 153. Announcement of the California State 183. Dairy Cow Competition, 1916-18. 184. 154. Irrigation Practice in Growing Small 188. Fruits in California. 189. 155. Bovine Tuberculosis. 190. 157. Control of the Pear Scab. 193. 158. Home and Farm Canning. 198. 159. Agriculture in the Imperial Valley. 201. Lettuce Growing in California. Potatoes in California. Small Fruit Culture in California. Fundamentals of Sugar Beet Culture under California Conditions. The County Farm Bureau. Feeding Stuffs of Minor Importance. The 1918 Grain Crop. Fertilizing California Soils for the 1918 Crop. Wheat Culture. The Construction of the Wood-Hoop Silo. Farm Drainage Methods. Progress Report on the Marketing and Distribution of Milk. The Packing of Apples in California. Factors of Importance in Producing Milk of Low Bacterial Count. Control of the California Ground Squirrel. Extending the Area of Irrigated Wheat in California for 1918. Infectious Abortion in Cows. A Flock of Sheep on the Farm. Lambing Sheds. Winter Forage Crops. Agriculture Clubs in California. A Study of Farm Labor in California. Syrup from Sweet Sorghum. Helpful Hints to Hog Raisers. CIRCULARS— Continued No. 202. County Organizations for Rural Fire Con- trol. Peat as a Manure Substitute. Blackleg. Jack Cheese. 208. Summary of the Annual Reports of the Farm Advisors of California. 209. The Function of the Farm Bureau. 210. Suggestions to the Settler in California. 212. Salvaging Rain-Damaged Prunes. 214. Seed Treatment for the Prevention of Cereal Smuts. Feeding Dairy Cows in California. Methods for Marketing Vegetables in California. Advanced Registry Testing of Dairy Cows. 219. The Present Status of Alkali. 220. Unfermented Fruit Juices. 221. How California is Helping People Own Farms and Rural Homes. 223. The Pear Thrips. 224. Control of the Brown Apricot Scale and the Italian Pear Scale on Deciduous Fruit Trees. 225. Propagation of Vines. 227. Plant Diseases and Pest Control. 228. Vineyard Irrigation in Arid Climates. 229. Cordon Pruning. No. 230 203 205 206 215 217 218. Testing Milk, Cream, and Skim Milk for Butter fat. The Home Vineyard. Harvesting and Handling California Cherries for Eastern Shipment. Artificial Incubation. Winter Injury to Young Walnut Trees During 1921-22. Soil Analysis and Soil and Plant Inter- relations. The Common Hawks and Owls of Cali- fornia from the Standpoint of the Rancher. Directions for the Tanning and Dressing of Furs. The Apricot in California. Harvesting and Handling Apricots and Plums for Eastern Shipment. Harvesting and Handling Pears for East- ern Shipment. Harvesting and Handling Peaches for Eastern Shipment. Poultry Feeding. Marmalade Juice and Jelly Juice from Citrus Fruits. 244. Central Wire Bracing for Fruit Trees. 245. Vine Pruning Systems. 231 232 233 234 235. 236. 237. 238. 239. 240. 241. 242. 243.