54 



HOW TO FEED POULTRY FOR ANY PURPOSE WITH PROFIT 



chickens. A poultiy grower who finds a standard com- 

 mercial feed not giving its usual good results often er- 

 roneously concludes that the manufacturer is putting out 

 an inferior article, when the only trouble is that the par- 

 ticular lot he has is stale. 



It is not always possible in such cases to get fresh 

 supplies at once. In any case of shortage a poultry keeper 

 should be able to- provide without delay a suitable sub- 

 stitute to use until fresh stock of the commercial feed he 

 uses arrives. There are also many cases where local grown 

 feeds of superior quality are available for the whole or a 

 part of a ration. In addition to these cases of necessity, 

 there are many poultry keepers to whom the details of 

 feeding are a matter of such interest that they prefer to 

 make their own feed mixtures, and like to try out any 

 ration reported as having given satisfactory results. So 

 while the tendency of the time is to an increasing use of 

 commeicial feeds, the considerations stated and the fact 

 that actual proficiency in poultry keeping requires some 

 familiarity with a variety of rations, make formulas for 

 homemade rations of geneial interest. The following se- 

 lection includes rations used in all localities and prac- 

 tically all desirable combinations. 



Ration No. 1 Model Variety Ration Recommended By the 

 United States Department of Agriculture 



SCRATCH MIXTURE: 



Cracked corn 5 pounds 



Cracked wheat 2 pounds 



Pinhead oatmeal or hulled oats 2 pounds 



Broken rice, cracked peas, millet, rape, 



or a mixture of these 1 pound 



Feed morning', noon and night, scattered in chaff litter. 

 Peed middle of forenoon and afternoon, johnnycake 

 No. 1, page 43. 



Give any tender green stuff, and keep constantly sup- 

 plied with fresh water. 



Ration No. 2 Ontario Agricultural College Ration 



SCRATCH MIXTURE: 



Cracked wheat : 25 pounds 



Granulated oatmeal 15 pounds 



Millet 12 pounds 



Small cracked corn 10 pounds 



Small cracked peas 6 pounds 



Broken rice 2 pounds 



Rape seed 1 pound 



Grit (chicken size) 10 pounds 



Peed five times a day for the first three days. Then 

 give three feeds of this a day; and one feed of bread and 

 milk the bread being squeezed dry and crumbled; and one 

 of whole wheat, or a mash made of equal parts of bran, 

 shorts, and corn meal, to which has been added 10% of 

 animal meal or blood meal. 



Give for green feed lettuce, rape, cabbage, or sprouted 

 grain. 



Ration No. 3 Cornell Ration for Chicks (Determined As a 



Result of Numerous Experiments With Different 



Rations) 



The Ration 



Mixture No. 1: 



8 Ibs. rolled oats. 



8 Ibs. bread 

 crumbs or crack- 

 er waste. 



2 Ibs. sifted meat 

 scrap. 



1 Ib. bone meal. 



Mixture No. 2: 



3 Ibs. cracked 



wheat. 



2 Ibs. cracked 

 corn fine. 



1 Ib. pinhead oat- 

 meal. 



Mixture No. 3: 



3 Ibs. wheat bran. 

 3 Ibs. corn meal. 

 3 Ibs. wheat mid- 

 dlings. 



3 Ibs. meat scrap. 



1 Ib. bone meal. 



Mixture No. 4: 

 3 Ibs. whole wheat 



2 Ibs. cracked 

 corn. 



1 Ib. hulled oats. 



Provide fine grit, charcoal, shell, and bone from the 

 start. Give grass range or plenty of green feed. Have 

 fresh, clean water always available. 



The Method 



One to five days Mixture No. 1, 

 moistened with sour skimmed milk, 

 fed five times a day; Mixture No. 2 in 

 shallow tray containing a little of No. 

 3 (dry), always before chicks. Shredded 

 green feed and fine grit and charcoal 

 scattered over feed. 



Five days to two weeks No. 2 in 

 light litter twice a day; No. 3 moist- 

 ened with sour skimmed milk, fed 

 three times a day; No. 3 (dry) always 

 available. 



Two to four weeks As above except 

 that the moist mash is given twice a 

 day. 



Four to six weeks (or until chicks 

 are on range). Reduce meals of moist 

 mash to one a day; Mixture No. 4 In 

 litter twice a day; dry mash always 

 available. 



st 



Ration No. 4 New Jersey Kxperiment Station Ration 



SCRATCH MIXTURE: 



Fine cracked corn 40 pounds 



Fine cracked wheat 40 pounds 



Rolled oats 20 pounds 



For the first two weeks feed four times a day, and also 

 keep wheat bran always before the chicks in open pans or 

 small feed hoppers. 



After the second week feed the scratch mixture three 

 times a day, and substitute for the wheat bran the follow- 

 ing dry mash, to be kept before the chicks all the time: 



Wheat bran 50 pounds 



Gluten feed 10 pounds 



Corn meal 10 pounds 



Ground oats 10 pounds 



Meat scrap 10 pounds 



Granulated bone 10 pounds 



Fresh water should be kept before the chicks at all 

 times and an abundance of succulent feed given. 



Ration No. 5 Ohio Agricultural College Ration 



SCRATCH MIXTURE: 



Fine cracked corn 60 pounds 



Cracked wheat 40 pounds 



MASH: 



Corn meal :. 40 pounds 



Wheat middlings 20 pounds 



Wheat bran 20 pounds 



Meat scrap 15 pounds 



Bone meal 5 pounds 



Feed the scratch mixture morning, noon, and night. The 

 mash may be fed either wet or dry. If fed wet give it in 

 the middle of the morning and of the afternoon. If fed 

 dry keep it before the chicks all the time. Give also water, 

 sour milk, green feed, grit, oyster shell. 



Ration No. 6 Massachusetts Agricultural College Ration 



SCRATCH MIXTURE: 



Cracked corn 10 pounds 



Cracked wheat 10 pounds 



Hulled oats 5 pounds 



Cracked rice 2 pounds 



Millet :. 1 pound 



Feed three times a day. Twice a day give for the fir 

 two weeks a mash made of raw, infertile eggs mixed with 

 rolled oats and a little bran. Three eggs to one quart of 

 meal and bran is about the right proportion. After two 

 weeks give a wet mash consisting of one part each by 

 measure of wheat bran, corn meal, and middlings, and one- 

 half part of meat scrap. For green feed give lettuce, green 

 clover, lawn clippings, alfalfa, dandelions. 



Ration No. 7 Maine Kxperiment Station Ration 



Infertile eggs are boiled for half an hour and then 

 ground in an ordinary meat chopper, shells included, and 

 mixed with about six times their bulk of rolled oats by rub- 

 bing both together. This mixture is fed for two or three 

 days. It is given with chick grit on the brooder floor on 

 short cut chaff or clover. Beginning about the third day 

 the chicks are fed this scratch mixture: 



Cracked wheat 15 pounds 



Granulated oatmeal 10 pounds 



Fine cracked corrj 15 pounds 



Fine cracked peas 3 pounds 



Broken rice 2 pounds 



Chick grit (limestone) 5 pounds 



Fine charcoal 2 pounds 



This is fed as soon as the chicks can see to eat in the 

 morning, care being taken to limit the quantity so that they 

 will be hungry when the egg mash is fed at 9 a. m. This 

 mash is fed in tin plates with low rims. After about five 

 or ten minutes the plates are removed. At 12:30 the hard 

 grain mixture is fed again; at 4:30 or 5 o'clock they are fed 

 all the egg and rolled oats mash they will eat in half an 

 hour. When the chicks are abo_ut three weeks old the oats 

 and egg mixture is gradually displaced with this mash: 



Wheat bran 2 pounds 



Corn meal 4 pounds 



Liow grade flour 2 pounds 



Linseed meal 1 pound 



Fine meat scrap 2 pounds 



This mash is mixed with just enough water to moisten 

 it. For green feed give sprouted oats. 



Ration No. 8 Wisconsin Kxperiment Station Ration 



Give chicks sour skim milk in an earthenware fountain 

 when they are twenty-four hours old, keeping this before 

 them until they are seventy-two hours old; then give chick 

 feed in a litter of chopped clover or alfalfa. Scatter chick 

 feed over the litter at least five times a day. On the follow- 

 ing day and the day after give a light feed of moist mash 

 made of equal parts of corn meal, rolled oats, bran, and mid- 

 dlings, moistened with sour milk. Remove any mash that 

 is not eaten after ten or fifteen minutes. Continue this 

 mash for about three weeks, then gradually drop the rolled 

 oats from the ration, and add medium-sized corn a little at 

 a time as the chicks learn to eat it. 



When the chicks are two weeks old a small hopper is 

 filled with a dry mash of two parts of ground corn, two of 

 bran, and one of middlings. Another hopper is filled with a 

 fine grade of meat scrap and the chicks have access to these 

 at all times. Green feed, grit and water are always before 

 them. 



Ration No. 9 Minnesota Kxperiment Station Ration 



. SCRATCH MIXTURES: 



a Wheat 20 pounds 



Cracked corn 20 pounds 



Millet 10 pounds 



