The first feed may be a mixture of finely chopped, tender green feed, and dry starting mash. Hard-boiled eggs, ground or crumbled, may also be added if desired. This feed should be placed on clean boards or in little feeders made of laths as illustrated in figure 12. It is a good plan to keep the feed before the poults at all times from the very beginning so that the backward poults will learn to eat and their growth rate will not be retarded. Milk, if not too high priced, may be kept before them in easily cleaned crockery, tin, wooden, or graniteware receptacles which the poults cannot get into or contaminate. After the first few days the green feed, unless it is available in the yards, may be spread on top of the mash in the feeders. Turkey poults appear to be easily harmed by eating large quantities of tough, fibrous litter or green feed; hence the selection of a tender green feed is most important. FEEDING DURING THE FIRST 6 TO 8 WEEKS The use of a well-balanced, all-mash ration is the simplest and most practical method of feeding poults during the first few weeks of their lives. Many commercial starting mashes are available or good home-mixed mashes may be used with excellent success. The protein, mineral, and vitamin contents are the main points to be considered. Milk in some form is very desirable, dried milk being preferable. Liquid milk is a fair feed, but the dried form is preferable at least for starting rations. The following starting mashes are recommended for feeding turkey poults during the first 6 to 8 weeks. Mash No. 1, fed without liquid milk, is preferable. STARTING MASH NO. 1 _Parts by weight_ Yellow corn (ground) 17 Whole oats (pulverized) 15 Meat scrap (50- to 55-percent protein) 12 Wheat bran 12 Wheat middlings or shorts 12 Dried milk 10 Alfalfa leaf meal 10 Fish meal (60-percent protein) 10 Cod-liver oil 1-1/2 Salt (fine, sifted) 1/2 ------- Total (crude protein 25 percent; crude fiber 6 percent) 100