86 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



FEEDING FOR EGG PRODUCTION 



By L. E. Card, Chief in Poultry Husbandry. 



For maximum egg production it is necessary not only 

 that the right feeds be selected, but that -they be fed in the 

 right way. Even with a ration in which the feeds are in 

 the right proportion, a high egg yield will not be obtained 

 if the ration is not fed in the right quantity and at the right 

 time. The most profitable flocks are almost invariably those 

 whose owners give some attention to the details of proper 

 feeding. 



The greater part of the cost of keeping a hen goes on 

 day by day throughout the year, whether she is laying well 

 or poorly or not at all. A five- pound hen requires the 

 equivalent of fifty pounds of corn a year just for mainte- 

 nance. This much feed she must have for body upkeep 

 before any egg laying can follow. Whatever she eats be- 

 yond this amount is available for egg production, but 

 whether it is so used depends on whether conditions are 

 favorable — ^that is, on whether the hen is by nature a good 

 layer and is provided with comfortable and sanitary quar- 

 ters. To reduce the daily ration because the hens are not 

 laying well, or to increase the food allowance following an 

 increase in egg production is to miss entirely an important 

 principle of successful feeding. We must feed for future 

 results, not for past performance. 



Several Kinds of Feed are Necessary. 



To feed nothing but whole grain is one of the common 

 mistakes,in poultry feeding. A complete ration for laying 

 hens must contain not only scratch feed, or whole grains, 

 but also ground feeds, animal protein, green feed, mineral 

 feed and water. The omission of any one of these is certain 

 to result in lower production than would otherwise be pos- 

 sible. When hens can be allowed to range, especially dur- 



