300 FARM ANIMALS 



grains. In order, therefore, to avoid feeding a 

 defective ration, it is often necessary to feed highly 

 concentrated by-products such as the animal foods 

 which have already been mentioned. For this 

 purpose the use of milk albumen has usually 

 given fine results. Gluten meal and gluten feeds 

 are inferior to bone meals, especially in rations 

 for young chickens. The inferiority of these 

 nitrogenous materials is due to the relatively low 

 amount of mineral material in them. 



Proprietary Foods. While balanced and econ- 

 omic rations have been determined by careful 

 experiments for steers, sheep, dairy cows, hogs 

 and horses, less attention has been given to this 

 matter in the case of poultry until within recent 

 years. As a result of the uncertainty which pre- 

 vails regarding the proper rations for egg produc- 

 tion and for fattening chickens, the venders of 

 proprietary chicken foods have reaped a rich har- 

 vest in selling their comparatively cheap products 

 for an exceedingly high price. It is often asked 

 why there are so many more proprietary chicken 

 foods than proprietary foods for cows, pigs, horses 

 and sheep. The answer is obviously to be sought 

 in the facts above mentioned. It is likely that when 

 poultrymen have determined a suitable ration for 

 chickens the same as for other animals the sale of 

 proprietary or condimental chicken feeds will be 

 very small. By this statement it is not meant to 

 imply that no value attaches to proprietary chicken 

 feeds on the market, but simply to indicate that 

 the price demanded for these feeds is entirely too 

 high as compared with their actual feeding value. 

 Thus, from analyses of these feeds it appears that 

 some have contained as high as eighty-nine per 

 cent, of ash, which is principally carbonate of lime 



