FEEDING OF POULTRY 



413 



Table LXXXVI. Rations pok Hens in Full Laying. Di- 

 gestible Nutrients a Day for Each 100 Pounds Live 

 Weight. 



Total dry 

 matter 



Aah 



Protein 



Carbohy- 

 drates 



Fat 



Fuel 

 value 



Nutritive 

 ratio 



Hens of 5 to 8 lbs. wt. 

 Hens of 3 to 5 lbs. wt. 



Lbs. 



3.3 



5.5 



Lbs. 



.2 



.3 



Lbs. 

 .65 

 1. 



Lbs. 

 2.25 

 3.75 



Lbs. 



.2 



.35 



Cal. 

 6,240 

 10,300 



1:4.2 

 1:4.6 



These standards are not absolute and inflexible rules, 

 for such would not be justified by a thousand times the 

 number of available data. They supply a definite start- 

 ing point and are not supposed to obviate the use of judg- 

 ment. Because it is found convenient, on account of 

 different requirements and capabilities, to divide hens 

 into two groups, it should not be presumed that a hen just 

 under five pounds in weight must always have one ration or 

 a hen just over five pounds must always have the other. 



A ration which corresponds to the standard given for 

 maintenance for hens of the larger size could be com- 

 posed of one poimd of cracked corn, one pound of corn 

 meal, one-half pound each of ground oats, wheat mid- 

 dlings, and clover hay, one-fourth pound of fresh bone 

 and two ounces of meat scraps. 



The following stated ration is given as an illustration 

 of one which would supply the nutrients called for in the 

 standard for laying hens of the larger size: One pound 

 of cracked corn, three-fourths pound of wheat, three- 

 fourths pound of corn meal, one-half pound each of wheat 

 middlings, buckwheat middlings, and animal meal, two- 

 thirds pound of fresh bone, and three-fourths pound of 

 young green alfalfa. 



504. Rations for young birds. — The requirements of 

 the rapidly-growing young fowl are so constantly chang- 



