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HOW TO FEED POULTRY FOR ANY PURPOSE WITH PROFIT 



Mash: 



Wheat bran 100 pounds 



Corn meal 100 pounds 



Ground oats 100 pounds 



Flour middlings 100 pounds 



Fish scrap 50 pounds 



Meat scrap v 50 pounds 



The grain is fed two or more times a day in litter, as 

 seems necessary to keep the hens busy. The mash is fed 

 dry, the hens having' access to it at all times. The prin- 

 cipal succulent feed in winter is mangels. In summer the 

 yards furnish green feed. Grit, shell, charcoal, and water 

 are always accessible. 



Ration No. Sob^Delaware Agricultural College Contest 

 Ration 



Same as No. 34b-I, except that 15 pounds less each of 

 fish scrap and meat scrap are put in the dry mash, and 10 

 pounds of coarse meat scrap is added to the scratch feed 

 formula. 



Ration No. 36b Missouri State Experiment Station Contest 

 Ration 



Scratch mixture In spring and fall, equal parts of corn 

 and wheat; in winter, 2 parts cracked corn and 1 part wheat; 

 in summer, 1 part cracked corn, and 2 parts wheat. 



Dry mash Ground oats, to which has been added 10% 

 of meat scrap, and a little charcoal and salt. When ground 

 oats are not available, the mash is of equal parts bran, 

 middlings, and corn meal, with the other ingredients added 

 as to the oats. 



The mash is kept before the hens all the time. The 

 grain is fed as follows: Each morning 1 pint to ten hens, 

 and at night a pint and a half to ten hens. Green feed is 

 provided, also grit and shell, and fresh water are always 

 accessible. 



Ration 37b British Columbia Laying Contest Ration 



Scratch mixture Winter, equal parts wheat and cracked 

 corn; summer, wheat 3 parts, cracked corn 1 part. 



Mash: 



Ground oats 42 pounds 



Shorts 22 pounds 



White middlings 20 pounds 



Meat scrap 15 pounds 



Charcoal 1 pound 



The dry mash is kept before the hens all the time; on 

 three mornings a week a wet mash of the same ingredients 

 is fed. the birds being given only what they will clean up 

 quickly. On the other four mornings grain is fed in litter. 

 At noon green feed is given. In the evening grain in litter. 



Ration No. 38b Cornell Heavy Laying Ration 



Scratch Mixture: 



Winter Weight 



Wheat 60 pounds 



Cracked corn 60 pounds 



Oats 30 pounds 



Buckwheat 30 pounds 



Summer: 



Wheat 60 pounds 



Cracked corn 60 pounds 



Oats 30 pounds 



Mash: 



Corn meal 60 pounds 



Wheat middlings 60 pounds 



Wheat bran 30 pounds 



Alfalfa meal 10 pounds 



Oil meal 10 pounds 



Meat scrap 50 pounds 



Salt 1 pound 



Measure 

 32 quarts 

 36 quarts 

 30 quarts 

 20 quarts 



32 quarts 

 36 quarts 

 30 quarts 



57 quarts 



71 quarts 



57 quarts 



20 quarts 



8 quarts 



43 quarts 



% quart 



The hens should eat about half as much mash, by 

 weight, as grain. Regulate the proportion by giving a light 

 feed of grain in the morning, and at the afternoon feeding 

 all they will consume before dark. The grain is supple- 

 mented with green feed, grit, and shell, and the birds always 

 supplied with fresh water. 



SELECTED RATIONS REPORTED BY POULTRYMEN IN 

 THE NINETIES, TAKEN FROM POULTRY- 

 CRAFT (1899) 



Ration No. 31) h E. C. Wyckoff's Ration Morning Mash 

 compounded as follows: 1 bu. corn, 2 bu. oats, ground fine; 

 to each 200 pounds of this mixture add 100 Ibs. of bran and 

 5 or 6 Ibs. of beef scraps; moisten with milk; feed in troughs, 

 returning after ten or fifteen minutes to take up any feed 

 that may be left, and give more when needed. At noon 

 green feed, mangels, cabbage in winter; clover or kale in 

 summer; sometimes a light feed of mixed grain in litter. 

 Night feed mixed grain. In winter, 2 bu. each wheat, oats, 

 buckwheat, and corn; in summer, the corn in the mixture 

 reduced one-half. 



Ration No. 4Ob F. H. Dawley's Ration: Morning mash, 

 clover hay or crimson clover steamed overnight; in the 

 morning- stirred up with a mixed feed of 100 Ibs. coarse 

 wheat bran, 75 Ibs. yellow corn meal, 100 Ibs. ground oats, 

 50 to 75 Ibs. linseed meal, a little charcoal and salt. Feed 

 all they will eat clean. Noon green bone and vegetables. 

 Night whole wheat, and a little corn. 



Ration No. 41 b J. H. Robinson's Ration: Morning 

 mash by measure, 2 parts finely cut alfalfa, 2 parts heavy 

 bran (bran and middlings), 1 part corn meal, made into a 

 stiff, almost crumbly dough by scalding with water or sweet 

 skim milk. Feed either hot or cold, all the hens will eat 



in ten or fifteen minutes. If other green feed is abundant 

 the hay may be omitted. Noon a light feed of oats or mil- 

 let, either dry or steamed, or of wheat about one-half pint 

 to ten hens. Evening wheat, about one pint to ten hens, 

 in litter, followed just at dusk with whole corn to fowls 

 that are waiting for it. Two or three times a week, green 

 cut bone at mid-afternoon, and on these days the evening 

 feed slightly reduced. 



These three rations are typical rations of the period be- 

 fore educational institutions began to develop exact for- 

 mulas for mashes and the mixtures or combinations of 

 grains used by practical poultrymen. 



As has been stated, the number of poultry keepers 

 who could give accurate statements of their method 

 of feeding was small, but there were always a few who 

 could do so. Most practical poultrymen, who are con- 

 cerned only to get results from their feeding, and have 

 really no interest in describing their method for others, 

 have always been reluctant to state either exact propor- 

 tions in the feeds, or exact amounts fed, because of the 

 extent to which, in their practice, they vary from their 

 general standard to suit conditions. Educators also ap- 

 pieciate the difficulties of making definite statements for 

 changing and variable conditions, but nevertheless have 

 to be as definite as possible, giving the best standard 

 they can, and trusting to the common sense of the novice 

 to make desirable modifications in rations as experience 

 demonstrates the occasions for doing so. 



Some Practical Points About Methods of Feeding 

 To a great extent the rations used and recommended 

 by government departments and institutions dealing with 

 poultry production, represent the practice of poultry 

 keepers in the localities of the various institutions and 

 departments. Those engaged in educational work gen- 

 erally take the practice of the best poultry keepers they 

 know as the basis of their own methods. They frequent- 

 ly are able, as the result of more accurate observations 

 than can be made in common practice, to make and sug- 

 gest modifications which increase the efficiency of ra- 

 tions. Their recommendations lead to the more extensive 

 use of rations that are giving good results, and tend to 

 standardize feeding practice among their constituents. 

 Equally with regard to rations used and recommended by 

 poultry departments in the public service, and rations 

 used and recommended by successful poultry keepers, 

 whether those are of their own compounding or are com- 

 mercial mixtures it may be assumed that the rations are 

 efficient rations, when properly used. 



The list that has been given, while very comprehen- 

 sive, is by no means an exhaustive one. As it is, how- 

 ever, it shows plainly that the exact proportions of dif- 

 ferent feed elements in rations are not the prime factors 

 in determining their feeding value, and that within tol- 

 erably wide limits differences in proportions of ingredi- 

 ents have no particular bearing on the efficiency of the 

 ration. The essential thing is to supply the fowls with 

 liberal rations, containing the general proportions appro- 

 priate to the climatic and other conditions affecting ap- 

 petite and results, and to do this under conditions that 

 promote regularity in eating, a reasonable amount of 

 exercise, and normal habits. This being done, further 

 balancing of the ration given to a flock is a matter of 

 each individual taking feed according to its taste and 

 appetite. The fact is that, given a sufficient supply of 

 giains in simple variety partly hard, and partly in the 

 form of meal, with animal feed in sufficient amount to 

 furnish protein that may be required over and above what 

 the grains supply, the real regulator in the ration is the 

 supply of green feed. 



Many poultry keepers who use commercial mixtures 

 and find them very satisfactory are anxious to get the 

 formulas for them, either that they may make near sub- 



