FEEDING POULTRY 



341 



with the lean, the meat will be too dry; the ^verfat fowl will be 

 too greasy to be toothsome. Since broilers and fryers are allowed 

 to get their proper growth first and are then finished off for mar- 

 ket, they are fed a narrow growing ration until ready for the finish- 

 ing process, when they are fed a somewhat wider ration which still 

 contains a sufficient proportion of proteid material to allow for 

 some additional growth. 



A ration for poultry may be defined as the grain mixture, 

 mash mixture, greens, grit, oyster shell, etc., that the fowls con- 

 sume during one day. When the birds are not given free range to 

 wander about the farm at will but are kept in fenced-in yards or 

 runs (Fig. 98), greater attention must be paid to the composition 



FIG. 99. Free range for growing chickens (Wis. Station). The flock requires less feed, 

 grows faster, and is more thrifty when not confined to small yards. 



of grain and mash mixtures and other parts of the ration because 

 the fowls cannot then range over the fields for seeds, worms and 

 insects, green herbage and other materials necessary to properly 

 balance their diet. Fowls on free range (Fig. 99) get a great deal 

 of grain from the harvest fields that would otherwise be totally 

 lost; they pick up worms and insects that help supply the animal 

 feed which they need in order to thrive; they secure a great deal 

 of greens that are tender and perfectly fresh because the fowls 

 harvest them themselves. This is why fowls on free range so often 

 do well and produce profitably when fed only a little grain by the 

 owner. In proportion as fowls are restricted in their liberty and 

 forced to depend upon their owner for all of their feed, must the 



