FEEDING EQUIPMENT 211 



only $5.00 for every hundred pounds of protein. In other words, 

 the purchase should be based on the total amount of digestible 

 material which can be procured for $1.00, and not on the price 

 of 100 pounds of the material in bulk. 



Just because a moldy feed, perhaps cracked corn, which has 

 become heated, can be purchased at a low price, it does not neces- 

 sarily follow that it is the most economical cracked corn which 

 can be purchased. In such cases the reverse will ^usually be true. 

 In selecting poultry feed stuffs from which to form a ration, quality 

 should come first and cost second. 



The Cost of a Found of Protein. — It is often necessary to pur- 

 chase practically all the protein feed stuffs, while many of the 

 carbohydrate feeds can be produced on the farm if there is 

 suflficient room to admit of the growing of such crops as corn. In 

 all cases protein feeds are the most expensive. It is usually the 

 most economical practice, in deciding which feed to buy, to deter- 

 mine the amount of digestible protein present. Wheat bran con- 

 taining 12 per cent of protein has 12 pounds of protein in a hun- 

 dred. Corn containing 8 per cent of protein has 8 pounds in a 

 hundred. Oil meal containing 30 per cent of protein has 30 pounds 

 of protein in a hundred. High-grade meat scrap containing 60 

 per cent of protein has 60 pounds of protein in a hundred. (The 

 number of pounds per hundred as given here is sometimes referred 

 to as units per ton.) Take these v^^eights of protein as a basis for 

 figuring cost value. A unit of protein in such feed stuffs can now 

 be purchased for about SI. 00; this means five cents per pound. 



For example, high-grade meat scrap showing 60 per cent of 

 protein will contain 1,200 pounds of protein in every ton. Divide 

 the cost of a ton, which is S60, by 1,200, the total amount of pro- 

 tein, and we have the cost of a pound, five cents. 



The above method will be found very efficient in determining 

 the most economical feed to purchase to supplement home-grown 

 or purchased carbohydrate feeds. 



Ration Easily Mixed and Stored. — Since labor is an expensive 

 item on the poultry plant, it will be found economical, from a 

 standpoint of time and labor, to compound the ration of such 

 materials as are easily mixed, and store them in large quantities 

 ready for use. It should be the practice to mix both the dry mash 

 and scratching rations separately in large quantities at one time. 

 It is well to purchase grains, as far as possible, in large amounts 

 at frequent intervals, in order to save labor in handling. It will 



