PROTEIN TABLEshared by

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There ain't nothin that's more important to your eventual success with your gamefowl than the care you give them. Oh! I know you've heard that before. Those words may be, and probably are, the most used and least followed or understood in this sport. Look at it this way, your fowl are completely dependent on YOU, for every thing they need to survive. You are completely and totally responsible for the care they need. You and YOU alone must see to it that they are housed, watered and fed (on time, every time, ALL THE TIME), primped and powdered, dipped or sprayed, de-wormed, and when necessary medicated. You can spend all the money you have or ever will have, on high dollar brood fowl, fancy keeps, feeds, keep aids, and so on and so on and so forth, till you're blue in the face.

They won't do you any good cause, they ain't worth nothin without formula No. 24 x 365 and it don't cost nothin but a little work. Oh! Ya! I mean proper care 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

There ain't no substitute, it's an absolute job, 365 days a year, ain't no holidays, ain't no sick days, ain't no time off, there ain't no layin out n layin low and most important of all THERE AIN'T NO EXCEPTIONS in the care for your fowl. If you were to ask me, what's the most important tip or piece of advice I could give a beginner. That would be it and it's without a doubt the most neglected and may be the least understood of all.

If and when you are completely determined to follow this advice, DAILY, you're off N runnin and with at least one leg up in this sport. On the other hand if you can't or just don't want to give your fowl the care they need, then there ain't no need in reading any farther, save your money, some headaches and a few heartaches. Sell your fowl and all your equipment and take up Golf. Cause every thing from here on depends on healthy well cared for fowl. You might say this is the foundation for every thing else that follows.

Most of us don't start out spending $500.00 on a trio of fowl, from some "World Class Breeder". Most of us start out with a cock and a hen or two from a friend or relative that introduced us to gamefowl. That's fine, most of the fowl that you get in this manner is above average.

The first thing you're going to need is a pen to house them in and feed. The feed you give your fowl is second in importance only to your resolve to care for them daily and is the next basis of your fowl's health. I know of no other faster way to disaster than an improper diet. Every thing old is new again, modern medical science has discovered what Grandma and Grandpa knew, that is the importance of diet and immediate environment.

The aspect of specific environmental factors and the lack of some ingredients in our diet can, and some times do, cause inconceivable maladies in the form of lack of strength, sickness and just plain general bad health. The same holds true for your fowl. Their pen for example should allow good air circulation and at the same time provide protection from the sun, wind, rain and predators. The floor must be free of dangerous substances. Their diet should be designed for gamefowl not dogs or cats or even ducks. It should supply a protein level of between 16% and 18%. If it supplies 16 % that is fine for yard (maintenance) feed. If it supplies 18% that's fine for breeding season and the keep.

If your level of protein is too high, above 18%, you may run several risks. Hot weather is one; excessively high temperatures can kill your fowl but when combined with a high protein level in your feed it will almost assuredly will kill them. Weight loss and lack of energy are some other problems that are associated with high protein levels. The carbohydrates control energy and body weight and a high protein level can reduce the carbohydrate levels.

Should the protein level be too low then it's more than likely that the carbohydrate level is too high. The result will be bad muscle tone and body fat. The carbohydrate level will take care of itself when the protein level is adjusted to between 16% and 18%. With a correct protein level, your fowl will metabolize or use up the carbohydrates in a way that will prevent the build up of body fat. Of course this is assuming your feeding a proper amount. Please, Please! Don't over feed. Every box, bag or sack of feed has a label on it and on that label there's a WARNING about over feeding. Pay attention to it! You'll be way ahead.

The method in which you achieve the correct protein level is fairly simple. Laying pellets are generally from 16% to 20 % protein; scratch grains average 9%; whole corn is 8%; oats are 10%. While it would probably be sufficient to feed only laying pellets, you and I both know that it would not pacify us. Our fowl would most likely do just fine, but it would, make us crazy. I mean, "We know" that the fowl just got to use their crop and gizzard to grind up seeds and grain to be fully healthy. So we indulge ourselves in a kind of alchemy, mixing numerous grains and all sorts of pellets. Achieving a feed mix that is satisfactory to both our fowl and us. We need to calculate the protein level of the feed mix to be certain it is no less than 16% and no more than 18 %.

Did you know? That there's probably more known about the exact, dietary needs, of the chicken than that of his keeper? Laying, Starter and Grower pellets (and mash) are, most likely some of the most precisely formulated feeds manufactured. The poultry (both Egg and Meat) business in the U.S. uses an astronomical amount of feed each year. If the percentage of protein in any of these feeds were to vary in any significant amount, it could cost the farmer thousands of dollars.

You want to be sure that the feed dealer you buy your feed from has a good turn over rate that is, that his feed doesn't sit long before its sold. Some of the vitamins in the feed are heat sensitive and will

lose strength, if kept or exposed to excessive heat for any length of time.

Here's a table that my dad gave me several years ago, to help in calculating the protein level, of the feed mix I was using at the time. As you can see, I was a little too low in the level of protein at the time, which probably explains why most of my fowl were a little over weight. Most of the folks that I've shared this with, found that their feed mix was a little low in protein also. You can boost the protein level by adding more laying pellets or some other form of animal feed pellet. In my case I used catfish floater, calf manna and dog food (very small pellets). Each time you change you feed mix you need to recalculate the percentage of protein.

Col. 1 Col. 2 Col. 3 Col. 4 Col. 5

Feed Total Pounds

Percent of mix

Percent Protein Total Pounds

Laying Pellets 200.00 43.2432% .20 8.6486%Scratch 100.00 21.6216% .09 1.9459%

Pigeon grain 50.00 10.8108% .15 1.6216%Baby pig pellets 50.00 10.8108% .18 1.9459%Sunflower seed 12.50 2.7027% .47 1.2703%

Whole corn 50.00 10.8108% .08 .8649%

Totals 462.50 100.00% 16.2973%

Column 1: is the feed column and simply tells you what feed type you're dealing with.

Column 2: are the total pounds, of that feed to the feed mix.

Column 3: is the percent of that feed in the mix or the total pounds of that feed divided by the total pounds youíre going to mix.

Column 4: is the protein percent of that feed (found on the feed sack label).

Column 5: is the total protein of that feed in the mix. Obtained by multiplying column 3 by column 4.

To find the total protein in the mix, add the sums of column 5. Look the table over and read the directions carefully, as the protein

level of your feed mix is intensely important and should be just as important to you.

The table is just a sample to help show how to ascertain the protein level of your feed mix and supplies the principles necessary to help you do that. Of course you'll have to substitute the feeds you'll mix and their amounts to ascertain your protein level.

Gamefowl are much like people, in that some need more feed and some less in order to maintain their proper weight. Some are more active than others and will need a bit more feed in order to maintain the proper weight and of course the reverse is true of those who aren't as active. Use your own judgment and adjust the feed according to the individual. Start with 3 to 3 ounces a day, if you feed twice a day then feed half of that in the morning and half at the evening feeding. If he isn't cleaning up all his feed by the next feeding then cut back a bit or just skip a feeding. If on the other hand he is a little under weight give him a bit more feed. But please DO NOT OVER FEED! I use a special cup (well all right it's a Vienna sausage can) that will hold 1 ounce of feed, so I know just how much I'm feeding each rooster. That way I can go up or down and am certain of how much I'm feeding.

Now one more word of caution, if one of your fowl isn't cleaning up it's feed (more than once or twice) it's a pretty good sign it's got a problem. Check them out and see what wrong, keep in mind that you may never figure out what it is that's wrong and it may be best to cull it, unless it's a brood fowl and even then it may be the best thing to do. A poor appetite usually shows an internal health problem.