Morrisons Feeds & Feeding
Morrisons Feeds & Feeding was the bible for livestock feed for over 60 years, starting in the 1890's as a textbook for college classes. It ran through 21 editions, with considerable modifications and updates between each edition, before then being completely overhauled again and re-issued with new edition numbers in the late 1950's. Many of today's livestock nutritionists either trained with this book, or with professors who were trained with this book.
As we have worked through various poultry nutrition issues in this section of the website, I have often referred to my own copy of Morrison's Feeds & Feeding for answers. As I searched online for modern ration recipes, I was surprised to find an utter vacuum of ration recipes online. I found various individual's personal combinations, but they weren't backed up by much, if any, research or analysis. I was hoping for something like Morrison's - carefully researched, well documented, and well tested under various production environments. Given that I couldn't find such recipes, I turned back to the source - Morrison's.
I have thus decided to transcribe all of Morrison's various poultry recipes on the following pages. I have made no modifications whatsoever to the recipes provided in the 21st edition of that book. The only changes have been in terms of formatting.
So I offer the following pages:
I should note here that Morrisons, as good as it is, has some limitations:
- These rations were developed during the first half of the 20th century, often prior to WWII. They pre-date much of our more recent understanding about food sensitivities and food allergens. Specifically, most of these rations are based on either corn, soy or gluten-containing grains. Granted, most medical professionals advise that people avoid eating allergens directly, and there is limited information about whether those same allergens pose a problem when fed to animals subsequently used for meat or eggs. Yet enough folks are concerned about the issue, and/or already know that they are sensitive to meat and eggs produced with those ingredients. As such, these rations may not be a good choice for those folks who are trying to avoid those common food allergen sources.
- These rations were also developed well before the rise of GMO technology. The main ingredients in the rations are also those which were the first to have GMO varieties available on the open market. As such, conventional sources of those ingredients will almost certainly have at least some GMO contamination. For those folks who are trying to avoid GMO contamination yet wish to use these rations, they can minimize GMO contamination by using certified organic ingredients.
I have been searching for rations which avoid reliance upon ingredients which either are common food allergens and/or likely contaminated with GMO's. So far, that search has come up empty. I will continue to look for such rations, and I will list them on the website if/when I find them. In the meantime, the Morrisons rations are amongst the best available, even with the above limitations.