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.