542 Bulletin 282. 



Flock 61. — Variety ration. First to third day: Bread crumbs eight 

 lbs., hard-boiled eggs two lbs., moistened slightly with sweet skimmed 

 milk, fed five times a day as much as was readily eaten; wheat three, 

 corn two, hulled oats one (finely cracked), kept before chicks in shallow 

 tray containing a small quantity of bran. 



Third to seventh day: Gradually substituted for the bread and 

 eggs was a thoroughly baked johnny-cake made as follows: Corn meal 

 four lbs., infertile eggs one and one-half lbs. (one dozen), sour milk two 

 lbs., baking soda five level teaspoons; fed twice daily all the chicks 

 would eat, gram in litter two or three times daily, wheat bran in sep- 

 arate dish. 



One to three weeks: Johnny-cake and grain as above; bran eight 

 lbs; beef scrap two lbs., given instead of the clear bran. 



Three to six weeks: Grain as above; one feed of johnny-cake daily. 

 During the early part of the period, the johnny-cake was mixed with 

 equal parts of the cracked grain; gradually the johnny-cake was dis- 

 continued, and in place of the bran-and-beef scrap mixture was given 

 the following dry mash: Corn meal 100 lbs., wheat middlings 100 lbs., 

 beef scrap 100 lbs., wheat bran 200 lbs., fed in hoppers and always 

 accessible. The purpose of this ration was to retard the development 

 of the chicks for the first week, giving them all the food they wanted, 

 but of such a nature that they would not be forced to rapid growth, 

 and would not be obliged to take a large quantity of fiber in their 

 food; then to force their growth with nourishing and quickly available 

 food. 



All the food was estimated by weight. Chicks were fed first at the 

 age of 36 to 48 hours. All flocks were given plenty of clean water 

 and green food, together with a constant supply of grit (chick size), 

 granulated bene and charcoal. All flocks except the one having the 

 variety ration were given unmixed beef scrap from the first feeding 

 time. The variety ration chicks were given no beef scrap except what 

 was contained in the ground food, until the third week; then they 

 did not eat it, apparently obtaining sufficient of this material from 

 the dry mj.sh. 



Though green food was always available, the amount is not included 

 in the food values given, because a large part of this food was supplied 

 by a grass run, and the amount for this reason was not easily estimated. 



Effect of rations 



For the first two weeks all flocks seemed well suited with their 

 food, though during the second week the dry-mash chicks were obliged 



