FEEDING POULTRY 341 
with the lean, the meat will be too dry; the overfat fowl will be 
too greasy to be toothsome. Since broilers and fryers are allowed 
to get their proper growth first and are then finished off for mar- 
ket, they are fed a narrow growing ration until ready for the finish- 
ing process, when they are fed a somewhat wider ration which still 
contains a sufficient proportion of proteid material to allow for 
some additional growth. 
A ration for poultry may be defined as the grain mixture, 
mash mixture, greens, grit, oyster shell, etc., that the fowls con- 
sume during one day. When the birds are not given free range to 
wander about the farm at will but are kept in fenced-in yards or 
runs (Fig. 98), greater attention must be paid to the composition 
Fig. 99.—Free range for growing chickens (Wis. Station). The flock requires less feed, 
grows faster, and is more thrifty when not confined to small yards. 
of grain and mash mixtures and other parts of the ration because 
the fowls cannot then range over the fields for seeds, worms and 
insects, green herbage and other materials necessary to properly 
balance their diet. Fowls on free range (Fig. 99) get a great deal 
of grain from the harvest fields that would otherwise be totally 
lost; they pick up worms and insects that help supply the animal 
feed which they need in order to thrive; they secure a great deal 
of greens that are tender and perfectly fresh because the fowls 
harvest them themselves. ‘This is why fowls on free range so often 
do well and produce profitably when fed only a little grain by the 
owner. In proportion as fowls are restricted in their liberty and 
forced to depend upon their owner for all of their feed, must the 
