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Morrisons Hen Rations

The following recipes are excerpts from Morrison’s Feeds & Feeding, 21st Edition, pages 1182 through 1184.  The text and combinations below are identical to those found in the book; only the layout and format have changed.

NOTE: Some ingredients listed below, such as wheat middlings, aree the products created as part of various grain milling operations for other foods.  We know many flock owners do not have access to such ingredients in small quantities, even if they grow their own crops.  We are currently building a Feed Ingredients Glossary page to help folks ID these ingredients and find substitutes as possible.

NOTE: All the following formulations have either corn and/or soy.  Since these are the feed ingredients which flock owners are typically most motivated to replace.  The recipes in Morrison's, and the feeds at that time, relied heavily on those two ingredients to provide the bulk of plant-based protein for flocks.  For a list of recipes which do not rely on either corn or soy, please visit our Non Corn/Soy Recipes page.


Laying Mash Rations
(to be used in combination with Mixed Grains,
listed after the individual recipes)

In addition to the mash and scratch grain in these rations, oyster shell or another source of calcium should be available at all times in hoppers. Plenty of fresh water should also be furnished. Cod-liver oil or other suitable vitamin-rich fish oil should be added to the mash when the hens are confined. To insure an ample supply of manganese, 0.25lbs. of manganese sulfate should be added to each ton of mash.

Laying mashes with which an equal weight of grain is to be fed:

Laying Mash Ration #1:

Ground yellow corn

20 lbs

Ground heavy oats

12.5 lbs

Wheat bran

20 lbs

Wheat flour middlings

20 lbs

skimmilk or buttermilk

2.5 lbs

Meat scraps

17.5 lbs

Alfalfa meal (low fiber)

5 lbs

Ground limestone or oyster shell flour

2 lbs

Salt

0.5 lbs

Vitamin A and D feeding oil (when hens are not on range)

0.4 lbs


Laying Mash Ration #2

Ground yellow corn

25 lbs

Ground oats

10 lbs

Wheat standard middlings

10 lbs

Soybean oil meal

24 lbs

Peanut oil meal or other suitable plant-protein supplement

5 lbs

Meat scraps

4 lbs

Alfalfa meal

9 lbs

Distillers’ dried solubles

2 lbs

Ground limestone

5.5 lbs

Bone meal

3.5 lbs

Salt

1.6 lbs

Vitamin A and D feeding oil

0.4 lbs


Laying Mash Ration #3:

Ground barley

30 lbs

Ground wheat

12 lbs

Soybean oil meal

20 lbs

Corn gluten meal or soybean oil meal

7.5 lbs

Peanut oil meal or other suitable plant-protein supplement

4 lbs

Meat scraps

3.5 lbs

Dried whey

2 lbs

Alfalfa meal

10 lbs

Ground limestone

5.5 lbs

Bone meal

3.5 lbs

Salt

1.6 lbs

Vitamin A and D feeding oil

0.4 lbs


Laying Mash Ration #4:

Ground grain sorghum

30 lbs

Ground barley

13 lbs

Soybean oil  meal

22.5 lbs

Peanut oil meal or other suitable plant-protein supplement

7.5 lbs

Meat scraps

4 lbs

Alfalfa meal

10 lbs

Distillers’ dried solubles

2 lbs

Ground limestone

5.5 lbs

Bone meal

3.5 lbs

Salt

1.6 lbs

Vitamin A and D feeding oil

0.4 lb


Laying Mash Ration #5, For Hens On Good Pasture:

Ground yellow corn

100 lbs

Ground oats

100 lbs

Wheat bran

100 lbs

Wheat middlings

100 lbs

Meat scraps

100 lbs

Salt

5 lbs


Grain Mixture
(to be fed with Laying Mash rations above)

Almost any mixture of grain that does not contain too large a proportion of oats is suitable. Popular combinations are:

yellow corn (cracked or whole)

20 lbs

wheat

20 lbs

OR.......

yellow corn

40 lbs

wheat

40 lbs

oats

20 lbs

OR.....

Grain Sorghum

30 to 50 lbs

yellow corn

25 to 40 lbs

wheat

20 lbs


All-Mash Rations for
laying hens and laying pullets

Ration #1:

Ground yellow corn

50.5 lbs

Wheat bran

10 lbs

Wheat flour middlings

20 lbs

Meat scraps

7.5 lbs

Dried skimmilk

2.5 lbs

Alfalfa meal

5 lbs

Salt

0.5 lb

Oyster shell meal or ground limestone

3 lbs

Cod liver oil

1.0 lb


Ration #2:

Ground yellow corn

42.5 lbs

Ground oats

10 lbs

Wheat standard middlings

15 lbs

Wheat bran

5 lbs

Soybean oil meal

12 lbs

Peanut oil meal or other suitable plant protein supplement

3 lbs

Meat scraps

2 lbs

Alfalfa meal

4 lbs

Ground limestone

3 lbs

Bone meal

2.5 lbs

Salt

0.8 lb

Vitamin A and D feeding oil

0.2 lb


Ration #3:

Ground barley

30 lbs

Ground wheat

36.5 lbs

Soybean oil meal

12 lbs

Corn gluten meal or soybean oil meal

4 lbs

Peanut oil meal or other suitable plant-protein supplement

3 lbs

Meat scraps

2 lbs

Alfalfa meal

6 lbs

Ground limestone

2.5 lbs

Bone meal

3 lbs

Salt

0.8 lb

Vitamin A and D feeding oil

0.2 lb


Ration #4:

Ground grain sorghum

40 lbs

Ground barley

28 lbs

Soybean oil meal

12.5 lbs

Peanut meal or other suitable plant-protein supplement

5 lbs

Meat scraps

2 lbs

Alfalfa meal

6 lbs

Ground limestone

2.5 lbs

Bone meal

3 lbs

Salt

0.8 lb

Vitamin A and D feeding oil

0.2 lb


Rations for Breeding and Brooding Hens

For hens producing eggs for hatching, the same sort of mashes are satisfactory, except that a mash to be fed with grain should contain at least 7 to 9 percent of protein supplements of animal origin (including meat scraps, fish meal, and dried dairy by-products).  Also, the content of riboflavin should be increased.


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