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The Corning Egg Farm book, by Corning himself cover

The Corning Egg Farm book, by Corning himself

Chapter 62: Green Cut Bone Nearest Nature
By Edward Corning
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About This Book

A practical history and manual recounts the farm's founding and lays out a systematic approach to large-scale egg production. It explains housing layouts, the large-flock system to reduce costs and labor, and sanitary methods for preparing eggs for market. Breeding advice emphasizes selection of prolific white Leghorn stock, line-breeding to preserve type without close inbreeding, and producing unrelated cockerels for mating. Incubation and brooding guidance stresses uniform temperature, ventilation, and producing livable chicks, while feeding chapters prioritize succulent green foods (notably sprouted oats), mineral supplements, and animal-food substitutes. The work also covers watering systems, coal ash use, fixed routines for feeding and egg collection, and farm security and pest control.

CHAPTER XVI
Beef Scrap and Green Bone Substitutes for Nature’s Animal Food

Undoubtedly the ideal animal food for the hen, if it were possible to procure it in sufficient quantities the year round, would be angle worms, grasshoppers, and other members of the insect family, which the early Spring supplies in such liberal quantities. It must be remembered that in these different worms and insects there is a large amount of phosphorous, which adds very greatly to the ability of the hen to successfully digest the large quantity of food which is necessary, if she is to produce a large quantity of eggs.

Green Cut Bone Nearest Nature

The thing, perhaps, nearest in an artificial way to Nature’s animal food, is green cut bone, and it is certainly relished by the hens, and a great assistance in producing Winter eggs. The exercise of great care, however, in the selection of bone is very necessary, for, if salt bone, or tainted bone, is cut up and fed to the fowls, it will prove most detrimental, and in many instances will mean the loss of the hen.

For those who do not find it possible to set up the necessary bone-cutting machinery there are numerous brands of “Beef Scrap” on the market. This is made from green bone and meat which is then cooked, ground and pressed, so as to preserve it fresh and sweet. This also is a most successful way to supply the hens with the necessary amount of animal food. It is readily mixed into the mash, just as the green cut bone is, and, where the proper mechanical mixer is used, it is possible to thoroughly coat the entire meal mixture with the oily condition coming from the beef scrap, and until one has seen beef scrap mixed into the mash by such a mixer he has no idea how successful the operation is in preparing a high grade mash. The beef scrap and also the fresh cut bone carry a high percentage of phosphorus, and in fact have about all the ingredients found in animal food secured by the hen while running on Range.

There are now appearing numerous advertisements of a prepared fish, to take the place of other animal foods, but The Corning Egg Farm is unable to give any opinion as to the efficiency of this preparation. It has been the rule at the Farm, when we have thoroughly tested and found satisfactory any article of food, not to experiment with the various substitutes which at all times are so widely advertised.