RATIONS AND METHODS OF FEEDING 



22 5 



This is fed at daylight in such quantity that the chicks will be hungry for a 

 nine o'clock feed of the boiled-egg and rolled-oat mixture.' At 1 2.30 the hard- 

 grain mixture is fed again ; at 4.30 or 5 the egg-and-oat mixture. 



When the chicks are about three weeks old the following wet mash is 

 substituted for the egg-and-oat mixture: 



Parts by 

 weight 



Wheat bran (clean) 2 



Corn meal . 4 



Middlings or red-dog flour 2 



Linseed meal --. . i 



Beef scrap 2 



This mixture is slightly moistened with water and fed in troughs. When 

 the chicks are five or six weeks old the fine-grain mixture is discontinued and 

 the feeds given in the litter are wheat and fine cracked corn. 



This ration and the method of using it may be taken as typical of practice 

 with brooder chicks. The frequent feedings appear to be necessary when 

 chicks are kept in large groups (from fifty to one hundred or more in each brooder 

 or section) under artificial conditions. In the prevailing view the danger of 

 keeping food by them is the danger of overfeeding. It is more likely that the 

 true causes of the disorders that sometimes result from that practice, in the 

 conditions under consideration, are slow poisoning through eating food soiled 

 by the excrement of the birds, weak constitutions or weak digestion requiring 

 dieting, and the concentrated nature of the mashes used. In this case the egg- 

 and-oat combination is a very rich food ; so is the mash with every ingredient 

 but wheat bran (two elevenths of the whole) a heavy food. Wrong tempera- 

 tures in brooders are also often responsible for troubles for which the food is 

 blamed. In using rations of this kind it is not essential that the proportions 

 of different ingredients be carefully adjusted. It is not always certain that 

 all the foods in a hard-grain mixture like this are eaten. Comparison of 

 results with simpler rations indicates an equal feeding value for rations con- 

 taining fewer articles. Many poultry keepers prefer to feed such foods as 

 peas, rice, millet, etc. in small quantities separately, so that they may observe 

 just how they are eaten, and feed accordingly. Grit and charcoal are usually 

 given separately in small troughs or hoppers. As has been, stated, the necessity 

 of these food accessories is doubtful. It is certain that they are not required 

 regularly in the proportions here used. 



ii. For young chickens in brooders. Same as above, except that fine beef 

 scrap is substituted for eggs in the oat mixture and the mash used is a dry 

 mash of the following composition : Parts , 



weight 



Rolled oats 2 



Wheat bran . 2 



Corn meal 2 



Linseed meal 2 



Beef scrap ....'.. *. I 



