Feeding Young Chickens . 1949 



Variety in a ration may be defined as the result 01 an effort to furnish 

 all the necessary materials and conditions of food. For example : Chicks 

 fed altogether on com products would be given an excess of fat-forming 

 materials, or carbohydrates, and would receive very little of the food 

 elements required for the formation of bone, muscle, and feathers; on the 

 other hand, chicks fed entirely on beef scrap would receive an excess 

 of muscle- forming material, or protein, with too little of the food elements 

 necessary for the production of fat, heat, and energy. In either case the 

 chicks would be insufficiently nourished, even if they were given all 

 they could eat. A combination of these foods would be more satisfactory, 

 though the ration might still be lacking in bulk. In order to overcome 

 this deficiency some bulky food, such as bran or alfalfa meal, might be 

 added. Either or both of the last -mentioned foods would not make a 

 particularly appetizing mash, and therefore com meal, and perhaps 

 wheat middlings, should be supplied in order to render the ground food 

 more tempting; and some bone meal should be added to make up the 

 deficiency in ash. Chicks would tire of corn alone as a cracked grain, 

 and so it should be mixed with wheat and perhaps w4th hulled oats. 

 This ration would still be very dry and somewhat concentrated, and 

 therefore green food should be supplied. 



Such a combination of materials as described would make a good variety 

 of palatable foods, and not a large amount of any one food would be eaten. 

 If there were not enough of one food, there would probably be plenty of 

 another, and the chicks would not become too hungry. If they did not 

 have all the mash they could eat, and the lack were made up with cracked 

 grain, they would not become cloyed with concentrated foods. 



Changes in ration or in methods of feeding. — Whenever it is desired to 

 change from one food to another, the change should be gradual. To the 

 original ration a little of the new food should be added, the proportion 

 being increased at each feeding time until the change. of ration will have 

 been accomplished. If the new ration is a suitable one, the gradual 

 change is likely to prevent any digestive trouble, which might otherwise 

 occur. In case it is desired to give the chicks some concentrated food 

 that they particularly like, such as green cut bone, only a very small 

 quantity should be given at first, the amount being increased by slow 

 degrees until the chicks are receiving as much of the food as it is 

 advisable to give them. 



As chicks grow older, the number of feedings should be decreased. 

 The number should not be dropped at once from five to three, but should 

 be changed first from five to four, then from four to three, chicks in 

 confinement being given for a day or two a little chopped onion or other 



