230 POULTRY CULTURE 



Dry mash kept before the chicks all the time. Grain fed in litter five times 

 a day for the first few days, and after that three times a day. After a few weeks 

 whole grains were substituted for the cracked grains. 



The amount of charcoal in the dry mash is excessive, even granted that 

 charcoal is necessary; compare 6 per cent of charcoal with the amounts used 

 in the Maine 'and Ontario rations. The proportion of beef scrap is greater 

 than is advisable. The ration as a whole is reported to give good results, but 

 the relative proportions of mash and grain eaten are not noted. With a sufficient 

 supply of grain the chicks themselves avoid the danger of the too concentrated 

 mash by eating more of the grain mixture (see p. 220). The use of Kafir 

 corn in the ration illustrates the adaptation of locally available foods to general 

 formulas for feeding. Kafir corn can be grown when and where Indian corn 

 cannot, and under such conditions may be the cheaper food. In the eastern feed 

 stores Kafir corn is in small supply and at high prices, and under such condi- 

 tions is not used by poultry keepers who understand feeding. 



23. For laying hens (confined}. Dry mash : 



weight 



Shorts . . .*. . . ... ". . . . ' '. 6 



Bran ............ 4 3 



Corn meal . . . . . .' .'.. 6 



Beef scrap 5 



Alfalfa meal . . . . i 



Grain mixture: Partsby 



weight 



Wheat 

 Corn. 

 Oats . 



Mash fed in hoppers ; grain scattered in litter. Used in the proportions by 

 weight of twenty-one pounds of mash to twenty-five pounds of grain, the ration 

 has a nutrient ratio of I : 4. 



As fed, this was a heavy forcing ration and gave a large egg yield. The 

 report on it is based on a short period, less than a year. The hens were 

 forced to eat mash by having the grain cut down until they would eat the 

 amount of mash required to make the ration of the nutritive ratio designed. 

 The ration is not suitable for breeding stock or for hens intended as layers 

 for more than one season, but may often be profitably used with laying stock 

 from which it is desired to get the largest possible egg yield in a short time. 



CORNELL UNIVERSITY AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION RATIONS 



24. Variety ration for young chickens. , 1 First to third day: Bread 

 crumbs, 8 pounds ; hard-boiled eggs, 2 pounds ; this mixture moistened slightly 

 with sweet skimmed milk and fed five times a day. Finely cracked grain, 



1 Biilletin No. 282, Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station. 



