Old Time Feed Recipes for Poultry & Chicks

RATIONS FOR SIXTEEN HENS FOR 30 DA. ---The accompanying table contains twelve desirable rations for feeding to hens. The quantities given in each division are sufficient for feeding 16 hens for 30 da., and provide about 4 oz/ of food daily for each hen. The whole grain in all these rations is fed by hand; the meal and meat in each is mixed together and fed either as a wet or a dry mash. Rations (i) and (j) are double, or two-part, rations. One-half of the daily ration is fed from each; the two answer for 1-60 day Ration (a), (b), (c), and (d) are best suited to a promiscuous lot of fowls ranging in age from 6 mo. to several years. Rations (e), (f), (g), and (h), being largely composed of concentrated foods, are best suited for laying hens. Rations (i) and (j) are for laying hens that have free range and are able to pick up insects enough to supply their demand for animal food. Rations (i) and (k) are fed in hoppers as dry mash. The molasses feed used should be of good quality. Ration (l) consists of meals, wheat and milk; the meals should be moistened with the milk. In the use of all rations where meals only are mentioned, a daily ration for each hen should consist of 2 pz. or dry meal, fed wet or dry, and an equal quantity of whole grain. None of these rations furnish sufficient mineral matter for egg formation and for the other demands of nature. Grit, limestone, oyster shell, or some similar material must be supplied in addition. [Note: Modern sources say that GRIT and OYSTER SHELL or SEA SHELLS are two entirely different things. Seashells and other calcium-containing substances just dissolve in the chicken's CROP. They cannot be a substitute for grit. Grit is what grain-eating fowl need in place of "teeth" and it must be available in the right sizes. Substituting seashells for "grit" is like giving someone false teeth made of chalk. I think the old timers had so many free-range hens (notice the early use of the term "free range") that the hens got enough grit when they were out and about, so it wasn't a concern.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 30-DAY RATIONS FOR SIXTEEN HENS Food Pounds (a) Corn 50 Oats or barley 24 Wheat bran 10 Middlings 5 Corn meal 25 Meat scrap 8 Cut clover 10 (b) Corn 50 Oats or barley 24 Wheat bran 10 Flour middlings 4 Corn meal 28 Animal meal 7 Cut clover 10 (c) Corn 50 Wheat 25 Corn meal 28 Flour middlings 2 Hominy chop 10 Meat scrap 7 Cut clover 10 (d) Corn 50 Wheat 25 Corn meal 25 Wheat bran 10 Middlings 5 Alfalfa meal 4 Meat scrap 7 (e) Alfalfa hay or meal 18 Wheat bran 10 Middlings 30 Coconut-oil-cake meal 10 Meat meal 6 Wheat 60 (f) Alfalfa 18 Wheat bran 14 Middlings 17 Linseed-oil-cake meal 6 Blood meal 4 Barley or oats 25 Wheat 50 (g) Corn meal 24 Wheat bran 18 Alfalfa meal 10 Blood meal 3 Meat meal 6 Oats or barley 30 Wheat 40 (h) Wheat shorts 18 Corn meal 25 Blood meal 5 Alfalfa meal 5 Cottage cheese 12 Wheat 60 (i) Wheat bran 40 Middlings 20 Corn meal 20 Alfalfa meal 40 (j) Wheat 60 Cracked corn 30 Oats 15 Barley 15 (k) Corn meal 10 Molasses feed 20 Middlings 40 Wheat bran 30 Meat scrap 10 Clover hay 10 (l) Middlings 30 Wheat bran 24 Meat meal 6 Skim-milk 90 Wheat 60 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ FEEDING FARM FLOCKS: Farm flocks, to be profitable, must have a ration suitable for the production of both eggs and good table meat. No error in feeding farm flocks is more common or more disastrous than that of giving too much fat-forming food. [Note: modern breeders confirm this.] An all-green ration renders the hens excessively fat, sometimes induces apoplexy, and causes the production of but few eggs. A grain ration for farm flocks may be composed of grains in the following proportions, by weight: Food Parts Cracked corn 20 Wheat 40 Oats 15 Cracked corn is preferable because it is small, and, like wheat and oats, when cast into litter must be sought for by the fowls. During the winter all grain should be thrown into dry chaff or litter of some kind in order to keep the hens busy hunting for it. During the winter months the hens on the farm should have a noonday feed of warm mash, the mixture being composed, by weight, as follows: Food Parts Corn meal 40 Meat 30 Short-cut alfalfa (or) clover hay 30 Oyster shell 2 Grit 1 Charcoal 1 The meat and hay should be cut into small pieces and boiled to a pulp, and before cooling the mass should be mixed with enough meal to make a dry, crumbly mass. This should be fed cool in troughs. Feeding Baby Chicks: Please note; Anything in SQUARE BRACKETS [ ] is an additional note made for clarafication. No food is given to young chicks for the first 48 hr., but grit of some kind is supplied to clean out their digestive organs. Beginning with the third day, they may have stale bread moistened with sweet milk and pressed until nearly dry. For the next 2 or 3 da. a mixture of stale bread crumbs and fine oatmeal makes a good ration, and is better fed in small quantities at frequent intervals. [NOTE: Remember, this is 1912, before additives were put into bread. If this is tried, make sure the bread is healthfully made.] For chicks that are a week or more old, a simple ration can be made of 4 parts, by weight, of cracked corn, 2 parts of broken wheat, 2 parts of oatmeal, and 2 parts of granulated meat scrap. The corn should be broken into small pieces and the meat scrap must be of good quality, rich in protein, and of small size; meat scrap that contains fat is not fit to use in this ration. After the chicks are 6 wk. old, a ration made of cracked corn, whole wheat, hulled oats, and meat scrap can be used. In addition to the grain and meat ration, grit, green food, broken sea shells, or bone meal are necessary for young chicks. All food fed to chicks should be in small particles to avoid disorders in the crop and digestive organs. [NOTE: A Vitamix blender can handle tough grains. Used ones can be found. Don't blend to a flour. Use a commercial starter mix to compare grain size. Blend a few seconds, pour though a sieve, re-blend the big pieces, and repeat.] The accompanying table gives the feeding standards for young chicks. MIXTURES FOR CHICK FOOD Food Quarts Shelled corn 16 Wheat 8 Hulled oats 4 Pearl barley 3 Millet seed 0.5 (b) "for bantams or chicks of tender constitution" Millet seed 0.5 Cracked Kafir corn 1 Cracked wheat 2 Cracked wheat 2 Canary seed 1 Oatmeal 1 Finely granulated meat 0.5 (c) "for those partly or wholly confined" Fine siftings from cracked corn 40 Cracked wheat 30 Oatmeal 10 Millet seed 3 Granulated meat 7 (d) "for those partly or wholly confined" Fine broken corn 35 Cracked Kafir corn 6 Cracked wheat 40 Hulled oats 30 Broken peas 5 Animal charcoal 5 Millet seed 5 Meat scrap 10 (e) "for half-grown chicks on the range" Cracked corn 50 Whole wheat 50 Clipped oats 30 Barley 10 (f) "for half-grown chicks on the range" Cracked corn 200 Whole wheat 300 Barley 200 Clipped oats 100 Screenings 200 Buckwheat 100 Mixing of Chick Foods: The term chick food is used to describe mixtures made from food materials that are used for feeding chicks. Many kinds are manufactured and sold commercially; if they are of good quality, their use may be convenient and safe [!]. Chick food can be made of numerous kinds of grains and seeds. Any of the mixtures given in the accompanying table form suitable chick foods. After the grains in (a) have been ground and mixed, 4 qt. of beef scraps should be added to the mixture; (a) is adapted to chicks having the free range of a farm; (b) is for bantams or chicks of tender constitution; (c) and (d) are for those partly or wholly confined; (e) and (f) are grain mixtures suitable for half-grown chicks on the range. Feeding Schedule for Chicks: Chicks thrive best if fed five times a day until they are 6 wk. old, after which age they may be fed four times daily; and at 8 wk. of age, three meals a day are sufficient. The following schedule may be observed in feeding five meals a day: First Meal---Soon after daylight. Breadcrumbs, seed, or small grain, according to age. Second Meal---Eight or nine o'clock. Egg food, mash feed, or chick feed, according to age. Third Meal---Noon. Small grains or chick feed, scattered into chaff or dry litter of some kind. Fourth Meal---Two o'clock. Either egg food, mash feed, bread softened with milk, or Johnnycake. Fifth Meal---Four o'clock. A full meal of small grain or chick feed, scattered in the chaff or litter. The small grains and chick feed should be scattered in dry chaff or cut straw. Fine or short cut alfalfa or clover hay makes good litter; sand, sawdust, or chips of wood are undesirable litter for chicks. Clean, dry earth may also be safely used for litter. Jubilee Acres logo by Sonja of Mythical Danes Graphics.

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