CHAPTER XII 

 POULTRY FOODS 



The preceding chapter included a brief explanation of the general 

 properties of foods and their relations to the nutrition of poultry. 

 It was shown that the food value of an article was not determined 

 solely by the quantities and proportions of principal nutrients that 

 it contained, but was affected by physical properties and minor 

 nutrients. In this chapter articles used for poultry food will be 

 described as to chemical contents, physical properties, and feeding 

 values as observed in practice. Wheat, the single food article 

 which is the nearest to a complete food for poultry, is taken as a 

 standard of comparison. The statement of the chemical composi- 

 tion and values of wheat is repeated for direct comparison with 

 similar data for each group of foods described, and differences and 

 resemblances which affect feeding practice are mentioned. Only 

 whole articles and ordinary by-products are described. For de- 

 scriptions of special brands and mixtures, and of proprietary 

 articles, the reader is referred to the manufacturers and to the 

 bulletins of his state experiment station. In making so full a list 

 of articles which may be used as food for poultry, it was not pos- 

 sible to secure all statements of chemical analysis from the same 

 source, and the figures given will not always correspond with 

 others to which the reader may have access. Such differences are 

 immaterial and may be disregarded. In the study of food values 

 mathematically expressed the student should always bear in mind 

 that the figures represent averages of samples of several or many 

 grades. 



Wheat. Wheat contains the principal nutrients in about the pro- 

 portions that analyses of ordinary good complete rations of mixed 

 grains show. Physically, as compared with other grains commonly 

 used for poultry, a grain of wheat is medium to small in size, and 

 is smooth, having no hull. Varieties and grades of wheat vary in 



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