A Natural Diet for Laying Hens

Ingredient lbs/100 lb. of mix
Yellow corn meal 60.00
Wheat middlings 15.00
Soybean meal (dehulled) 8.00
Maine herring meal (65%) 3.75
Meat & bone meal (47%) 1.00
Skim milk, dried 3.00
Alfalfa leaf meal (20%) 2.50
Iodized salt 0.40
Limestone, grd. (38% Ca) 6.35

from:
THE POULTRYMAN'S HANDBOOK:
A Convenient Reference Book For All Persons Interested in the
Production of Eggs and Poultry for Market and the Breeding of
Standard-Bred Poultry for Exhibition

by:
International Correspondence Schools, Scranton, PA
INTERNATIONAL TEXTBOOK COMPANY
1912

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 60
da. Rations (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 t0o 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,
especially if chickens are confined in any way.]

Note: GRIT and OYSTER SHELL or SEA SHELLS are two entirely different
things. Sea shells and other calcium-containing substances just
dissolve in the chicken's. They cannot be a substitute for grit.
[Grit is hard rock.] It is what grain-eating fowl need in place
of "teeth" and it must be available in the right sizes. Substituting
sea shells 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: this is confirmed by modern breeders.] 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 voiled 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."
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