FEEDING EQUIPMENT 211 
only $5.00 for every hundred pounds of protein. In other words, 
the purchase should be based on the total amount of digestible 
material which can be procured for $1.00, and not on the price 
of 100 pounds of the material in bulk. 
Just because a moldy feed, perhaps cracked corn, which has 
become heated, can be purchased at a low price, it does not neces- 
sarily follow that it is the most economical cracked corn which 
can be purchased. In such cases the reverse will usually be true. 
In selecting poultry feed stuffs from which to form a ration, quality 
should come first and cost second. 
The Cost of a Pound of Protein.—It is often necessary to pur- 
chase practically all the protein feed stuffs, while many of the 
carbohydrate feeds can be produced on the farm if there is 
sufficient room to admit of the growing of such crops as corn. In 
all cases protein feeds are the most expensive. It is usually the 
most economical practice, in deciding which feed to buy, to deter- 
mine the amount of digestible protein present. Wheat bran con- 
taining 12 per cent of protein has 12 pounds of protein in a hun- 
dred. Corn containing 8 per cent of protein has 8 pounds in a 
hundred. Oil meal containing 30 per cent of protein has 30 pounds 
of protein in a hundred. High-grade meat scrap containing 60 
per cent of protein has 60 pounds of protein in a hundred. (The 
number of pounds per hundred as given here is sometimes referred 
to as units per ton.) Take these weights of protein as a basis for 
figuring cost value. A unit of protein in such feed stuffs can now 
be purchased for about $1.00; this means five cents per pound. 
For example, high-grade meat scrap showing 60 per cent of 
protein will contain 1,200 pounds of protein in every ton. Divide 
the cost of a ton, which is $60, by 1,200, the total amount of pro- 
tein, and we have the cost of a pound, five cents. 
The above method will be found very efficient in determining 
the most economical feed to purchase to supplement home-grown 
or purchased carbohydrate feeds. 
Ration Easily Mixed and Stored.—Since labor is an expensive 
item on the poultry plant, it will be found economical, from a 
standpoint of time and labor, to compound the ration of such 
materials as are easily mixed, and store them in large quantities . 
ready for use. It should be the practice to mix both the dry mash 
and scratching rations separately in large quantities at one time. 
It is well to purchase grains, as far as possible, in large amounts 
at frequent intervals, in order to save labor in handling. It will 
