15 



Tablk 8. — Rations for Ueainj Laijing Hens. — Difjestihle Xutrients 

 needed per Day for Each 100 Pounds Live Weight. 



Dry 



Matter 



(Pounds) . 



iiens, 5 to 8 pounds, 3.30 

 Hens, 3 to 5 pounds, 5.50 



Ash 

 (Pounds). 



Protein 

 (Pounds) 



Carbo- 

 hydrates 

 (Pounds). 



Fats 

 (Pounds) 



.20 

 .30 



.65 

 1.00 



2.25 

 3.75 



.20 

 .35 



Fuel 

 Value 

 (Calo- 

 ries). 



Nutri- 

 tive 

 Ratio. 



6,240 

 10,300 



1:4.2 

 1:4.6 



Tins is one of the most interesting and valuable tables that 

 lias ever been worked out on the subject of poultry feeding. 

 It is Avell known among experienced and well-informed poul- 

 trymen that a balanced ration for hens should have a nutritive 

 ratio or about 1 to 4V2- 'Jwst how that was woi-ked out may 

 b(» interesting to man_\'. Dr. H. J. Wheeler, formerly of the 

 Geneva Experiment Station, performed an experiment to deter- 

 mine this along with some other facts, and secured these data. 



J^ote that he worked with birds varying in size. Two pens 

 contained hens weighing from 5 to 8 pounds, and two, hens 

 weighing from o to 5 pounds. This table shows the amount 

 of food each lot consumed per day for each 100 pounds of live 

 weight. The experiment ran for a number of months, and 

 what we have here is the average. The ratio between the 

 amount of food consumed per day by the hens weighing from 

 5 to 8 pounds, as compai-ed with those weighing from 3 to 5 

 pounds, is about the same for each of the food principles. One 

 interesting fact brought out is that the small hens consumed 

 nearly twice as much ])er 100 ]iounds of live weight as the 

 larger hens. This is due undoubtedly to the larger number 

 of eggs laid by the small hens, weight for weight, as there were 

 perhaps 24 or 25 hens in the one pen and 15 or 16 in the other. 



Another interest] no- fact is the ratio between the amount of 

 ash and protein in the food consumed, which is about 1 to 3. 

 This is doubly interesting because there is one particular mash 

 on the market to-dav that contains nearlv twice as much ash 

 as protein. It seems to me that poultr^rmen should think twice 

 before they buy a mash that is loaded up so heavily with 

 mineral matter. 



