394 The Feeding of Animals 



Rations for Hens in Full Laying 

 Digestible nutrients per day for each 100 pounds live iveight 



Total dry Carbohy- Fuel Nutritive 



matter Ash Protein clrates Fat value ratio 



lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. Cal. 



Hens of 5 to 8 lbs. weight.. 3.30 .20 .65 2.25 .20 6,240 1:4.2 



Hens of 3 to 5 lbs. weight.. 5.50 .30 1.00 3.75 .35 10,300 1:4.6 



These standards are not absolute and inflexible 

 rules, for such would not be justified by a thousand 

 times the number of available data. They supply a 

 definite starting- point, and are not supposed to obviate 

 the use of judgment. Because it is found convenient, 

 on account of different requirements and capabilities, 

 to divide hens into two groups, it should not be pre- 

 sumed that a hen just under five pounds in weig-ht 

 must always have one ration or a hen just over five 

 pounds must always have the other. 



A ration which corresponds to the standard given 

 for maintenance for hens of the larger size could be 

 composed of one pound of cracked corn, one pound of 

 corn meal, one -half pound each of ground oats, wheat 

 middlings, and clover hay, one -fourth pound of fresh 

 bone and two ounces of meat scraps. 



The following stated ration is given as an illustra- 

 tion of one which would supply the nutrients called for 

 in the standard for laying hens of the larger size: One 

 pound of cracked corn, three -fourths pound of wheat, 

 three-fourths pound of corn meal, one -half pound each 

 of wheat middlings, buckwheat middlings, and animal 

 meal, two-thirds of a pound of fresh bone, and three- 

 fourths of a pound of young green alfalfa. 



Rations for young birds. -^ The requirements of the 



