FEEDING CHICKENS BALANCED RATIONS, 



From Hatching Time to Maturity— Suitable Foods and Quantities for the Different Periods of Growth— Feeding 



the Newly Hatched Chick— Balancing the Rations— Ration for Crowthy Youngsters— Forcing Late Hatched 



Chicks for Show— Analysis of Food In Common Use by Poultry men. 



By Robert H. Essex. 



HICKENS need a far narrower ration than do ma- 

 tured fowls — a ration containing considerable ani- 

 mal food, and this is one of the points I wish to 

 impress upon readers. Experience has caused me 

 to realize its importance. In tie early days of Buff Ply- 

 mouth Rocks, their combs were too large, and knowing that 

 meat, even In small quantities, tended to increase the size 

 of the combs, I avoided its use as much as possible. By 

 this course the size of the combs was governed to a certain 

 extent, but what a difference was visible in the growth of the 

 young birds which were supplied with animal food and those 

 which were deprived of it. We all like to experiment, and 

 it took me a few years to find out that not only do chicks 

 need animal food, but they need it in liberal quantities. It 

 has long been demonstrated that some meat is necessary, 

 but in the case of young chicks It is not generally fed in 

 sufficient quantities. 



Feeding the Newly Hatched Chicks. 



Study nature. Wild birds in feeding their young have 

 preferences, even in the selection of vegetable foods. Some 

 prefer weed seeds, others the young buds of trees; many are 

 partial to fruit and other vegetables, but a very large ma- 

 jority gather In the flies, bugs, beetles and worms that ven- 

 ture within their range, and upon these the young warblers 

 thrive, grow fat and feathers, and are in a very short time 

 in show condition. Have you ever noticed the quills on the 

 nestlings? Htow fast they grow. Seldom do we see a chick 

 feather so fast. The food that produces feathers rapidly Is 

 the best food for chickens, and they should- be well supplied 

 with it, at least until they are through their first molt. Such 

 food will be chiefly animal food and will compose a very 

 narrow ration. 



It is well known that the yolk of the egg is absorbed 

 by the chick before and after hatching. That is nature's 

 food and must be good. Is it a wide or narrow ration? It 

 is extremely narrow. One part protein to three parts fat is 

 considered very narrow, but this first food of a chicken Is 

 even more so. It is composed of one part protein to about 

 two parts fat (15.7:33.3). and please remember it is about 



"A" Coops and Runways for Young Chicks. 



one-half water— one-half water. Milk is another natural 

 food for the young, and just as good for chickens as for 

 babes. How is it proportioned— 3.3 protein to 4 fat. Add 

 the starchy contents, and approximately it reaches the pro- 

 portion of 1:2. Quite narrow, is it not? Yet the young live 

 and thrive upon It. 



Nature teaches us, therefore, that the food of young 

 chickens should contain about one part protein to two parts 

 carbohydrates and fat. This is from two to three parts 

 narrower than is generally advocated, but it has given bet- 

 ter results than any other I have tried and my experiments 

 have been not a few. Then, too, as we have shown nature 

 upholds it. 



Do not feed hard boiled eggs in large quantities. Such 

 food may bo balanced correctly, but It is indigestible for 

 the very young chicks, and remember that of all foods only 

 the portion digested provides nutriment. If you must feed 

 it, let it be well broken. Let the particles be thoroughly 

 separated by the use of stale bread crumbs, then nearly the 

 whole of it will be digested. It is far better, however, to 

 use uncooked eggs. Mix them with bread crumbs, shorts, 

 cornmeal or all of these, so that the food shall not be sticky 

 or pasty. Use some bran if you choose, but not too much, 

 and if you are tempted to add a little clear sand, don't be 

 timid about it. The shorts or middlings may be found too 

 sticky; bread crumbs are best for the purpose and if you 

 have only a few chicks it will be well to separate the yolk 

 from the white of egg, using only the former and so avoid 

 mixing too much at a time. This refers, of course, to the 

 first week. After that the chicks will take care of it all. 

 Steel cut or granulated oats make a good food for the sec- 

 ond week, also millet seed. 



As the chicks become older — say from two weeks of 

 age, beef scraps, dried blood, animal meal or fine ground 

 green bone may be used with benefit. These foods contain 

 In large proportion the protein we want, and their use en- 

 ables the feeder to make a ration suitable for chicks. Care 

 must be taken that too much of this is not fed at first. Some 

 of these foods are too strong for young chicks, and I us© 

 them at this age only when I can't get fresh meat— liver, 

 etc., etc. 



Without the aid of beef scraps or one of the other ani- 

 mal foods mentioned the eastern duck growers would never 

 have been able to place ducklings upon the market in such 

 desirable condition as they do.Their growth would not be so 

 fast, their flesh would be less tender and the ducklings less 

 plump. This means that demand would decrease and prices 

 would be lower. Just so with young chickens. If intended 

 for market as broilers they must have animal food to hasten 

 growth and keep them in health. The forcing to which 

 they are subject would run them off their legs In a short 

 time, if their food consisted exclusively of grain either 

 whole or ground. A most desirable feature of these animal 

 foods is that their protein contents produce flesh without 

 an excess of fat. The breeder of exhibition stock will ap- 

 preciate the Importance of this fact, especially if the cock- 

 erels which he has been forcing for early fall shows give 

 signs of leg weakness. The food they have been getting 



